LED Lamps - All You Need to Know
LED Lamps represent the very latest in household lighting technology. We at YourWelcome are seeing a large number of our customers replacing existing halogen lamps with LED alternatives. Despite a higher initial purchase cost, they soon allow users to save money on electricity bills, thanks to their extremely low power consumption. And when we say low we mean it, some of our LED GU10 lamps drain less than 2 watts!
A quick overview
LED (Light Emitting Diode) lamps are now beginning to develop into a usable alternative to halogen lamps, they come on immediately, are around the same size as standard lamps and offer extremely long life. The downside of the technology is the fact that they are often considerably more expensive that halogen equivilents and some are not compatible with dimmer switches.
Can I simply swap Halogen lamps for LED?
The simple answer is yes - they will fit and work, however there are some really fundamental differences in the light they produce. An LED will produce a more concentrated beam which will travel a long way whilst a Halogen will usually produce a more widespread and uniform beam. If you choose an LED with a narrow beam then place in above a table you will see a birght circular area with an obvious edge - this makes them perfect for focused lighting but not so good for general purpose lighting. If you need lamps for general lighting then you really need to look for a wider beam for it to be usable. Whilst the output of LED lamps is definitely improving, you need to be aware that the higher light output lamps will appear expensive BUT they will still pay for themselves many times over in terms of power savings and you have the advantage of a usable and attractive light - with LED's you really do get what you pay for.
Application
LED lamps are used for both general and special purpose lighting. They are available in many different colours, which are produced without using filters. This greatly improves their energy efficiency over a white light source that generates all colours of light before removing unwanted colours with a filter. LED sources are compact, giving flexibility in designing light fixtures and good control over the distribution of light with small reflectors or lenses. They are also very durable in comparison to many existing technologies - there are no glass tubes to break and all internal parts are rigidly supported making them resistant to vibration and impact. They also do not contain any mercury.
Using LED lamps in a household environment
LED lamps intended to be interchangable with incandescent lamps are made in standard light bulb shapes, such as an Edison screw base, an MR16 or GU10. They are available in both low voltage (12v) and mains AC (220v-240v).
