What you need to know about LED bulbs

How LED bulbs differ from others

As the name suggests, the light source in LED lamps is miniature electronic devices called LEDs. In the usual incandescent lamps, the light is emitted by a red-hot metal spiral. In energy-saving lamps, light is emitted by a phosphor that is applied to the inner surface of a glass tube. In turn, the phosphor glows under the action of a gas discharge.

Before moving on to the actual LED lamps, we will briefly consider the features of each type of lamp.

Incandescent lamp The structure is very simple: a spiral made of refractory metal is fixed inside a transparent glass bulb, from which air is evacuated. Passing through the spiral, the electric current heats it up to a high temperature, at which the metal glows brightly.

The advantage of such lamps is their low price. However, it is compensated by an equally low efficiency: less than 10% of the electricity consumed by a light bulb is converted into visible light. The rest is uselessly dissipated in the form of heat - the light bulb gets very hot during operation. In addition, the service life of the device is very short, approximately 1,000 hours.

Compact fluorescent lamp, or CFL (this is the exact name of an energy-saving lamp), with the same brightness of light, it consumes about five times less electricity than an incandescent lamp. CFLs are more expensive and have several disadvantages that are significant for the consumer:

for quite a long time (several minutes) flare up after switching on;
the lamp with its curved glass bulb looks unaesthetic;
CFL light flickers, which is exhausting for the eyes.

LED lamp consists of several LEDs mounted in the same housing with a power supply. A power supply is indispensable: LEDs require 6 or 12 V DC power to operate, and 220 V AC power in a household power supply.

The lamp body is most often made in the form of a familiar "pear" with a screw base. Thanks to this, LED lamps can be easily installed in a regular holder.

Depending on the LEDs used, the emission color of LED lamps can be different. This is one of their advantages.

	Incandescent lamp	Energy saving	LED
Radiation color	Yellow	Warm, daytime	Yellow, warm white, cold white
Power consumption	Big	Medium: 5 times less than incandescent bulbs	Low: 8 times less than incandescent bulbs
Life time	1 thousand hours	3-15 thousand hours	25-30 thousand hours
disadvantages	Strong heat	Fragile, take a long time to flare up	Low maximum power
Advantages	Low cost, work in a wide range of conditions	Relatively economical and durable	Very economical and durable

Advantages of LED lamps:

very low power consumption - on average, eight times less than incandescent lamps of the same brightness;
very long service life - they work 25-30 times longer than incandescent lamps;
almost do not get warm;
radiation color - at choice;
stable illumination brightness when the supply voltage fluctuates.

The main advantage of LED lamps is economy. It is assumed that due to low power consumption and long service life, LED lamps will significantly reduce lighting costs.

The price of LED lamps at the time of this writing was about three times higher than that of conventional ones. Consequently, in monetary terms, they turn out to be 50-100 times more economical. These savings will, of course, be achieved provided that the lamp reaches its promised life and does not burn out prematurely.

Disadvantages of LED lamps limit their scope:

uneven light distribution - a power supply built into the body shades the luminous flux;
a matte bulb looks ugly in glass and crystal lamps;
the brightness of the glow, as a rule, cannot be changed using a dimmer;
unsuitable for use at very low (frost) and high (in steam rooms, saunas) temperatures.

Things to Consider When Choosing an LED Bulb

LED bulbs have many characteristics. This makes the task of making the right choice more difficult. Let's see what exactly the various characteristics mean.

Supply voltage

If there is an unstable voltage in your apartment or house, you need to choose lamps that can operate in a wide voltage range. This is always indicated on the packaging. Unlike incandescent lamps, LED lamps at reduced voltage burn as brightly as at normal voltage.

Radiation color

Color is characterized by a color temperature, which is measured in kelvin: as the color temperature rises, the light changes from yellow to blue. In most cases, the color of the radiation is indicated on the packaging and lamp housing in degrees and in the words:

warm (2,700 K) - approximately corresponds to the radiation of an incandescent lamp;
warm white (3,000 K) - considered optimal for residential premises;
cold white (4,000 K) - for offices and industrial premises; close to daylight.

There are lamps with a changeable color: when you switch the mode, the emission spectrum of such a lamp changes.

It should be borne in mind that many people perceive the blue part of the spectrum poorly, so the cold light of the lamps will seem dim to them. So, if you decide to install lamps with a cold spectrum in your home, choose them with a margin of power.

Power

The packaging of LED lamps indicates their luminous flux and power of incandescent lamps of similar brightness. The real power consumption of LED lamps is on average 6–8 times less. For example, a 12W LED bulb glows as brightly as a regular 100W bulb. This ratio can be used when choosing an LED lamp to replace an incandescent lamp.

However, an unpleasant surprise may lie in wait for you: the declared power may not correspond to the actual one, and the lamp will shine weaker than expected.

In addition, the brightness of the LEDs decreases over time. It is possible that the light bulb will have to be changed long before the expiration of its service life due to the fact that it began to shine too weakly.

Other important points

Dimensions. LED lamps are slightly larger in size than similar incandescent lamps. Therefore, in small plafonds they may simply not fit.
If your lamp is dimmed, you need appropriate bulbs. The packaging must indicate that the lamp is adjustable.
The color rendering index of LED lamps is low, which means that they somewhat distort the visual perception of colors. In some cases, such as when photographing with LED light, this can be important.

LED Switching Strategy

The potential savings shouldn't make you lose your head. Do not rush to run to the store and buy bulbs for all the lamps in the house at once. It is advisable to be guided by two principles.

Replace only bulbs with high wattage - 60 W or more. The savings from replacing low power bulbs will be small and the cost of a new bulb may not pay off.
Replace lamps in lamps, the burning time of which is the longest during the day: for example, in chandeliers in living rooms. It makes no sense to change a light bulb in some back room, the light in which is lit from time to time and for a short time.

Do not expect that power consumption will decrease significantly.

The main consumers of electricity in everyday life are all kinds of heating devices: an iron, an electric kettle, a washing machine, and especially an electric stove. According to several people interviewed, the electricity bill after switching to LED lamps decreases by about 15-25%.

Another tip: do not buy many lamps of the same brand at once, first take one or two for a sample. The fact is that lamps with the same color temperature from different manufacturers can vary greatly in their emitted light. What if the spectrum of these particular lamps will be unpleasant to you? Better to try it.

Conclusion

LED lamps, compared to traditional incandescent lamps, are a fundamentally new lighting solution.

A few years ago they were a very expensive technical novelty, but today their price is already comparable to the price of other types of lamps. As for the characteristics, the LED lamps are noticeably superior to the previous lighting devices in terms of them. The verdict is unambiguous: the transition to LED lamps is quite justified.