what is LED Light Bulbs ?

 Introduction to LED Light Bulbs

The pace with which LED lighting is moving is amazing. Although LED light bulbs have been available for many years as display or accent lighting, the technology has moved forward and now greater light output has become available from LEDs. Strong, durable light bulbs containing no filaments and no mercury, there is no chance of shattering, breakages, contamination. With superb rated lives of up to 50,000 hours and reduced energy costs up to 90%, LED bulbs have already proven that they are the future of lighting. LEDs provide robust, durable and the massively energy efficient solutions compared to any other lighting currently available.

It is now possible to compare the light output from LEDs to that of halogen bulbs and as such LEDs will soon become the favoured option for all energy saving light bulbs. They have been in use for other lighting applications including vehicle lights for some time, but have failed to break through into general lighting for residential and commercial purposes. This is until now, with the advent of high powered LED bulbs.

High powered LED light bulbs have opened the door to extremely low energy consumption without compromising on top quality light output, and this is in addition to amazing life spans, showing that LED lighting will become a fit-and-forget solution, with huge reductions in energy and maintenance costs. Without any doubt the future of lighting is LED bulbs. The high powered models are now replacing halogen light bulbs as like for like replacements and there really has never been a better time to switch to these excellent bulbs, especially now that LEDs have become standard replacement products for existing lamps, bulbs and tubes.

Due to the amazing efficiency of the new high powered LED lights, and the fact that they can act as direct replacements for standard incandescent bulbs, LED light bulbs will soon be used in almost all lighting, which will ensure we are no longer dependent on wasteful lighting.

Lighting counts for a significant amount of an average electricity bill and therefore it also has a significant impact on the carbon footprint of a home or business. With the increased efficiency associated with LED lighting, this presents itself as an excellent opportunity to substantially reduce carbon emissions and help the environment. The Energy Saving Trust advises that if everybody in the UK changed their lights to LED where possible, we would be able to save enough energy to light 5 million homes!

LEDs will soon overtake low energy CFL lamps as the lighting of choice due to their increased efficiency, quality of light output, lifespan and reduced carbon emissions.

All LED bulbs which we offer for sale have been tested to high quality British standards as required.

What Is LED Lighting?

LED lighting is a lamp or other light that uses light-emitting diodes (LEDs) as a source of illumination. Most lighting comes from an incandescent or fluorescent light bulb. Although they are different than the traditional bulb, LED bulbs are available that can be put into traditional lamps and used like most other  light bulbs. They are much more efficient than incandescent or fluorescent options, however. Light-emitting diodes are semiconductor devices that convert electricity to light by using the movement of electrons. They were invented in Russia in the 1920s and put into practical use in the United States in the 1960s by General Electric. In the late 1960s, Monsanto Corporation was the first to mass-produce LEDs, and Hewlett-Packard used them in its early calculators.

There are many consumer advantages to LEDs over incandescent or fluorescent light bulbs. LED lights consume much less energy: they are 300% more efficient than compact fluorescent lights (CFLs) and 1,000% more efficient than an incandescents. They have a very long life, with about 50,000 hours of use at 70% of their original power. This works out to eight hours a day for 13 years at 70% power. A typical 60-watt incandescent bulb may last about 1,000 hours.

GU10 LED Bulb Guide | Energy Saving LED Bulbs

Light bulbs

The bayonet light bulb mount is the standard fitting in many former members of the British Empire including the United Kingdom, Australia, India, Ireland, and New Zealand, as well as parts of the Middle East and Africa (although not Canada, which primarily uses Edison screw sockets along with the United States and Mexico). The standard size is B22d-2, often referred to in the context of lighting as simply BC. Older installations in some other countries, including France and Greece use this base. First developed by George Lane-Fox in the UK and improved upon by the US Brush Electric Company from the late 1870s onward, standard bulbs have two pins on opposite sides of the cap;[2][3] however, some specialized bulbs have three pins (cap designation B22d-3) to prevent use in domestic light fittings. Examples of three-pin bulbs are found in mercury street lamps and fireglow bulbs in some older models of electric radiative heater. Bayonet cap bulbs are also very common worldwide in applications where vibration may loosen screw-mount bulbs, such as automotive lighting and other small indicators, and in many flashlights. In many other countries the Edison screw (E) base is used for lighting. Some bulbs may have slightly offset lugs to ensure they can be only inserted in one orientation, for example the 1157 automobile tail-light which has two different filaments to act as both a running light and a signal light. In this bulb each filament has a different brightness and is connected to a separate contact on the bottom of the base; the two contacts are symmetrically positioned about the axis of the base, but the pins are offset so that the bulb can only be fitted in the correct orientation. Newer bulbs use a wedge base which can be inserted either way with no issues. Some special-purpose bulbs, such as infrared, have 3 pins 120 degrees apart to prevent them being used in any but the intended socket. Bayonet bases or caps are often abbreviated to BA, often with a number after. The number refers to the diameter of the base (e.g., BA22 is a 22 mm diameter bayonet cap lamp). BA15, a 15 mm base, can also be referred to as SBC standing for small bayonet cap. The lower-case letter

