LED there be light

The Sixties were a very interesting time in the human history, fresh from landing the man on moon in 1959, science was moving at a lighting speed so as to say. Among the very many discoveries and inventions that were taking place at a blistering pace, there was one small one that possibly did not garner much attention, though its impact is still being felt even today.

It was on an October 9, 1962, when Nick Holonyak, a scientist working at GE Labs in New York, passed current through a specially burnished diode with GaAsP (Gallium arsenide phosphide), and much to the amazement of researchers around him, it light up in red. This was the first-ever visible LED light. The invention was significant, because in addition to the successful inventors at GE, there were many at other labs trying to work out a practical light-emitting diode. There were many applications of LED that followed this invention, right from machine readers to television sets. LED steadily became pervasive in our everyday lives.

Yet, somehow LED lights never really saw the light of the day.  In fact, LED-based lighting systems have been around for quite many decades. Because of the high cost of the product, it never really did gain popular traction. But over the years, as technology brought down the costs, and the cost of power went up, people woke up to the benefits of LED lights. The case is more so true especially for offices that need much dispersed illumination through the day, and are conscious about the running costs of lighting in terms of monthly power bills.

Here’s a list of reasons why LED lighting is greener and more economical than traditional light bulbs (incandescent) or even CFL:

While LED Lights indeed cost more than CFL or an ordinary incandescent, the difference is in terms of the lifespan. The average lifespan of an incandescent bulb is around 1200 hours, while that of CFL around 8,000 hours. While that of a LED is a whopping 50,000 hours or more. So, if you were using the LED bulb to light up your space for 6-hours a day, you won't need another one for some 23 years. Now, is that not cost efficient?

CFL lamps replaced the incandescent lamps on one primary premise that is lower energy consumption. For instance, a traditional incandescent bulb consumer 60 watts of power, a similar CFL would consume around 13-15 watts of power. And now, we have LED light bulbs that 50% lower energy than a CFL lamp. Thus there is a significant power savings while using a LED bulb.

Traditional bulbs and even CFLs emit heat when used. An incandescent bulb typically emits 85 BTU/hour, while a CFL would emit around 30 BTU/hour. On the other hand, a LED bulb emits around 3.4 BTU/hour. The good thing about less heat dissipation is that it can have a positive impact on the air-conditioning, since there will be less heat to be removed from confined spaces. In this manner, there is greater savings on energy costs.

CFL are touted and known to be green, but what is not well-known is that they contain a toxic chemical within them. A typical CFL bulb contains 1mg-5mg of Mercury and is a major risk to the environment, especially if the glass breaks or is damaged. LED lights on the other hand have no such chemicals and pose no such hazard to the environment. Also keeping in mind the long life of an LED bulb, there will be much lesser of them in the landfill, as compared to CFL or even incandescent light bulb.

One of the great advantages of LED lights is that it comes in various shapes and sizes and is very adaptable to office space. In fact, lighting solutions can be customised based on the need and availability of space. This is one big leap over other light sources.

Little wonder, because of the long lifespan and power savings, LED lights is steadily becoming the premier choice for many, right from offices to industries and more importantly, greener than the rest.

Back in '62, when Holonyak invented the LED, he had predicted LEDs would replace the incandescent light bulb of Thomas Edison in the future. While, it was the CFL that actually replaced the incandescent, LED by displacing CFL is making that prediction come true. So, what if it took almost 5 decades for the same to happen, as LED is now set to shine our lives brighter and cooler.