This week is about dispelling common myths about LEDs. Light emitting diodes (LEDs) are popping up in more and more places as companies and individuals try to save money and reduce energy consumption. However there are still some incorrect beliefs that can put people off.
Myth Number 1 – LEDs don’t save power: LED bulbs typically consume less than half of the energy of a compact fluorescent and 1/8th to 1/10th of the power of an incandescent bulb. Those figures for LEDs will also improve over time too. LEDs, after all, are chips: history and physics dictate that they will go down in price and improve in performance steadily over time. Conventional bulbs are vacuum tubes. They don’t get better. Incandescent bulbs typically only use 10 percent of the power fed into them to create light. The rest gets turned into heat.
Myth Number 2 – LEDs are too expensive: While it's true that LEDs are more expensive than other types of lighting up front, in the long run, LEDs are much more cost-efficient. LEDs have a lifespan of 50,000 hours or longer and can last 25 times longer than an incandescent bulb while using 75% less energy.
Myth Number 3 – LEDs are not bright enough and have poor light quality: LED Lights are now used in most traffic lights, which is certainly a sign that LED Lights are bright enough to be seen even in daylight. LED Lights have enough light output for use in very large outdoor daylight visible installations and can sufficiently light entire rooms, tunnels and buildings.
Don’t forget that Earth Hour is this Saturday! The University is turning off the lights around Kings College from 8:30pm to 9:30pm. You can get involved by making sure you turn off all the lights and computer monitors in your office!
If anyone has any questions or suggestions about energy saving or consumption at the University, please forward them onto Tristan Wolfe, Energy Manager on 3266 or tristan.wolfe@abdn.ac.uk