LED Lights and Lighting

What are LEDs - An introduction to LED's
LED Lights - What Lights are available using LEDs as a light source?
LED Bulbs - How do LED bulbs compare to other lights?
LED Brightness - How bright is a LED?
LED Garden Lighting - Why do most garden lights use LEDs?
LED Security Lighting - Can I replace my halogen security light with an LED equivalent?
LED The Future - Will LEDs get better?

What are LEDs - An introduction to LED's

LED stands for Light Emitting Diode. A LED is a modern light source which is rapidly replacing other traditional bulbs such as Halogens, Fluorescent and incandescents.
LEDs have been in use since 1962 when they were introduced as a practical electronic component, however the technology to create an LED was discovered in 1907 but was not actually made into an LED until 1927. The original LED was red in colour.
LEDs were first mass produced in 1968 and use for indicators. Hewlett Packard used LEDs for the alphanumeric display on their early handheld calculators.
Today LEDs can be produced in virtually any colour and used for a miriad of purposes everything from your everday 1 LED garden light through to aviation lighting.

LED Lights - What Lights are available using LEDs as a light source?

LEDs are exceptionally versatile in there application as they use very small in regards to size and can be exceptionally bright in regards to their performance this combined with there low cost and incredibly long life cycle make them difficult to compete with as far as lights sources are concerned. Many household will be familiar with LED Garden Lights both low voltage LED lighting and solar LED garden lights have taken advantage of the low energy requirement of the LED. Solar LED Lights do not require high capacity batteries to work for several hours and so do not require a large solar panel in order to recharge within a day keeping cost very affordable. within the garden sector you can now get LED decorative lights, LED ground lights, LED path lights, LED spot lights, LED security lights, LED decking lights, LED floodlights, LED shed lights and even LED Christmas lights. In the home LED bulbs are becoming increasingly popular and although generally more expensive than other like bulbs they use a fraction of the energy and last far longer making long term finacial sense. As well as standard LED bulbs which come in all manner of shapes and sizes you can also now get LED strip lights and LED Tubes. Other applications in day to day life where LEDs are commonly used are in torches, street signs, traffic lights, calculators, TVS, projectors and all maner of electrical devices to simply indicate that the device is still working. Other LED Light products you may be less familiar with are Car Lights - brake lights and indicators, Aviation lights, Traffic Lights and Advertisment boards.

Back to Top

LED Bulbs - How do LED bulbs compare to other lights?

The biggest advantage of the LED over other bulbs is the low amount of energy that is required to power them plus the fact that the LED technology is still being developed and improved upon. In 2009 a 13 watt LED would produce the same brightness as a 40 watt which is the equivalent of 450 to 650 Lumens in 2011 a 6 watt LED bulb can now do the same. The useful life expectancy of a LED has been estimated at 35,000 to 50,000 light hours but they can last well beyond this time frame to put this into context the traditional incandescent lightbulb that has been in use for many years will typically only last 1,000 - 2,000 light hours and more modern low emergy fluorescent bulbs will typically last 10,000 to 20,000 light hours. Halogen bulbs typically have a lifespan 0f 2000 - 2500 light hours and are exceptionally bright and commonly found in security lighting but even these can now be rivalled with LEDs with a number of LED security lights on the market, with just 56 standard LED bulbs you can have an LED Security Light which will be equivalent to a 150 watt Halogen Secutiy Light for a fraction of the energy consumption.

Back to Top

LED Brightness - How bright is a LED?

The brightness of an LED is typically measured in millicandella (mcd), or thousandths of a candela. One ultra bright LED is typically 15,000 mcd or 15cd, a 25w compact fluorescent light bulb will be about 135cd. To make a product using LEDs as a light source brighter multiple LEDs will be used together typically 9LEDs will be the equivalent to a traditional 25w compact fluorescent light. As with any light source the light can be concentrated in a specific direction with reflector plates to intensify the brightness. The brightness of an LED can also be increased by the amount of current that is run through it but this can also reduce the lifetime or reliability of the LED. The Colour of an LED can also effect the amount of light produced with the Cool White being the brightest.

An example of the above in a Solar Centre Product would be our Thea Solar Garden Spotlight this light uses 8 x 15,000MCD LEDs totaling 120,000MCD which is the equivalent of 25Lumens or 25w lightbulb. The Light produced from the lights is then focused into a beam using a reflective backplate and cone allowing the light to project along a path upto 10metre long - the light will be bright for about 5 metres and the intesity of light will reduce until it reaches its maximum distance of 10 metres.
As a rule of thumb The Solar Centre uses an assumed power of 3w per LED in its products.

LED Garden Lighting - Why do most garden lights use LEDs?

LED garden lights have been around for a number of years and are used for there low energy requirment and so low cost to run. LED garden lighting can run throughout the night for the same running costs of having a traditional bulb running for just an hour. The use of LED Garden Lights were very popular with low voltage lighting systems and have become common place in the home garden with the use of Solar LED Garden Lights where no wiring is required and so can be positioned anywhere with minimal fuss.

Back to Top

LED Security Lighting - Can I replace my halogen security light with an LED equivalent?

Using the calculations as above that 1 LED = 3w it is definetly possible to produce a light suitable for use as a LED Security Light. A 500w halogen light would require either using specialist LEDs or 165 of the standard ultra bright LEDs. 500 watts for a security light is often considered too bright and a more social 100w or 150w light is often used. A solar equivalent LED security light is available in the form of an EVO36 (100w equivalent) and an EVO56 (150w Equivalent).

LED The Future - Will LEDs get better?

The LED Lighting industry is rapidly growing and all manner of light products are being produced with LEDs as standard. This makes factories compete to produce the most efficient and cost effective LEDs and naturally means the quality will improve. The efficiency and light output of LEDs have been doubling every 36 months since the 1960's a big part of this is due to general technological advancement in semiconductor technologies and in optics and material science.

Back to Top