Low Energy lights

Lighting is an industry in itself and so we cannot profess to be experts here, however, there are some key issues that are important to know when choosing light bulbs.

Get the colour right.

In the main there are three main types of bulbs for the house. Warm White, Cool White and Daylight.

Warm white is more like traditional incandescent and halogen lightbulbsand gives a light that is preferred by most people. Warm white is in the range around 3000k

Cool White is a more harsh / clinical and this is preferred by some in areas like kitchens. The colour range here is 4000 - 5000k.

Daylight mimics the colour range of the sun and so colour appear to be much more natural under these lights. Colour range here is around 6500k.

LED bulbs have better 'colour rendering' than CFLs, so this means that they create a wider range of the colour spectrum than CFLs thus making the reflected colour of things more true to real life.

Lifespan of bulbs

CFL (Compact Flourescent Lights) are affected by switching on and off frequently and so it pays to look at how long they last. Megaman CFL bulbs have special circuitry that means that they are not affected by this factor and so last much longer than all other CFLs.

LED lights last even longer than CFLs and so their additional cost can be justified by additional longevity.

Standard CFL lifespan - 8,000 hours

Standard Megaman CFL lifespan - 15,000 hours

Standard LED lifespan - 35-50,000 hours

Comparison between W equivalent

Many people rightly state that the CFLs and LEDs are not as bright as they are billed as being when compared to conventional bulbs. A 7w CFL is not the equivalent of a 50w bulb.

We think that the general rule of thumb is that you can x 4 for CFLs, so an 11w CFL will be approx. a 45w halogen or incandescent.

LEDs are brighter per w and so for this an equivalent multiplier would be approx. x 10, so a 3w LED will be the equivalent of a 30w halogen.

Fittings

This is generally not an issue for most light fittings, however, for GU10's (halogens) it can be. In order to replace a 50w halogen with a comparable CFL you will need an 11w CFL. These are larger than some fittings will take, so you might have to get specialist ones, or compromise and get 7w CFLs that will give less light, but will not require fittings to be changed.

LEDs are compact and so do not require changes in fittings when replacing halogens. LEDs are available as replacements for most fittings now, so there are available in all standard bulb styles inc. candles, golfball etc..

Differences in strip lights

Not all strip lights are the same. There use varying amounts of energy and also give off different light. It is worth checking and if you are replacing any bulbs so that you get a T5 rather than a T8. T5s can be up to 25% more efficient.

Mercury in lights

Much has been made of the fact that there is a small amount of mercury in CFLs and that this could be dangerous. The situation required for this to be of any danger is so unusual to be worth ignoring. It is something like 10 bulbs all breaking within a foot of you all at once. However, it is a concern with disposal, so if you are worried it is worth buying Megaman bulbs as these are liquid mercury free.

LED bulbs are mercury free.

Lighting up times

It is true that CFLs do take longer to reach full brightness, however this is not a particularly long process and given the savings it is a price worth paying. This is the only major downside with the Megaman bulbs since their long life is protected by circuitry that increases the time required for full brightness. This time is still small (30-40 seconds) but might be a issue for some people.

LED lights are instant and so there is no waiting for full lumination.

Recommendations

There are major differences between light sources: incandescent, fluorescent tube, CFL and LED, however there are also major differences within each of these categories. Manufacturers have different standards and so it tends to be that you get what you pay for. To cater for this RDE can access the following:

Megaman - the Rolls Royce of the CFL market and now getting into the LED market. However, we would recommend their CFLs due to their longevity, lack of mercury, construction method and that the fact that they are a zero carbon company.

Bell Electric LED lights - these offer 4 and 5w GU10 bulbs for around £24, but have a shorter lifespan of approx. 35,000 hours.