Choosing LED bulb

Choosing LED bulb

Here are a few things to consider when choosing LED light bulbs...

Base

Voltage

Efficiency

Colour temperature

Colour Rendering Index

Heat output

Lifespan

We will try to cover all of them in here quite deeply.

Choosing LED bulb - Base. The part of the lamp or light bulb that connects to the light fitting is generally known either as the cap or base. This provides electrical contact and also often the physical location of the lamp. A vast variety of caps and bases exist in order to help make sure that only the correct type of lamp is used in any given fitting. This section shows many of the most popular fittings. LED light bulb base types are typically measured by type and diameter in millimetres. For example, a typical Edison medium screw-in base like E27 is 27 millimetres in diameter.

Most commonly used bulb bases:

B22 - Classic, large, 2 pin base also known as Big Bayonet Cap (BC)

B15 - Classic, small, 2 pin base also known as Small Bayonet Cap (SBC)

E27 - Classic, large, screw-thread - also known as a big thread Edison. The thread used in most "normal" light bulbs, commonly used in domestic installations. (ES)

E14 - Classic, small, screw-thread - also known as a small thread Edison. Widely used in household farms, mostly in systems with lower power, for example. Desk lamps, small chandeliers. (SES)

GU10 - Plug reflector mounted on the latch. Used in lighting fixtures with reflectors. GU10 base bulbs with the most direct luminous flux directly downwards.

MR16 - Plug reflector mounted on the so-called interference. "narrow fork". Bulbs with this handle are mainly used in false ceilings, decorate furniture and store display cases and lighting stairs.

MR11 - Plug spotlight, mounted on the so-called interference. "narrow fork". Bulbs with this handle are mostly used in lighting and decorative accessory. The least popular handle, especially for LED bulbs.

G4 - plug mounted on the so-called interference. "narrow fork". Used in particular for decorative lighting in which the spotlight falls.

G9 - the so-called plug attached. "Interference". In particular, appreciated by users of the popular lighting furniture as well as decorative glow mode (scatter). He works on 240V. The distance between the legs of the shank a 9mm gun.

Choosing LED bulb - Voltage. If you know now what type of base you need, the next step is to figure out what voltage you need to power your light bulb. Most of the bulbs are powered by 240V LED bulbs exception is based on the thread G4, GU4 and AR111. Low-voltage lighting uses a step-down transformer to change your home's 240V electrical supply to 12V for light illumination; this power conversion makes this lighting system safe to install and maintain since the voltage level is significantly lower than a standard electrical outlet. Choosing the correct voltage is crucial for the bulb operation.nThere is a voltage ratio you are able to go up or down from the voltage you need but it is always recommended to use the correct voltage or higher within the allowed ratio.

For example, if you plug a 240-volt bulb into a 12-volt fixture the bulb will not turn on, and vice-versa is you plug a 12-volt bulb in a 240-volt fixture the diodes will explode and the bulb will be permanently damaged. If in doubt please contact a fully qualified electrician for help.

Choosing LED bulb - Efficiency. Manufacturer's claims vary wildly about the efficiency of LEDs and can often be quite misleading. The simplest way to ensure that you are comparing "like with like" is to look at the efficiency in Lumens per Watt. That is, how much light do you get for each Watt of electricity used. In early 2010, LEDs that were in product range in efficiency from about 20 to 60 Lumens per Watt, But new developments increased this to around 80 or 120 Lumens per Watt in last few years. When choosing an LED light bulb, you may see that the lumen value listed on the LED light does not match that of an incandescent or halogen, but the lights offer the same about of light on a surface. This is because the light from an LED light is directional where an incandescent light shines the light in all directions: only a part of which is used to light up the surface you want.

Choosing LED bulb - Colour temperature. Early LEDs were mostly a very much higher colour temperature (ie a bluish light) than the typical 2700K colour temperature of a warm white incandescent lamp. This has led many people to think that LEDs gave a "cold" light. The LED technology has however advanced a great deal in the last couple of years and some types of LED are available in a range of colour temperatures from warm white (2700 or 3000K) up to daylight (6000K and beyond). LEDs with a higher colour temperature do however tend to be slightly more efficient than those with a lower colour temperature so some companies offer these as a way of making their products seem brighter. To replace standard incandescent or halogen lamps, a colour temperature of around 3000K is preferred. Some companies use non-standard terms when describing the colour of LEDs such as "natural white" or "office white" which cannot be readily compared with other products. To ensure that you are comparing like with like always check the colour temperature.

Choosing an LED bulb - Colour Rendering Index. Colour Rendering Index is a quantitative measure of the ability of a light source to reveal the colours of various objects faithfully in comparison with an ideal or natural light source so it is very important if we talk about working areas or places where we spend most of our time doing things. Most of the LEDs nowadays on the market are in CRI between 65-80. A CRI of 100 represents the maximum value. Lower CRI values indicate that some colours may appear unnatural when illuminated by the lamp. Incandescent lamps have a CRI above 95. Cool white fluorescent lamps have a CRI of 62, however, fluorescent lamps containing rare-earth phosphors are available with CRI values of 80 and above.

Choosing LED bulb - Heat output. LEDs give off relatively little heat but do run reasonably warm and often incorporate a heat sink to dissipate any excess heat and maintain the LEDs at optimum operating temperature. Compact lamps such as miniature spotlights can thus still get reasonably warm whereas larger bulbs and candles certainly cool enough to touch when operating.

Choosing LED bulb - Lifespan. Imagine that after changing a LED bulb you will not need to use time and resources to change it again in many years to come. Sounds good, right Long lifetime stands out as the number one benefit of LED lights. LED bulbs and diodes have an outstanding operational lifetime expectation of up to 100.000 hours (8-10 times longer than standard halogen lamps). This is 11 years of continuous operation or 22 years of 50% operation. If you leave a LED light on for 8h a day it would take around 20 years before you'd have to replace the LED bulb. LED's are different from standard lighting: They don't really burn out and stop working like a standard light, moreover, the lighting diodes emit lower output levels over a very long period of time.

LED lights are free of toxic chemicals. Most conventional fluorescent lighting bulbs contain a multitude of materials like mercury that are dangerous for the environment and for human health.

The benefit of LED lights is that they are an eco-friendly form of lighting as they do not contain mercury or other harmful gases and are 100% recyclable. For example, a 13w LED light emits 68% less CO2 than a standard 40w incandescent bulb running 10 hours a day. They do not emit any harmful UV rays either.

This will help you reduce your carbon footprint by up to a third. The long operational lifespan mentioned above means also that one LED light bulb can save the material and the production of 25 incandescent light bulbs. A big step towards a greener future!