LED Lighting: Everything You Need to Know to Flip the Switch

Make the Switch to LED

It might seem like a small change, but swapping out your old lights for LED bulbs or fixtures could cut your household energy use by 80%. Most LED lights provide a slightly brighter light, which can reduce the need for additional lights elsewhere in the room. Over time, that can lead to big savings on the energy bill.

LEDs (light emitting diodes) provide brighter light from a single bulb, sometimes with a range of color temperature settings to make the light fit the demands of your space. With smart technology, you can control the lights with an app or a remote control, from the comfort of the couch or kitchen table. Even the world of lighting has caught up with the modern age — Is it time to update your home lighting?

The LED Advantage

There are many options out there to choose from in lighting, so what is so great about switching to LED? Well, let’s take a look at the advantages LED lighting can offer.

Energy Efficiency

LED lights are six to seven times more energy efficient than the traditional CFL or incandescent bulb. They offer brighter light while consuming less electricity, which saves you money and saves a little extra strain on the energy grid.

Long Life

Used appropriately, LED bulbs can last longer than incandescent bulbs. The bulbs can last between 5 and 7 years, depending on the installation and amount of use, and properly maintained integrated fixtures last up to 10 years or more.

Design Integration

With integrated LED, the design of the light fixture itself, such as a chandelier, can be streamlined and artful. These light fixture designs can be much more creative, because they aren’t limited by the requirements of large bulbs.

Customization Options

LED offers the ability to select what kind of light you want in a space, not in wattage, but in color temperature and lumens. Lumens allow you to choose how bright you want the light to be. The color temperature determines whether the light is a warm glow, in yellow or orange tones like from a fireplace or candle, or alternately if it is a whiter light, reflecting white or blue shades like skylight.

Safer Light

The broad range of LED light does not generate potentially harmful UV (UltraViolet) wavelengths. LEDs are made without using mercury, unlike CFLs (compact fluorescent lights.)

Though these may seem like small differences on paper, their impact adds up quickly. LED lights are a step beyond the traditional lighting solution, from simple replacement bulbs to integrated light fixtures that make a statement.

The FAQs on LEDs

It’s not a simple swap between traditional bulbs and LEDs, so there are many factors up for consideration when choosing what will work best in your home. For extra help on choosing the LED that best fits your lighting needs, check out these frequently asked questions to get you started.

Do I need to replace the whole lamp or can I get an LED bulb?

LED bulbs can be replacement bulbs for most fixtures that currently have a CFL or incandescent bulb. LED bulbs can be screwed in to your existing features, with the LED driver built into the base to both control the voltage and convert AC power to the lower DC power.

Look for the brightness level and color range, rather than the wattage. For instance, a lamp designed to operate a traditional bulb with a maximum of 60 watts can instead accommodate an LED bulb equivalent to 100w of light because the LED bulb produces much less heat energy, the equivalent of less than a 20w, and well below the lamp’s safety limit.

Keep in mind that not all LED bulbs have the built-in heat-sink like CFLs, and you may find that cheaper bulbs will do best in open fixtures that allow for heat dissipation. If you’re looking to replace a bulb in a ceiling fixture, look for an LED bulb approved for use in recessed spaces. LEDs should not be installed in enclosed spaces where they might overheat. Too much energy converting to heat shortens the life of the bulb, and in extreme cases, can cause injury or electrical problems.

Integrated LED lighting fixtures use modules rather than the traditional bulbs. These are built into the design of the lamp, such as with some outdoor lighting solutions, chandeliers, or LED light strips. The power-regulating LED driver is included in the design of these fixtures, rather than in the module itself.

Designer fixtures, such as LED chandeliers, LED pendants, or LED wall sconces, are also very common types of LED equipped fixtures with specific modules, designed to match and optimize the power capacity and lighting type for the look and purpose of the fixture. Most modules can be replaced, but it’s important to find matching types to guarantee the longest possible illumination life of each LED, as well as maintain the energy savings.

What lights should I update?

LED lights have a longer life expectancy, save energy overall, and use different materials and technology in their design. Because of this, LED lights usually cost more than the older CFL or incandescent bulbs.

As you update your lighting to LED, replace the most expensive bulbs first. Start with the light sources that you use most often. For instance, in a kitchen or family room where the light will be on for hours at a time, an LED bulb in the light fixtures will start saving you money on the energy bill the first time it’s used. If the light isn’t often used, you will have spent extra money without noticing any savings. Lights in high traffic areas that are on multiple times a day or for many hours a day will soon pay for themselves on the next energy bill.  

