Published on

What Are the Benefits of LED Lights? Practical Applications

If you’ve seen or heard people raving about LED bulbs, you may have wondered, “What are the benefits of LED lights?” In this post, the experts at Bolt Electric of New York City explain the advantages of these lights for property owners and managers. LED lights are not only energy-efficient and cost-effective. They also offer greater versatility. Once you learn about all the benefits, you’ll never want to use old incandescent lights again.

How Do LED Lights Work, Anyway?

Light-emitting diodes

LED is an abbreviation for “light-emitting diodes.” The way LEDs function is very similar to how lasers work. An electrical current passes through a semiconducting material, causing it to emit light as photons.

While this technology has been around for more than 50 years, it wasn’t brought into the mainstream until fairly recently. A trend that started with traffic lights has spread to wide-scale consumer applications. Now, everyone seems to be replacing their old incandescent bulbs with LED versions. In fact, incandescent bulbs aren’t even available for purchase in some states. And, it’s easy to see why when you read about all the pluses of LED lights.

What Are the Benefits of LED Lights?

Cost-effective

LED lights use one-fifth to one-quarter of the energy consumed by traditional incandescent bulbs. Although they cost more to purchase up front, LED lights wind up being a more cost-effective solution in the long term. A twelve-watt bulb, for example, will give you 25,000 hours of light for about a dollar, compared to incandescent bulbs, which yield only 1,000 hours for more than four times that.

The more bulbs you use on your property, the more money you can save over time. When you add up all the light bulbs in your hallways, stairways, entrances, gardens, and other public spaces, that amounts to some serious savings.

Long-lasting

As described above, LED lights are obviously longer lasting too. This doesn’t just save you money when it comes to purchasing light bulbs for your building. It affects labor costs as well. Think of all the hours you’ll save replacing bulbs–that’s time you’re not paying maintenance staff and time you can focus on other tasks.

Environmentally friendly

LED lights save on energy consumption because they don’t need to heat up the way conventional incandescent bulbs do. Also, they only emit light in 180 degrees (AKA directional emissions), not 360, meaning you’re not using energy to light places like your ceiling that don’t need illumination. This saves on electricity use, which makes them a more eco-friendly option.

Additionally, when one bulb lasts 25 times as long as old-fashioned versions, you have less waste at the end of the year. Another plus is that there is no mercury being disposed of with LED lights.

Safer

Because LED lights don’t heat up like incandescent bulbs do, they’re considered safer in most applications. You don’t have to worry about using them in proximity to materials that might catch on fire, like tree foliage in your landscaping. They can typically operate at lower voltages too, which is another safety feature. This is significant, as every year fires are caused by overheated light bulbs igniting combustible material.

Better color rendering

LED lights offer much better color rendering than other types of light bulbs. This might seem trivial, but it can be an advantage in specific environments. Food in restaurants will look more appealing because. Artwork and graphics will appear in their original colors. You’ll get greater accuracy with security cameras, too, and fewer shadowy areas.

More versatile

You will experience a great deal more versatility with LED lights than you will with traditional models. Just a few examples of this include:

• LED lights can be much smaller than other types and fit into spaces where other bulbs won’t.
• This type of bulb is available in multiple configurations, including traditional light bulbs, strips, and strings for virtually any kind of use.
• As long as they are installed properly with the right wiring and hardware, LED lights have greater dimming capability than incandescent bulbs. They are able to go from zero to 100 percent of their rated power.
• LED lights work equally well in hot and cold environments and are ideal for landscaping and other outdoor applications.
• You can purchase LED lights in a variety of colors for different types of ambiance, and they come in different “temperatures” as well, like “warm” and “cool.”

Instant illumination

LED lights don’t need a warm-up period before they arrive at their full brightness. This makes them better for security lighting that uses automatic light switches. Also, there’s no need to fuss with dimming them later because they become too bright after a few minutes.

What Are Some Tips for Using LED Lights?

Pro suggestions from Bolt Electric

If you haven’t switched to LED lights yet, here are some final tips to consider:

1. Make the swap to LED lights as part of an overall energy-saving initiative or security improvements for your property.
2. Combine LED bulbs with other energy-efficient measures, such as photocells, dimmers, and smart technology.
3. Try LED lights outdoors first as an experiment if you’re hesitant to use them everywhere in the building.
4. Look for tax rebates and other types of rewards for reducing energy consumption on your property.

Call Bolt Electric Today to Make the Change to LED Lights

Your hyper-local, blue-chip lighting and electrical experts

If you need help upgrading your lighting to LED lights, Bolt Electric welcomes the opportunity to assist you. We can swap out your old light bulbs for less costly ones, install wiring for new LED fixtures and dimmers, and help with selecting LED lights for your property’s interior and exterior. Call us today at 212-434-0098, or use our easy online form to schedule a service visit at a time convenient for you.