LED Low Energy Lighting

Advantages

Use around 90% less electricity

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Yes they really do! Compared to standard incandescent bulbs.

Last up to 25 times longer than
a standard bulb?

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Or do they? It's not yet clear how realistic this life span is because their brightness slowly fades rather than the bulb burning out. If the quoted life span of the LED lamp is quoted as 25,000 hours, this is the point that the brightness has fallen to around 70% of the original brightness. In addition standard bulbs appear to last longer than the quoted 1000 Hrs. However it is safe to say they last a long time - I use 15000 hours life for cost comparison purposes, this corresponds to 3 hours a day use for over 13 years. Time will tell if this is realistic.

Disadvantages

High cost

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Vary between just under £1.50 and £30 - these costs are just starting to fall with the highest wattage bulbs costing disproportionately more.

Can be heavy

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Not noticed any problems due to this.

Can be larger than a standard bulb

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May not fit some light fittings, especially fittings which have a cap ring.

Smaller beam angle for reflector types

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This can mean more intense illumination with a smaller spread.

Light colour not the same as
standard bulbs

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Depends on your preferences but they are different tending to be bluer.

Confusing variety of types and costs

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Be cautious the cheaper ones typically have a shorter life and can have a lower output in lumens per watt.

Light output drops with time

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Probably not a problem in the medium term.

Not all bulb types available

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Mainly GU10 fittings at present but the range is increasing all the time.

Can flicker occasionally when
switched off

When fed from very long cable runs (e.g. lights switched from the top and bottom of stairs) the capacitive coupling across the cables can cause the lights to flicker occasionally when switched off. This is quite rare.