LED Light Bulbs – what are they? Are they any good?
Are there any catches or exceptions I should know about? Here is a summary of the 4 types of bulbs commonly found in the UK, based on an old 60w bulb or alternative bulbs creating an equivalent amount of light output:
- Incandescent old bulbs create light by heating a filament to white hot. These bulbs get too hot to touch
- Halogen rely on heat to create light, so are also too hot to touch
- CFL – Compact Fluorescent Light were the original low energy bulbs, and long life – they use most energy to start up and may take a short time to reach full brightness. Manufactured with and incorporating toxic chemicals
- LED – Light Emitting Diode, create light with far less heat and can be recycled
Price
It’s getting hard to buy anything but LED now and as the price has fallen significantly, based on the length of their life alone they are cost effective; when you also add the energy savings, LEDs become a simple win.
FAQs:
Do LEDs give good quality light?
LEDs have definitely changed. Unlike CFLs there is no warm-up time. You can buy LEDs with differing tones; warm white (2700k) is a common replacement for the ‘soft’ light from old incandescent bulbs. For detailed work people often prefer a neutral tone which gives a sharper almost ‘blue’ light (4000k). The ‘k’ refers to kelvin and is used to measure the temperature or tone of the light. Daylight is high (6000k) and candlelight relatively lower (less than 2000K).
Early LEDs were sometimes a bit flickery – this is rarely an issue now.
Brightness is measured in lumens but many bulbs still tell you which incandescent bulb would be equivalent. A 12W LED is often rated as the equivalent of an old 75W incandescent.
What LED fittings are available?
LED bulbs seem to be available in pretty much every style and varying brightness – if you are not sure take your old bulb with you to the shop and ask. There are also LED equivalents for all sorts of fluorescent tube lights.
My lights are dimmable – is there an LED version?
There are LEDs specifically made for dimmable switches – a standard LED will not work with dimmable light switches.
Will I need an electrician, or to change anything?
Most bulbs are interchangeable for lamps and lights with no adjustment. If in doubt ask at the shop when you buy it.
Should I replace bulbs now or wait until they stop working?
Replacing incandescent and halogen bulbs immediately will save you money and the benefits to the environment outweigh the costs.
For CFL bulbs and fluorescent strips this is a harder debate – these bulbs are full of unpleasant stuff and are hard to recycle – many believe it is better to use them until they are done. The initial charge to get a CFL glowing is energy costly but once ‘on’ these bulbs are almost as efficient as LED, so try to avoid having CFLs in places where they are being switched on and off for short periods.
Where do I recycle old bulbs?
All bulbs can be dropped at a local recycling centre (CFL and fluorescent strip lights must be disposed of at a recycling centre where there will be a specific place for bulbs)
The energy rating on my bulb
F is the new A! We are transitioning to a new scale just now as we had reached the point where bulbs were scoring A+ or A++. So, the measure of bulb efficiency has been reset – no more A+ or A++, so an old A rated bulb has been re-graded to F. The hope is to encourage the industry to keep improving on bulb design and efficiency, so the best bulbs might become E and then D …. Currently you can find the same bulbs in old and new packaging – sorry it’s confusing, especially in the transition.
If you would like help with the big steps or the little ones, Anna and Tom at Warm Connections would be delighted to chat. Remember, our advice is completely free and there is no catch.
07759 404980, www.warmconnections.net, advice@warmconnections.net