Are LED Lights a Good Option?

A beautifully designed kitchen is lit with LED lights

LED lights are the latest hype in lighting but are they really any good and will they work in your home.

Not every Melbourne electrical contractor will be able to tell you the history of LED lights, but most will encourage you to use them in your home. Very much the option of the 21^st century, LED lights are not only a “good” option, they are the best option for our homes and offices.

Lighting Options for Your Home

There are three options when it comes to lighting, all of which are related directly to the type of light bulb used to illuminate interiors at night.

1. Incandescent bulbs, originally invented in the late 19^th century, work with some type of filament in a glass bulb. They were the norm until the mid 20^th century, and are still used today. Standard incandescent lights are the least efficient type of light source found in the home – even in terms of incandescent lighting. Energy-saving incandescent lights that use halogen gas are considerably more energy efficient and the most common form of incandescent lighting used today.
2. Fluorescent bulbs were also invented in the late 19^th century, but it was only during the latter half of the 20^th century that they became popular for homes. In fact it was the worldwide oil crisis of the mid-1970s that prompted development of the first compact fluorescent light (CFL) by General Electric in the USA. More energy efficient, they were also more expensive to buy than incandescent bulbs, and until the 1990s were not universally popular.
3.  LED (light-emitting diodes) lights were invented in the 1960s, but have only recently become the bulb of choice, largely because they were initially considerably more expensive than other types, even taking energy efficiency into account. Today they are undoubtedly the most energy efficient lights available – as much as seven times more energy efficient than standard incandescent bulbs. It has also been proven that they can cut energy costs by up to 80 percent, and that they last a lot longer than other types.

If you compare the lifespan of 20 and 50 watt halogen lights with 5 and 10 watt LED lights available in Australia, you’ll find that you can save close to $50 per light by using the 5 watt LED lights (vs 20 watt halogen lamps), and more than $70 per if you use the brighter LED bulbs. Change all the bulbs in your home to LED, and you’ll make a killer saving. But that’s not all, because it isn’t just lifespan that counts, you will also save money by running LED rather than incandescent. Research shows that you can save close to $14 per 5 watt LED and more than $36 per 10 watt LED in a single year.

You will need the correct fittings to accommodate LED lights, but your Melbourne electrical contractor will help with that. We specialize in this service, and once you have chosen the fittings you want, we will install dimmers and hook up transformers if required.

We advise our clients to call us in to assess the household wiring system before they go shopping for new LED fittings. We will then discuss whether you need LED transformers and assist with the selection of switches and dimmers. We also have a 24-hour emergency service if you have unexpected problems.