Nowadays we might reasonably consider ourselves hard done by, if we had to light our way around our homes and businesses by means of candles and oil- lamps.
Fortunately, electric light bulbs suitable for domestic use have been around since the late 1800s (thank you, Mr Thomas Edison, et al).
Many improvements were devised and applied to the basic invention until the 1960s, but, disregarding increases in efficiency, the incandescent (filament) light bulb still retains several Achilles' heels.
The fundamental weaknesses of traditional filament bulbs are: high power consumption, short lifespan, low output for power consumed.
In addition, this type of light bulb will no longer be on sale after 2014 in many parts of the world.
Until the invention of energy saving bulbs in the 1980s it was not feasible to significantly reduce the running costs of lighting in the home by any means other than by fitting fluorescent tube devices in every room.
This solution was not a popular option though, as the light produced by the tubes was quite unattractive, being predominantly in the blue and yellow parts of the visible spectrum.
This is in fact the very same technology contained in energy saving bulbs, simply miniaturised into more useful formats so that the 'bulbs', or more correctly, 'tubes', may be utilised in common household light fittings.
Initially, these low energy bulbs gave off a blue tinted light, similar to their larger cousins, but they have since been improved so that they now emit a more acceptable spectrum of light suitable for general use.
However, even these low energy bulbs still consume relatively large amounts of electricity when compared to the light they give off.
Enter the LED bulb! These fellows have now come of age! The new generation of LED bulbs are a complete and direct replacement for their old filament bulb counterparts.
They have the following advantages: extremely low running costs (12 per cent energy consumption, when compared to an equivalent filament bulb, and only one-third that of the equivalent low energy bulb); extremely long life - around 30,000 hours operation; acceptable light emission - the colour of light output can be chosen and measured according to the KELVIN scale.
Light output at around 2700K (warm white) is perfectly suited to general lighting around the home; other colours and colour temperatures are ideally suited to mood lighting or display lighting; choice of wide or narrow beam angles on spotlights.
These bulbs also run at a much lower temperature than a traditional bulb, making them ideally suited to food displays in a chilled-meat counter, for example.
Back in November 2010 my partner and I decided to go with LED bulbs when our kitchen spotlights began to fail.
These were standard GU10 spotlights x 4.
Well, we were very lucky because it just so happened that my favourite store LIDL were then selling just such a replacement LED bulb! These retailed at around GBP6.
00 each, so the set of four cost me GBP24.
00.
I just want to say that savings in running costs mean that these bulbs have already paid for themselves, and now the running cost is only - wait for it...
1 penny per 5 HOURS of use! For an equivalent total of 140 Watts! So we now call the kitchen light our 'impunity light' because we can leave it on as much as we like with impunity! Hey, and the light is JUST THE SAME as we were getting from our previous incandescent bulbs, yet at only 1/8th of the running cost.
A further significant saving will kick in over time, because we previously had to replace at least two of the standard bulbs each year, but the LED bulbs are rated for 30,000 hours, which is equal to 15 YEARS of average usage.
Fortunately, electric light bulbs suitable for domestic use have been around since the late 1800s (thank you, Mr Thomas Edison, et al).
Many improvements were devised and applied to the basic invention until the 1960s, but, disregarding increases in efficiency, the incandescent (filament) light bulb still retains several Achilles' heels.
The fundamental weaknesses of traditional filament bulbs are: high power consumption, short lifespan, low output for power consumed.
In addition, this type of light bulb will no longer be on sale after 2014 in many parts of the world.
Until the invention of energy saving bulbs in the 1980s it was not feasible to significantly reduce the running costs of lighting in the home by any means other than by fitting fluorescent tube devices in every room.
This solution was not a popular option though, as the light produced by the tubes was quite unattractive, being predominantly in the blue and yellow parts of the visible spectrum.
This is in fact the very same technology contained in energy saving bulbs, simply miniaturised into more useful formats so that the 'bulbs', or more correctly, 'tubes', may be utilised in common household light fittings.
Initially, these low energy bulbs gave off a blue tinted light, similar to their larger cousins, but they have since been improved so that they now emit a more acceptable spectrum of light suitable for general use.
However, even these low energy bulbs still consume relatively large amounts of electricity when compared to the light they give off.
Enter the LED bulb! These fellows have now come of age! The new generation of LED bulbs are a complete and direct replacement for their old filament bulb counterparts.
They have the following advantages: extremely low running costs (12 per cent energy consumption, when compared to an equivalent filament bulb, and only one-third that of the equivalent low energy bulb); extremely long life - around 30,000 hours operation; acceptable light emission - the colour of light output can be chosen and measured according to the KELVIN scale.
Light output at around 2700K (warm white) is perfectly suited to general lighting around the home; other colours and colour temperatures are ideally suited to mood lighting or display lighting; choice of wide or narrow beam angles on spotlights.
These bulbs also run at a much lower temperature than a traditional bulb, making them ideally suited to food displays in a chilled-meat counter, for example.
Back in November 2010 my partner and I decided to go with LED bulbs when our kitchen spotlights began to fail.
These were standard GU10 spotlights x 4.
Well, we were very lucky because it just so happened that my favourite store LIDL were then selling just such a replacement LED bulb! These retailed at around GBP6.
00 each, so the set of four cost me GBP24.
00.
I just want to say that savings in running costs mean that these bulbs have already paid for themselves, and now the running cost is only - wait for it...
1 penny per 5 HOURS of use! For an equivalent total of 140 Watts! So we now call the kitchen light our 'impunity light' because we can leave it on as much as we like with impunity! Hey, and the light is JUST THE SAME as we were getting from our previous incandescent bulbs, yet at only 1/8th of the running cost.
A further significant saving will kick in over time, because we previously had to replace at least two of the standard bulbs each year, but the LED bulbs are rated for 30,000 hours, which is equal to 15 YEARS of average usage.