Judging by how often I see compact fluorescent bulbs, a lot of people are willing to make a few lifestyle changes in the interest of the environment. But I doubt we'll see many of these fluorescent bulbs 10 years from now.
That's because a more efficient, safer and longer-lasting light bulb technology is emerging and starting to appear on store shelves. As prices drop, we'll see LEDs redesigned for more applications.
The technology is called light emitting diode (LED for short), and until four or five years ago, just about the only place you'd see them was on VCR screens, microwaves and the occasional ancient calculator from the 1970s.
The first high-profile breakout from traditional LED applications appeared in Christmas lights in 2002. Nowadays an entire string of colourful LED holiday lights uses less energy than did a single old incandescent holiday bulb.
The working life of LED lights is measured in tens of thousands of hours, not just thousands. So, how long before LED bulbs become available for serious, interior lighting applications in lamps and overhead fixtures?
LED bulbs are particularly efficient and long-lasting because they produce light in an entirely different way from other kinds of bulbs. Instead of using electricity to heat up a metal filament or excite a conductive gas, LEDs produce light by channelling electric current through a semiconductor. In the most efficient examples, this approach converts almost 100 per cent of the electricity into light, with virtually no waste heat produced.
It's now possible to buy LED equivalents for retrofitting various types of household and specialty light fixtures that were originally designed for incandescent bulbs. You won't see many of these on hardware store shelves yet, but leading Canadian specialty suppliers are beginning to offer a growing line of LED bulbs. The only problem is cost, though that's changing.
The price of an MR16 LED to replace traditional halogen designs runs from $35 to $60 for a single bulb. That's about five to eight times more money than a regular halogen bulb, but the LED lasts 20 to 25 times longer while using 90 per cent less energy.
That's why LEDs make especially good sense in applications where lights stay on a lot, where the heat buildup of traditional bulbs is a problem, or where it's difficult to change bulbs after they burn out. These include commercial and high-rise residential applications, where lights are burning 24/7 -- here I am thinking of hallways, stairwells and elevators.
They're also useful for exterior residential applications, especially when changing a bulb involves climbing up a ladder. LEDs last for years and function well where it's cold. They don't emit UV rays, either, so they won't cause fading of fabrics and surfaces.
LED lighting is a response to the disappearance of the cheap, convenient and plentiful sources of energy we've relied on. We've also developed a keener sense of the hidden environmental costs of extravagant energy use.
Courtesy of - Steve Maxwell is Canada's award-winning home improvement expert, and technical editor of Canadian Home Workshop magazine.
Dave -
360renos
