General Lighting
Do LED Lamps contain Mercury?
Are LED’s safe?
Yes. LED’s do not contain Mercury, they give of comparatively little heat and as many are not made of glass enclosures or fragile parts the majority of LED lamps have a reduced likelihood of breakage.
What are the benefits to using LED Lamps?
Long Life
One of the Key Benefits to using LED light bulbs is the longer expected life of the bulb itself. The LED’s are far more durable and robust than other lighting technologies and cope better in a range of different conditions. Where an incandescent bulb would typically last between 1000-2000 hours an LED bulb will last up to 50000 hours. The long life of an LED light bulb often means that the bulb will effectively pay for itself in terms of the energy saved, all while allowing an effective fit and forget solution to any lighting requirement.
Energy Efficiency
Led light sources are far more efficient than that of other technologies; this is not only due to the high amount of Light emitted from the light bulb per watt of electric used, but also due to the reduced heat wastage from an LED. Other lighting technologies generate more heat than light therefore wasting energy, for example an incandescent Light bulb would use up to 90% of the energy consumed producing the unnecessary heat. LED light bulbs will also produce a higher Lumen per watt figure than traditional light sources, for instance an incandescent bulb would produce 15lm per watt whereas a LED bulb would produce around 100lm per watt. This would mean that a 25W incandescent light bulb could be replaced by a 2.5w LED bulb giving a 90% energy saving to the user.
Durability
LED light sources are more robust and durable than other technologies; this is partly due to the led not containing moving parts. LED light bulbs are able to withstand a grater range of temperature than previous lighting technologies, making them ideal for areas where temperatures are low such as refrigeration units. LED bulbs are also able to be used in areas where higher lamp failures are experienced for example in or near heavy machinery where vibrations would affect the likes of CFL and Incandescent bulbs.
Design flexibility
Due to the compact design of the Light emitting diode (LED) they can be easily mounted in whatever layout required. This allows LED light fittings to be created as an all in one solution where previously with other technologies such as fluorescent you would require a separate fitting, CFL Tube and an electronic ballast to power the tube. Now it is possible to retrofit existing CFL fittings with LED replacement lamps (running on 240V therefore reducing requirement of a ballast) or supply a complete all in one LED fitting creating an easy fit and forget solution.