CONFUSED??? You needn't be!
It all began with the concept of lighting provided by the industry, and how the changes came about from the industry standard and how they moved away from the original incandescent light bulb after the ban was imposed by the government on incandescent light bulbs back in 2011 through 2014. It was at that time, I became curious about their replacement the CFL bulb.
SOME HISTORY
Just a couple decades ago, light bulbs were light bulbs. No matter your budget, you really had only one choice when it came to interior lighting options for your home: Head to the hardware store and pick up some incandescent bulbs, choosing a wattage based on how bright you needed the light to be.
But in recent years, technology has brought us bulbs with such names as CFL and LED. That put incandescent lighting to shame. Not only are these new options more energy efficient, they can also last years, or even decades, longer than the standard light bulb we all remember from our childhoods.
CFLs: Compact Fluorescent Lights
According to EnergyStar.gov, CFLs work differently than incandescent bulbs in that, instead of running an electric current through a wire filament like incandescent bulbs, they drive an electric current through a tube that contains argon and mercury vapor. This process creates ultraviolet light that quickly translates into visible light, unlike incandescent lights which put off a warm glow.
The big difference between CFLs and incandescent bulbs is how much energy it takes to use them over time. CFLs use about 70% less energy than incandescent bulbs. At the beginning these bulbs popped or wore out within a quick short span of time. However along with technology, it was soon catching on and consumers were achieving longer life span of the CFL bulbs. Also, along with this new technology, there came the ENVIRONMENTAL issues. CFLs need to be properly disposed of and not just thrown into the land fills to pollute the Earth. Because of this issue, the industry was fast at work to produce an alternative, and that alternative was the LED.
LEDs: Light-Emitting Diodes
Light-emitting diodes, or LEDs, were for years most commonly found in small electronic displays, such as the clock on your cable box. Because the light emitted by each tiny LED is directional and fairly weak, household LED bulbs were on the fringe of mainstream technology just a few years ago.
According to the *Lighting Research Center, LED light bulbs work by bringing together currents with a positive and negative charge to create energy released in the form of light. The result is a fast source of light that is reliable, instantaneous, and able to be dimmed. At first, LEDs were very expensive to produce the same amount of light as a common light bulb in your home.
COST AND COMPARISON
When most people need to replace their light bulbs, cost is the biggest factor in their decision. But the actual cost includes more than just the upfront price of each bulb you buy; you should also factor in how much each option will cost to operate over the years. How long they will actually last, and lastly, there are so many options nowadays, and so many different makers, and they are not all equal.
This is where we come into the picture to test and evaluate the bulbs for you so that you can make the right decisions and not just take the makers' word for how long they will last and the continuous brightness and cost efficiency of the bulbs.
How much light do you actually need? In the normal size of a apartment or house between 800 to 1200 square feet, you probably don't need much light, and there is sufficient light during the day to light up your apartment or smaller abode coming from the windows,
In larger homes from 1200 to 2500 and even up to 3500 and 4000 square feet, you will find that not enough light is able to be produced by outdoor lighting coming from the windows, and at night, lights are switched on going from room to room, and those lights are sometimes left on by family members, and small children will leave them on for hours without even thinking about the cost. This does nothing for cost savings. Cost savings come from usage for the most part, and we offer motion sensor lighting for those homes that need to shine when moving from room to room, or when a closet light needs to be turned on for only the amount of time needed to find clothing or when you are looking for towels, or winter coats and such. Think about the lights being switched on in the middle of the night to get up from bed and going to the bathroom, or going downstairs to get a midnight snack. The lights are usually left on because you will be coming right back, but something distracts you and you leave the lights on for longer periods of time.
Oops, have you ever come up to the closet when the door is closed to often find that the light has been burning for a number of hours or even days? This is where motion sensor lights come into the picture. How about the number of times that you have an outdoor yard light that someone left on overnight, or you can't remember how long it has been burning. This is also where outdoor lighting which incorporates the use of solar power, and where no electricity is needed to light these outdoor areas. These areas can be lit by Solar LED lighting which are also motion sensor lighting. No worries ! ! !
* Lighting Research Center - I'm willing to bet you never even heard of such a web site !