I have been blogging about LED for almost 5 years and searching for a good LED manufacturer for about 7 years.
LED is short for light emitting diodes. The bulb life is roughly 17-20 years. It is 90% more efficient than an incandescent and emits zero heat. An incandescent emits 300 degrees, which will force your HVAC to work harder. Simply put, the operational savings of LED is compelling to say the least.
We are changing Yale to be LED as I write this.
If, however, you are confused about LED lighting, you are not alone.
Take a look at this pic. On the left is a Futurelight LED, on the right a regular low voltage bulb. Difference is 50 watts versus 4 watts.
LED technology is evolving faster than software these days, but here is what you need to know before you buy.
1. Kelvin temperature. Kelvin measures quality of light. 5000 degrees Kelvin is bad fluorescent lighting. 2500 is incandescent. Low voltage is 2800-3000, which is optimum for kitchen and bath.
2. Cree Chip. LED actually renders bluish light. It is the "driver" or semi-conductor which renders the white light. Cree manufactures these semi-conductors. I have not seen a non-Cree bulb with good quality light.
3. See it. Simple advice, I realize. Kelvins, lumen output, foot candles, renderings seem to be more guidelines in the industry than actual standards. Only way to be sure is see it in an actual application.
Bonus Video:
We are beta-testing this 4 watt LED in our showroom. If the product works properly, we will be able to sell it for $35 or less than half the price of similar bulbs.
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