Overall, LED downlights are a popular choice for both residential and commercial lighting because of their efficiency, durability, and versatility compared to older incandescent, halogen, or fluorescent bulbs and light fittings.
LED technology provides property owners with better quality lighting while reducing energy bills and eliminating safety risks associated with the heat produced from older technology. LED lights are also classified as ‘green technology’ that reduces carbon emissions and global pollution due to low power usage and recyclable materials.
Installing new LED downlights for your home can help you save money, reduce the amount of insects gathering in your home, and prevent property fires caused by extremely hot halogen globes coming into close contact with flammable materials in the ceiling.
What is an LED Downlight?
LED lights were first sold for commercial use in 2008. LED is short for Light Emitting Diode. A diode is a semiconductor device typically made from materials like silicon, selenium or germanium, that emit a bright, visible light when an electrical current runs through them. Diodes are made of these materials because they are long-lasting, and when and how they conduct electricity is easier to control.
Older forms of lightbulbs that LED lighting replaces can include halogen or incandescent light bulbs. Certain government and National Health Bodies, such as the COAG Energy Council, are involved in long term campaigns to phase out halogen lighting completely. It is absolutely vital to replace and upgrade your old downlights before they are completely unusable. Contact a professional electrician for smooth and easy upgrades for your property’s lighting.
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- LED Lights Use Less Energy
LED downlights use approximately 80% less energy than other older types of lighting equipment, and require intensely less power to function properly and efficiently throughout a house or business. LED globes can generate light even on only 5-6 watts, according to Sustainability Victoria. This is because the electricity that is running through an LED globe is being used solely to create light, instead of creating light and heat together, making the power usage much more efficient and effective when installed by a trusted professional.
Other globes that can generate good lighting on lower amounts of watts include CFL globes, or compact fluorescent lamps, which are also longer lasting and more efficient light sources compared to incandescent globes. However, CFLs contain toxic materials like mercury, are not as energy efficient, and don’t last as long as LED materials.
- LED Lights Lower Fire Risks
In addition to the electric power running through an LED globe being used solely to generate light, most LED bulbs use a heat sink, a small device which absorbs and dissipates thermal energy into the air. This greatly reduces the thermal energy an LED light generates, meaning there is no worry of a spark or fire hazard if an LED light comes into contact with flammable building materials. This also makes changing an LED globe much easier than an incandescent one, as you don’t have to wait for it to cool down first. Comparatively, not only can old incandescent lights cause serious fire hazards if they are in contact with fabrics due to heat and UV emissions, but in some cases they may melt the light fixture itself if the heat is not properly dissipating.
Modern LED downlight’s available in Australia have what is known as an ICF rating. The ICF rating refers to the “Insulation and Climate Framework” rating, which assesses the performance of insulation in buildings. This rating helps determine how well a building’s insulation can manage heat flow, contributing to energy efficiency and comfort.
- LED Lights Are Cost-Effective
An incandescent light generating 1300 lumens will cost $30.70 to run per year, while an LED light generating 1300 lumens will cost $5.50 – 7.10 to run per year. As lighting a house can take up 15% of a homeowner’s power bills, upgrading to LEDs in any part of the house can result in major savings on not just power bills, but on general purchases as well, because LED globes will need to be replaced much less than other lighting types. It should be noted, while they are longer lasting and cost less to keep running, LED globes are typically more expensive than fluorescent or halogen light bulbs.
The Victorian Government’s Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action directly advises switching to LED lighting if you are struggling with energy bills or want better savings, stating: ‘Energy-efficient globes could save up to 80% off your lighting costs. This is because LED bulbs use less power and last longer. That means you spend less money and time replacing them.’
- LED Lights Are Eco-Friendly
LED downlights don’t just use up to 80% less power than past commercial or domestic lighting, they are also made of recyclable materials. A property owner using LED lighting is reducing their carbon footprint and helps guarantee a cleaner and greener future, and is using a product that is much easier to dispose of than other devices. When an LED bulb is no longer usable, there is no process or dangerous factors to consider, it can simply be thrown into the recycling bin like any other reusable product once it’s broken. LED Lamps are also shatterproof, shock resistant, and extremely durable, reducing the chance of the bulb breaking during recycling or shards of glass damaging the environment.
Comparatively, fluorescent tubes contain small traces of mercury vapour and can only be recycled safely through a specific process, sometimes requiring you to drop off the bulbs with hardware stores, retailers or other service providers. Halogen light bulbs are not as much of a risk to dispose of, but contain few high value materials, which makes recycling them more difficult. Typically, a halogen globe is simply thrown away instead of recycled at all.
- LED Lights Last Longer
LED downlights have a much longer lifespan than traditional bulbs, often lasting tens of thousands of hours before needing replacement.
On average, a fully installed downlight using an LED light bulb will last between 25,000 to 40,000 hours of continuous usage before finally becoming unusable. LEDs also do not immediately burn out or stop working immediately, they will begin slowly losing brightness instead. A halogen light of good quality lasts an average of 3,600 hours before it burns out and needs to be replaced, while fluorescent tubing lasts 10,000 hours of continuous usage before they must be delivered for recycling.
There are many reasons for why a LED light last longer than other types of globes, these include:
- Less Heat Generation: With heatsink technology there is less thermal damage not only to the socket and the home but to the globe itself, guaranteeing a longer lifespan.
- Semiconductor Technology: unlike other light bulbs which use a filament, LEDs use a semiconductor. A filament will burn out as it’s used, while the semiconductor will start getting dimmer and dimmer until it stops functioning altogether.
- Durable Materials: LED globes are made from strong, durable materials like epoxy lenses that are much more resistant to outdoor conditions than glass and much harder to break.
- LED Lights Attract Less Insects
As LED downlights do not generate as much heat as incandescent or fluorescent lighting, insects and bugs are not as attracted to them, reducing the number of bugs that could be infesting an area and the general presence of insect life in a home or business. By reducing the amount of insects that are attracted to light, like flies and moths, the amount of predators like spiders is also reduced, keeping your home or business free of webs and more.
To guarantee fewer insects gathering around LED lights, the right colours need to be selected. Yellow and amber LED lights are much less attractive to insects than other colours. Red lights are even less attractive but may not be suitable for general illumination. Other colours of LED lights, like white and blue, will still attract insects. If severe bug life is still a problem, ensure that all LED lights are also clean, as insects and bugs are also attracted to dusty and dirty lights as well. LED lights are not harmful to insects and cannot be used as a repellent.
