Solution Finder Get Tech Support

When will LEDs be ready?

Posted by: stampede on
I have read that incandescent bulbs will soon be phased out in Europe. For the immediate future this will mean CFLs, but it will also presumably pave the way for LEDs. Realistically, when will LEDs be affordable and effective enough for common home use? What are some of the challenges? Any thoughts?

Comments

Submitted by PI_Crusher on 10/30/2008

Hello Stampede,

Your question is much more related to stock market than technology. The price is the tipping point for mainstream LEDs. The technology is there and could be accepted everywhere as soon as the price will become economically effective. I can only hope after this economic slow down is over to witness a big push for LEDs.

Cheers,
PI_Crusher

Submitted by MrGreen on 10/31/2008
Great question, allow me to shed a little light (actually a lot of light) on this subject. The answer to your question has to do with the availability of LED lighting that meets consumer expectations and very little to do with the stock market and current economic slowdown.

Worldwide mandatory government energy efficiency regulations, including our own EISA2007, will definitely transform the lighting market away from incandescent lighting and into other technologies. CFL bulbs are a readily available efficient solution for general area lighting today and they cost less than they did a few years ago because they are now subsidized by various electric utility programs. Most people aren’t aware that many of those same utilities are currently preparing similar subsidy programs for ENERGY STAR approved LED luminaires - when they appear.

While PI Crusher is correct that LED technology is here, LEDs must provide the correct color temperature and be housed in a luminaire that delivers a high luminaire efficacy so that consumers will find it acceptable for general lighting applications. That’s still being worked on by lighting manufacturers. The good news is that advances in LED luminaires are happening at a rapid pace and I predict that we’ll see ENERGY STAR approved general area LED lighting available within the next two years.

By the way, LED lighting is currently being used for a lot of lighting applications including street lights, parking garages, home accent lighting, backyard lighting, and commercial refrigerator lighting.

So, hang in there. You may see exceptional LED luminaires at your local store before all of the financial markets have fully recovered.

You can read more about ENERGY STAR’s SSL luminaire spec activity in one of my earlier blogs titled, Getting it Right… the Second Time, published in September of this year.
Submitted by stampede on 07/21/2009

In reply to by prasun

Thank you, Mr. Green.

Submitted by Adrian A. on 02/18/2012

Hi everybody,

I wasn't adept of the LED in the past years because of the extremely high price and low power and low efficiency. But things have been already changed. Search for CXA-2011, an amazing piece at a decent price, extremely easy to be supplied (approx 45V 1A constant current power supply, approx 15 dollars an unit) easy to mount package - not require special soldering techniques, very high luminosity (2600-4000 lumens)at good efficiency (70-100lm/watt)).
I checked one, even the price in my country is higher and i was delighted. The light was very close to a 250W halogen bulb.

Submitted by DruNePal on 04/05/2012

LEDs produce more light per watt – nearly 48-70 lumen's per watt, while CFLs provide nearly 60, and incandescent – just 13! Their life time is from 40,000 to 50,000 hours, for CFLs it’s – 10,000 hours, and incandescents only 750 hours!

The reduction of energy use leads to a lower cost of energy bills. LED bulbs cost a bit more than CFLs but even considering the prices they will undoubtedly save not just energy, but your money too.

Another advantage of LEDs is their safety. These bulbs do not contain mercury as CFLs bulbs. So there are no risks of toxic exposure and no problems with their utilization. LED lights do not emit significant UV or IR radiation.

You can make an impact on global environmental protection by using LED bulbs. If 25 percent of the light bulbs in the US were converted to LED bulbs it could save $115 billion in utility costs by 2025, alleviating the need to build 133 new coal-burning power stations and cutting carbon emissions by 258 million metric tons. This means that if every household or business in the U.S. replaced just one or two standard incandescent bulbs with LED bulbs, the electricity saved would be more than the output of the country’s largest nuclear power plant.
Source:Going green by using LEDs

Building green makes good sense by using better insulation, water heaters and furnaces, energy star appliances, lighting packages, and recycled products.