LEDs: Energy Efficiency Leaders

When it comes to efficient lighting, LEDs are the solution. As Americans, we use from 10-15 kilowatt-hours of energy per day on lighting. How is this calculated? This is just another way of saying that we use the equivalent of twenty-five 60 watt incandescent lamps for an average of 6 hours throughout the day. Realistic estimates predict that introduction of LED lighting to replace incandescent lamps could cut this to one third of our current usage.

In order to understand how to reduce our consumption, we need to review some basic definitions:

• Lamp Life: The expected useful life of light source with end-of-life defined as failure or diminished light output (which is typically expressed in hours).
• Lumen (lm): The output (or relative “brightness”) of a light source normalized to correlate with human vision.
• Watt (W): Standard unit of energy.

With these definitions, we can now begin to evaluate logical buying choices. If we look at a standard 40 watt incandescent lamp, it typically delivers 450 Lumens of light. If we assume our energy cost is $.11 per kilowatt hour and the bulb is operated 3 hours a day for 365 days per year, the annual operating cost is: 3x365x40= 43,800 watt-hours per year. This is approximately 44 kilowatt-hours per year (we need to divide by 1000 to get kilowatts). At $.11 per kilowatt-hour, the bulb would cost us $4.82 per year just to operate.

Source: http://www.gelighting.com/LightingWeb/na/resources/tools/lighting-assistant-toolkit/simple-life-cycle-cost-estimator.jsp

Now let’s look at two other lamp sources LED (light emitting diode) and CFL (compact florescent lamp) that put out the same amount of light. Since they are more expensive, let’s look at the total cost of ownership over their respective lives using a cost calculator from General Electric.

Notice that the incandescent cost more not only from energy consumption, but due to the fact that you need 5 bulbs per year from short life! Even though the LED solution is the most expensive initially, it is the clear winner in the long run because of long life and low energy consumption.

LED’s have now become the leading choice for indoor lighting. Unlike fluorescent lamps, there is no Mercury content that can be harmful. Although our analysis is a residential example, Norlux stands ready to help you with an OEM solution for you architectural, medical or industrial products! Contact Norlux Today!