LED stands for “light emitting diode.” A diode is an electrical component with two terminals which conduct the electricity only in one direction. With an electrical current, the diode emits a bright light around the small bulb LED’s are more efficient than both incandescent bulbs and fluorescent lighting because they emit light in a targeted direction, instead of scattering it in all directions. Therefore they don’t require or emit great amounts of heat. Incandescents and fluorescents release up to 90% of their energy as heat.
The cost of LED lighting has come down considerably over the last few years, along with a significant improvement in the technology and light quality. Now is a very good time to consider changing over to LED lighting with ever increasing energy supplier prices.
Main benefits of LED are:
- Much cheaper to run than halogen equivalent spotlights -typically a 5W LED bulb is equivalent to 50W halogen – therefore offering a 90% saving on electricity running costs.
- Much lower incidence of bulb replacement – LED bulbs last MUCH longer with up to 50,000 hour lifecycle
- Different lighting effects/moods available – from warm white for living rooms to a cool contemporary white light for kitchens/bathrooms
- Remote control / colour options – some LED lights can be operated by remote control with ability to easiliy select and change to any colour or colour combination
- Dimmable versions now available – but will need a specialist dimmer
- Instant light output – no ‘warm-up lag’ period like previous versions.
- Less heat output – Halogen lights run at a red hot surface temperature, whereas low wattage LEDs are cool to touch. This is far safer in situations where loft/cavity insulation is placed over the top of light fitments.
The wide choice of LED down lights can be confusing with various wattage/kelvin/lumen values and various fittings (GU10, MR16 etc). Therefore Home Entertainment Direct make it simple for you – we provide a service in which we will survey your existing spotlights and demonstrate the lighting effect of an LED equivalent (warm, cool or daylight white). We can replace any existing lights (high or low voltage versions) and in most cases the existing down light fitting will not need to be changed.
