Techy, I am not. And whilst I have fully intended to investigate making my home greener through clever purchasing of more efficient electricals – I just haven’t gotten around to it!

But with the evenings getting darker and cooler, I seem to  be spending more time indoors with the lights on; so I thought I’d better get to grips with greener options for lighting to help reduce my energy consumption. Often one to pass the butt, I’ve enlisted the help of itdoesthejob.com; experts in the field of energy, money and time saving products for the home. These guys know their stuff (so I don’t have to…) and have shared their insider know how for understanding LED Lighting; which they suggest is the most energy efficient lighting a lazy green home can have.

What is an LED?

LED stands for Light Emitting Diode (think back to your electronics lessons). They are already all around us in our conventional lives just in a less powerful form: for example, the light on your remote control.

LEDs are completely different from any other lighting. It’s like comparing a candle to a conventional bulb: they both produce light but they are completely different technologies. LEDs are the next stage on and are currently the best, most efficient mainstream lighting available. Though they produce light in a different way, they are designed with conventional endings so that you can just directly replace them with your current lighting.

So how do they do the job?

Economic

• Reduced energy cost – LED lights offer up to 90% energy savings compared to traditional halogen or incandescent bulbs;
• Save money on maintenance – The robust and versatile construction along with the long life of LED lights will reduce maintenance costs.

Better consumption

• Environmentally friendly – LED lights contain NO mercury, UV or pollutants and have low CO2 emissions;
• Low heat output and durable – LED lights produce almost no heat and are heat, cold and shock resistant.
• As they do not get as hot rooms tend to overheat less meaning that you don’t have to use air conditioning to cool rooms down.

Feel good

• LEDs tend to have a higher quality of light- Colour Rendering is the ability for a light source to give a true reflection of the colours of the object it is illuminating. Often people find that the light is more comfortable to work in and can reduce incidences of headaches;
• Instant bright lights – LED lights when switched on produce an instant bright and natural light – meaning no waiting time for lights to warm up.

Simple

• They install like conventional lights.
• Fit and forget: at least for a much longer period than conventional lighting!

Reliable

• Superior lifespan – lasting typically, 5,000 and 100,000 hours/ 20-50 times longer compared to a traditional bulb which may last only 1,000 hours;
• There are LED equivalents for all conventional lighting and it also comes in a wide range of colours (green, red, blue etc…) and colour temperatures (warm white, cool white etc…).

Selecting the best LEDs

If, like me, you’ve been convinced that LEDs are the way forward for greener lighting in the home, check out Itdoesthejob.com handy guide to choosing the best LEDs for you!