Are LED Fluorescent Tubes Ready for Prime Time?
So many LED tubes...but not all are the same...
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Where $60 MILLION dollars in LED Research is going…
Blue LED + Yellow + Orange = ?
So where does $60 million in LED research going? It seems a large chunk of grants from the department of Energy is going towards improving the 3 things that we’ve been talking about for a while: Price, light output and color.
- Price - Bringing down manufacturing costs and ultimate end costs to the consumer by improving the materials used and finding cheaper alternatives to creating LEDs.
- Light Output - Focusing on creating LED dies that are brighter, lenses that don’t cut light output and cover the LED “dots” that people see in bulbs and fixture, as well as creating fixtures that can be used by consumers that are bright enough to replace a 100W incandescent bulb.
- Improving the color output - Researching new phosphor materials (which are currently being used in fluorescent lighting as well) that make LED light “warmer”
Looks like CREE, Philips and GE are receiving the bulk of grant money. It will be interesting to see what they can come up with as well as what the future brings for LED lighting… My question is how long until all this great research is APPLICABLE to us? 2,3,4 years? Let’s hope not…
Source: Popular Mechanics
76% Return – LED bulbs as an investment vehicle
Is there any other investment that can guarantee this kind of return?
Everyone KNOWS that LED bulbs save money. With the appearance of LED bulbs in more and more places ( Philips LED bulbs just popped up in Home Depot), the general public is starting to become more aware of the products that are available, but the consensus is they’re STILL too expensive.
The truth is what few are saying is that it really doesn’t make sense financially to switch out to LEDs if you’re using them less than 8 hours a day.
Compared to a “traditional investment”, if you are only using an LED bulb 6 hours per day, you’re making a measly 5% return on your investment - i.e. if you spend $10 for the LED bulb, you’ll “make” $0.50 per year(in savings).
The numbers get really interesting when you starting getting to 12 hours usage per day and more. In this example, we plugged the numbers in for California ($0.15 /kWh) into our trusty LED energy evaluation calculator at 16 hours usage a day and the average return on investment is an astounding 76%! - i.e. if you spend $10 for the LED bulb, you’ll “make” $7 per year (in savings).
Now imagine in commercial applications where you have HUNDREDS of bulbs…this savings are just immense. Is there ANY investment vehicle out there that can guarantee a return like this?
See the full LED evaluation here.
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So now LEDs don’t get HOT enough?
There’s always something to complain about isn’t there? Apparently, one of the main benefits of using LEDs in the millions of streetlights around the U.S. is turning out to be it’s unforseen downfall. Or at least an oversight, now that the weather has gotten chillier.
Never mind that the LEDs will last years without replacing, not to mention the work it takes to get a guy in a cherry picker to replace it, and the inconvenience of having to stop at every broken light. The fact that it uses 1/10th of the energy of regular light bulbs, saving the city thousands of dollars a month in electricity (Wisconsin saves $750,000 a year) also means that not a lot of heat is being produced by the lights. Heat that would generally melt the snow and ice that would accumulate during the snowy season. This has resulted in accidents, even a death, at the hands of “malfunctioning” traffic lights. And ergo you could say that LED lights KILL PEOPLE.
Ok maybe that’s a stretch. But who would have thought that excess waste heat from inefficient bulbs would be a good thing? I guess it depends on the environment, but I can totally relate. My PC tower definitely keeps my room a degree or two warmer than normal, which is a benefit now that the weather is finally dropping below freezing. And I remember back in college when I’d turn up the Wal-mart halogen floor lamps all the way up to heat up our apartment. I guess in this case, they might need to add a heating element to the lights. I have a great solution though. Two actually.
- Assuming the average light stays mostly on green and red for at least a minute or two, but only on the yellow for a few seconds each cycle, then the heat generated from an incandescent bulb in the yellow slot could be just enough to keep the light free of ice and snow without wasting too much energy. This would be the “cheapest” solution and they enough stock from the lights they removed before to last many years into the future.
- Retrofit a heating element in the housing so that it warms the lights/lens and keeps snow/ice from accumulating. They could have this set on a switch that turns them all on when the weather gets too cold, rather than having it on 24/7. This would be pricier, but would probably save more energy and you’re not going back to incandescents.
- Do nothing. The likelihood of the right conditions for the wet snow and wind to be the right consistency to stick to the the lights is very low. Have crews go around and airblast the snow off of lights that are blocked. And have everyone be smart enough to know that a non-working light means you should treat it as a stop sign. The latter is probably the hardest part to implement.
Your welcome Transportation Authority. Please send checks to my P.O. box.
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