5 Questions to Consider When Choosing LEDs for your Home

LEDs (light emitting diodes) are fast becoming indispensable components in all forms of lighting. You’re probably aware of the benefits, like up to 20 times longer life, lowest possible energy consumption, or lack of mercury, and now you are ready to buy LED bulbs. We apply rigorous standards to our careful selection of LED light bulbs, offering only the best quality at the lowest price.

Should I upgrade to LED Lamps?

If you are lucky enough to be able to afford the upfront cost, then yes, you should upgrade to LED lamps. LED technology has improved exponentially over the last 10-years and our bulbs have become the brightest, most reliable LED products available. LED lighting should be considered a long-term investment for future savings on replacement costs, energy costs and environmental impacts.

This then leads to our first question, ‘Which LEDs are best in my home?’ There is no straight up right or wrong answer for this one, what ultimately determines this is the look and feel of your room and what you are looking for. Some key questions to answer before starting to replace your outdated incandescent bulbs with LEDs to suit your home are:

What base do I need?

First, like any light bulb you are going to need to know what kind of fitting you need, especially if you working with the existing fittings in your home. For example, do you need a GU10 prong lamp base or a screw cap?

What shape bulb?

Are you looking for the standard bulb, candelabra, spot, down light? There are plenty of shapes and sizes and it really depends, like we said earlier, what you are looking for the light to do and what looks the best.

What brightness do I need?

Instead of being measured in watts, like incandescent bulbs, LEDs are measured in lumens. Most bulbs will list an equivalent wattage in order to help you understand what bulb you need. Now with the increased light output of LEDs comparing incandescent wattage to lumes is important. Wattage is the amount of energy required to light a bulb, whereas lumens is the amount of light produced. Let’s do a rough comparison between incandescent bulbs and LEDs:

40-watt incandescent = 450 Lumens
60-watt incandescent = 800 Lumens
100-watt incandescent = 1600 Lumens

Now using the Cree XPG2 3-up as an example I will show the wattage needed for similar lumen output. We can find the wattage of this with a simple formula: Wattage = Forward Voltage ( Vf ) + Current (I) in amps Taking the information from our featured specifications table on the product page I found the wattage.

2.94 Watts = 474 Lumens
6.09 Watts = 762 Lumens
13.95 Watts = 1374 Lumens

These are slightly different lumens but you can easily see the drastic difference in wattage. The wattage is so much lower because LEDs use up to 90% less energy. Think of how much energy and money could be saved in your household. The key thing to remember about brightness in this whole discussion however is that reducing wattage does not in anyway affect the light quality. Light quality is purely on the lumens, so match up what you already have and you’re good to go…with much less wattage.

What beam angle do I need?

What beam angle do you need from a bulb, or if you’re working on your own fixtures, what angled optic should you use? The angle will determine the spread of the light. Wide angles give off a good spread, soft light which is ideal for living areas. However, narrow angles and spot lights can be used when trying to highlight specific spots: like that built in bar you just set up or a new piece of artwork. The direct beam of a narrow angle would help give more attention to those areas.

Color?

LEDs come in all different colors and warmth options. It depends what type of feel or mood you want in each room. Usually cool whites are used in bathrooms and kitchens, whereas bedrooms and living rooms will use a warmer, softer glow.

To help get you started on some LED options for your home, check out our site and see some ways you could start switching over from incandescent bulbs today:

• Outdoor Flood Lighting
• Down Lights
• LED Replacement Bulbs
• Under Cabinet Lighting
• Fluorescent Tube LED Replacements

Our sales team is here to help you get what you want out of LEDs in your home. We try to make it easy to do on your own, so you can easily search by Color, Lumens, etc. Leds initial cost might seem a little high, but compared to what you can save in energy and how much longer their lifespan is, this won’t seem like a problem as you see the savings.