Are LED lights dimmable?

Yes! However, not all LEDs are made with dimming capabilities in mind. Look for LED bulbs that specify the light is dimmable. If the bulb and the dimmer don’t match up, the light might not turn on at all, or it could flicker and buzz. This is because traditional, magnetic dimmers lower the lights by limiting the voltage going to the light, but LEDs require a consistent voltage.

They rely on drivers to maintain a steady flow of power to each bulb, regulating the energy flow to prevent surges that can cause overheating. LED lights use a very low voltage, some at only around 2 to 4 volts of DC power, so look for ELV, or electronic low voltage, dimmers, which are a better match to most LED requirements.

The Question of Color

It took a few designs for LED to get the color-thing right. Gone are the days when LED lights cast a sickly, unnatural color over everything. Today’s LED offer true color lighting solutions for the home, office, or even an artist’s studio, everywhere that accurate color representation counts. And you might be surprised at how important it is to consider color when it comes to lighting.

The ability to customize color can boost mood and offers other surprising effects. Studies have shown that the lighting color can influence how people interact with their spaces, with warmer tones inspiring comfort and relaxation and brighter, white lights encouraging energy and productivity.

So what should you look for to determine color?

First, look for the kelvin rating. The higher the kelvin rating, the whiter the light. Most CFL or regular incandescent bulbs will be warmer in color, between 1,000k and 2,700k. For a more natural light, with the luminescence of the light from the sky, look for bulbs with a range between 3,000k and higher. The higher it goes, the more ‘blue’ the light will seem, which can reflect other colors in the room differently than a white light.

Another consideration when selecting the right LED bulb is the CRI, or color rendering index. This is a measurement of the light’s ability to show the most accurate, natural color of an object that it reflects against.The CRI ranges from 1 to 100, with a 100 rating being the best. The higher the CRI, the truer the color. If the light has a low CRI, there may be an off-color cast against objects in the room, for instance, a noticeable greenish tint.

It’s important to note that LED light bulbs can reflect differently with different CRI ratings, even if the bulbs have the same kelvin rating. Kelvin measures the temperature of the light’s color while CRI measures the quality of the color. If someone has particular sensitivities to color perception, or will be working on tasks that require attention to color detail, look for LED bulbs and fixtures with a CRI of 80 or better.

Lumens vs. Watts

Similarly, LEDs differ from traditional bulbs in that their brightness is measured in lumens rather than in wattage. Watts are a measure of energy output required to operate other bulb types, which is just not applicable at all to LEDs beyond the ability to match the amount of light produced in other bulbs. 

Instead, lumens measure the amount of light produced. LED bulbs require a fraction of the energy and can produce a much brighter light, without generating as much heat, so trying to measure the light output by the minimal energy used doesn’t accurately convey the variance. Tracking the light intensity with lumens can better illustrate the amount of light the LED bulb produces.

Only approximate and generalized comparisons are currently possible when replacing traditional bulbs with LED. There are no exact conversion or correlation rates between wattage and lumens because individual bulbs and fixtures will vary in efficiency, which influences the light output. The most reliable standard is simply that the higher the lumens, the brighter the light, and the greater the amount of space a single bulb can illuminate.

Some LED fixtures and bulbs allow you to set the color range and dim the brightness, as needed. The applications of these are varied, from decorative to functional, even allowing you to turn a lamp into an alarm clock every morning as with an app-controlled smart bulb in a lamp that might replicate a sunrise. When replacing CFL or incandescent bulbs with LED bulbs, make sure to find LED bulbs that are a similar color temperature and brightness with any others in the room that won’t be swapped out. 

The Ongoing Evolution of LED

As time goes on, LED lighting technology becomes smarter, more expansive, and more affordable. LED lighting has been around long enough now that many of the old design flaws have been fixed, resulting in the low-energy, bright bulbs on the market today.

Studies have been done to help determine the difference between light sources, from natural daylight, to traditional bulbs. LED has been shown to be safer than other lights and have a positive overall impact on human moods and productivity. It is a growing and changing field, so don’t spend your money on outdated fixtures. When planning an extensive upgrade to LED for your home, be sure to hire an LED-savvy electrician who can provide the most current LED products and their necessary installations.

The best part about LEDs is how far they have come in design and technology already. Switching to modern LED fixtures now will save you money over the long run, save energy, and provide years of reliable light. Tomorrow’s LED bulbs could have a few more tricks, but the investment today will be well worth the switch.