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The LED Light Bulb Revolution: How LED Bulbs Can Improve the Energy Efficiency and Appearance of Your Building

If you own or manage properties in New York City, you probably spend a fortune on light bulbs. But it doesn’t have to be that way. New LED bulb technology is leading a light bulb revolution. You can save money and make any building look better by using LED bulbs instead of conventional incandescent ones. Here’s what you need to know about LED bulb cost efficiency and aesthetics.

How Do LED Bulbs Work?

Innovative technology

LED (light emitting diode) bulbs use science similar to lasers to create light. An electrical current is passed through a diode, which is a semiconducting material. The diode then emits photons (light particles) through the process of electroluminescence. This is a distinctly different process than incandescent bulbs use, which is what makes LED bulbs more energy-efficient and versatile.

Why Are LED Bulbs More Cost-Effective?

Increased longevity and lower electricity use

The conventional incandescent bulbs you probably grew up with generate light by heating up a filament inside a vacuum tube (the bulb itself). That’s why they get so hot to the touch when they’ve been on for a while. But it takes quite a bit of electricity to get an incandescent bulb hot enough to emit light, so old-fashioned light bulbs aren’t very efficient when it comes to energy use.

LED bulbs, on the other hand, use significantly less electricity to generate the same amount of light. In fact, they draw about one-fourth to one-fifth the current that incandescent bulbs do. You can imagine how that adds up over time everywhere you use light bulbs in your public spaces (assuming occupants provide their own bulbs in their condo or co-op units). If you have hundreds of bulbs in the building, you could save hundreds of dollars or perhaps even more on your electric bill each year.

Furthermore, LED bulbs last longer too. We’ve all seen the broken filaments in incandescent bulbs when they burn out. All that heat produces excessive wear and tear on incandescent filaments. These old-style bulbs burn out about 15 to 25 times faster than LED light bulbs. If constantly replacing bulbs is a drain on your manpower, LED bulbs can save you time and money there too.

Can LED Bulbs Look as Good as Old-Fashioned Incandescent Bulbs?

Improved aesthetics

Most people agree now that LED bulbs actually look better than most incandescent bulbs. When LED technology became mainstream, light bulb manufacturers and lighting fixture makers embraced their use, leading to many innovations in this area. You’ll now find LED bulbs in a range of tones, from cool white to natural sun to warm slightly off-white. They come in a rainbow of colors too, letting users create ambiance and artistic effects with them that were much harder to achieve with their predecessors.

LED bulbs also come in many forms now to suit virtually every kind of light fixture, including:

• – Fixed overhead lights
• – Chandeliers
• – Pendant lights
• – Table and floor lamps
• – Recessed and track lighting
• – Automatic lights
• – Lights on dimmer switches
• – Emergency lighting and signage
• – Landscape and outdoor building lights
• – Refrigerators and freezers (but not ovens)

They even come in strips to make application easy along stairways and hallways for improved safety and an inviting atmosphere. These strips can also be used under counters and along kick plates in kitchens and bathrooms for interior lighting.

Are Incandescent Bulbs Still Legal?

Changes coming soon

Both federal and many state governments (including New Jersey) have been gradually phasing out incandescent bulbs because of their poor energy efficiency and wastefulness, since they need to be replaced more often than LED bulbs. A new federal ruling under the current White House administration will make incandescent bulbs unavailable as of August 1, 2023, except in very limited uses like heat lamps.

While CFL (compact fluorescent light) bulbs are an alternative to incandescent bulbs, we generally don’t recommend them over LED bulbs because of the following reasons:

• – They contain mercury, which is dangerous for people and bad for the environment, making them difficult to recycle.
• – They’re not usually compatible with dimmable fixtures.
• – The color-rendering index for fluorescent bulbs is very limited, leaving you few aesthetic options.
• – Bulb shape is limited too — mostly spiral — which many people find unattractive.

How Can Bolt Electric Help with Your Switch to LED Bulbs?

Expert assistance for a perfect match

In many cases, you can simply swap out your old incandescent bulbs or unappealing compact fluorescents for LED bulbs yourself. However, in a few instances, you may need help from an electrician with:

• – Ensuring the LED bulbs you use and your dimmer switches are compatible
• – Installing LED bulbs in difficult locations, like recessed lighting fixtures
• – Choosing LED bulbs for landscape lighting and automatic fixtures
• – Making sure appliance LED bulbs are the right model
• – Checking the function of emergency lighting and signage once LED bulbs have been inserted
• – Adding new LED strips or new fixtures where no lighting currently exists

Whether you need help with these LED bulb issues above or have other electrical upgrades in mind, Bolt Electric welcomes the opportunity to consult with you. Call us at 212-434-0098 today to schedule an appointment and enjoy the light bulb revolution brought to you by today’s innovative LED technology.