Choosing a LED bulb to replace a GU10 Halogen Spot

LED bulb GU10

LEDARE

LED bulb GU10

£4

Assembled size

Luminous flux: 150 lm
Power: 3.4 W

Key features

- The LED lightsource consumes up to 85% less energy and lasts 20 times longer than incandescent bulbs.

Designer

IKEA of Sweden

Package measurement and weight

Packages: 1

Article Number : 202.200.39
Weight : 0.1 kg
Quantity 1 

Environment

Special waste handling may be required. Please contact your local authorities for more information.

Household LED lamps

Lamp sizes and bases[edit source | editbeta] LED lamps intended to be interchangeable with incandescent lamps are made in standard light bulb shapes, such as an Edison screw base, an MR16 shape with a bi-pin base, or a GU5.3 (Bipin cap) or GU10 (bayonet fitting) and are made compatible with the voltage supplied to the sockets. LED lamps include circuitry to rectify the AC power and to convert the voltage to a level usable by the LED. LED light bulbs[edit source | editbeta] LED lamps are made that replace screw-in incandescent or compact fluorescent light bulbs. Most LED lamps replace incandescent bulbs rated from 5 to 60 watts. As of 2010, some LED lamps replace higher wattage bulbs; for example, one manufacturer claims a 16-watt LED bulb as bright as a 150W halogen lamp.[4] A standard general-purpose incandescent bulb emits light at an efficiency of about 14 to 17 lumens/W depending on its size and voltage. According to the European Union standard, an energy-efficient bulb that claims to be the equivalent of a 60W tungsten bulb must have a minimum light output of 806 lumens.[5] A selection of consumer LED bulbs available in 2012 as drop-in replacements for incandescent bulbs in screw-type sockets Some models of LED bulbs work with dimmers as used for incandescent lamps. LED lamps often have directional light characteristics. The lamps have declined in cost to between US$10 to $50 each as of 2012. These bulbs are more power-efficient than compact fluorescent bulbs[6] and offer lifespans of 30,000 or more hours, reduced if operated at a higher temperature than specified. Incandescent bulbs have a typical life of 1,000 hours, compact fluorescents about 8,000 hours.[citation needed] The bulbs maintain output light intensity well over their life-times. Energy Star specifications require the bulbs to typically drop less than 10% after 6000 or more hours of operation, and in the worst case not more than 15%.[7] LED lamps are available with a variety of color properties. The higher purchase cost than other types may be more than offset by savings in energy and maintenance.[8] Several companies offer LED lamps for general lighting purposes. The technology is improving rapidly and new energy-efficient consumer LED lamps are available.[9] LED tube lamps[edit source | editbeta] LED tube lights are designed to physically fit in fixtures intended for fluorescent tubes. Some LED tube lamps are intended to be a drop-in replacement into existing fixtures. Others require rewiring of the fixtures to remove the ballast. An LED tube lamp generally uses many individual LEDs and maybe directional. Fluorescent lamps emit light all the way around the lamp. Most LED tube lights available can be used in place of T8, T10, or T12 tube designations, in lengths of 2, 4, and 8 feet. Specialty uses[edit source | editbeta] LED Flashlight replacement bulb (left), with tungsten equivalent (right) White LED lamps have achieved market dominance in applications where high efficiency is important at low power levels. Some of these applications include flashlights, solar-powered garden or walkway lights, and bicycle lights. Monochromatic (colored) LED lamps are now commercially used for traffic signal lamps, where the ability to emit bright monochromatic light is a desired feature, and in strings of holiday lights. LED lights have also become very popular in gardening and agriculture by 2010. First used by NASA to grow plants in space, LEDs came into use for home and commercial applications for indoor horticulture (aka grow lights). The wavelengths of light emitted from LED lamps have been specifically tailored to supply light in the spectral range needed for chlorophyll absorption in plants, promoting growth while reducing wastage of energy by emitting minimal light at wavelengths that plants do not require. The red and blue wavelengths of the visible light spectrum are used for photosynthesis, so these are the colors almost always used in LED grow light panels.