{"id":1913,"date":"2013-02-12T09:06:29","date_gmt":"2013-02-12T09:06:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.housingenergyadvisor.com\/blog\/?p=1913"},"modified":"2015-03-09T11:23:22","modified_gmt":"2015-03-09T11:23:22","slug":"is-it-time-for-your-led-switch-over","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.housingenergyadvisor.com\/blog\/is-it-time-for-your-led-switch-over\/","title":{"rendered":"Is it time for your LED switch over?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Switching to energy efficient lighting is something that I think most of us \u2018consider\u2019 to do but never get round to or find some excuse which is often no longer applicable.<\/p>\n

In my case, the lighting that I had was more than suitable therefore there was no rush and I also wasn\u2019t particularly enamoured with this idea that energy efficient LED lighting took an age to reach any real \u2018brightness\u2019; I quite like the idea of flicking a switch and being able to see what I\u2019m doing immediately.<\/p>\n

Also, I was very mindful of the costs of LEDs compared to traditional incandescent lighting and the prospect of an additional mortgage for new lighting was not that inviting. However, following an invite and challenge by LED Hut my mind was refocused to revisit this rapidly advancing technology to see if some of my preconceptions held true.<\/p>\n

Energy savings of LED bulbs<\/h3>\n

I\u2019m no mathematician and I am not going to try and do complex calculations based upon hours used, wattage etc. (below are approximations)
\nIn simple terms; my existing lighting in our kitchen \/ dining room, we had:
\n8 candle lights type bulbs over 2 chandeliers 8 x 50 watts = 400 watt.
\n5 spot lights 5 x 50 watts = 250 watt.
\n7 Strip lights 7 x 13 watts = 91 watts
\nTotal = 741 watts<\/p>\n

Now, the replacement LED bulbs:
\n8 candle lights type bulbs over 2 chandeliers 8 x 3 watts = 24 watt.
\n5 spot lights 5 x 5 watts = 25 watt.
\nLED strip (Strip lights replacements) 1 x 13 watts = 13 watts
\nTotal = 62 watts<\/p>\n

It is comparing these numbers that helps you see the long term energy savings and are quite stark; turning on all the lights in my kitchen diner now uses 62 watts compared to 710 watts, which is less than 10% of the original power consumption.<\/p>\n

LED replacement colour and switch on speed<\/h3>\n

There are two widely available options in relation to colour; cool white and warm white. When looking at the two on the internet I was convinced cool white would give me the brightness I was after. \"LED<\/a>The lights were ordered and arrived in double quick time, however, a little bit to my disappointment, the cool white just wasn\u2019t for me, it gave great coverage but for me it is a very white, white and quite\u2019 clinical\u2019 and a little bit \u2018crisp\u2019 looking for the rooms I was to use them in.<\/p>\n

Realising I\u2019d ordered the wrong lighting I returned them and re-ordered replacements in warm white. When the replacements arrived I was really pleased, the difference in colour is quite distinct and something to bear in mind. The warm white is much softer and really does radiate more warmth than the cool white and probably nearer to the colour of the traditional bulbs I was replacing.<\/p>\n

We do have an old energy efficient light in one room which we rarely use (probably due to the light up time!!), which does seem to take 20-30 secs to become fully lit. The new LED lights dispelled the previous concern of a time delay; there really is no waiting around, when I flick the switch I get immediate, fantastic lighting much to my surprise and of no difference to other non LED bulbs we have in the house.<\/p>\n

The other difference in relation to the type of light with LED bulbs is the coverage and how the light is output. With the majority of LED lights no difference can be seen though with spotlights the focused beam of light you are used to with traditional spotlights (GU10\u2019s) is not there and the light is more dispersed and the light coverage is more widespread than areas of highlighted areas. This does give a difference but one after a few days becomes un-noticeable. I have heard arguments that cooks like a beam of light from spotlights when chopping or performing certain cooking tasks though I fail to see how these could not be done to the same standard with the difference experienced.<\/p>\n

LED build quality and Packaging<\/h3>\n

When the bulbs arrived in the standard jiffy bag I was initially a little bit surprised by the packaging, it was uncomplicated simple white boxes with a protective white insert to protect the LED bulb.<\/p>\n