Our licensed electricians have been finding that LED lighting is becoming more popular by the day throughout the Brisbane northside and on the Sunshine Coast. However, some of our electrical technicians are coming across families, particularly in North Lakes and surrounds, that don’t understand the differences between the various types of light bulbs or how they work. Additionally, our local electricians have spoken with many north Brisbane and Sunshine Coast residents that are unaware of the benefits of these products and why they should undertake a LED lighting upgrade. Blue Electrical and our team of licensed and experienced electricians have put together this LED lighting blog to help Brisbane and Sunshine Coast homeowners and businesses make the best choices for their lighting upgrade.
How Do LED Lights Work?
By now, chances are you’ve heard about advantages of LED lighting like most of our other Brisbane and Sunshine Coast customers – but how exactly do these work?
LED is an acronym for Light emitting diode.
The first bit about emitting light is pretty easy to understand for most of our residential electrical clients, however not many people know what a diode is. Basically, a diode is a certain kind of semiconductor terminal permitting current to flow in one direction. Put simply, diodes emit light when current passes through. Without getting too technical, the image below shows a simplistic diagram of how a diode produces light.
Key LED Lighting Concepts
Now that we know how LEDs produce light, we should discuss some of the common questions our licensed electricians often answer for our Brisbane and Sunshine Coast customers. Although LED lighting comes with a host of benefits, they take a little work to understand. When we talk about traditional incandescent light globes, the only really important factors to comprehend are wattage, base size and shape. However, when you’re considering to install LED light globes, you’ll need to be clear about the following 4 concepts. Don’t worry if it seems too much to take in at first. Our licensed electricians can come to your Brisbane or Sunshine Coast home to explain the principles to you.
1. Brightness
Our local electricians come across many customers who believe wattage equals brightness. Whereas there is a correlation between the two in traditional bulbs, LEDs consume much less power so its really not possible to make that comparison. For LEDs lighting installations, you only need to consider lumens to understand how bright they are. For example, our professional electrical technicians usually gauge a 60 watt incandescent globe to put out about 800 lumens.
2. Light Appearance
Colour temperature is something you should also pay attention to when installing LED house lighting. Measured in Kelvins, the higher the number the cooler the light will be whereas lower numbers produce warmer light.
3. Colour Accuracy
This refers to the ability of the LED light source to display objects’ colours correctly when compared to the sun. Measured on a Colour Rendering Index (CRI) scale of 0 to 100, the higher the score, the more balanced your LED lighting will be. Blue Electrical often helps customers in North Lakes and elsewhere on the north of Brisbane install LEDs with CRIs of in excess of 90+.
4. Dimming
Not only does having the ability to dim your ambient and task lighting save you more energy and money, it can also help create just that mood you’re after.
If you need more help, you can visit the Government’s E3 website here for more information on LED lighting.
Advantages of an LED Lighting Upgrade
Now that we understand how LED lighting works and the different aspects of its illumination, we’ll look at the reasons for upgrading your normal old bulbs to this newer type of lighting.
1. LED light bulbs last a lot longer
This is a major selling point of LED lighting. You won’t have to fork out money every year or so when your old incandescent light bulbs fail, often at the most inconvenient times. Additionally, swapping over traditional light bulbs can be tricky if they’re up high. Say goodbye to these woes when you install LED lighting as LED bulbs can last around 25 years!
2. LED bulbs use a lot less energy
As the price of electricity continues to increase, it makes sense to do everything possible to reduce your power bills. Old-school incandescent bulbs waste up to 90% a lot of energy as heat whereas LED bulbs have up to 80% more energy-efficiency than old globes.
3. LED bulbs give you a lot of lighting options
With LED light bulbs coming in pretty much every colour under the sun, there’s no application they don’t excel in. From the primary colours to more exotic hues, your options are endless. Many of our North Lakes customers like to install coloured lighting for special occasions such as religious festivals and parties.
4. LEDs can be integrated into a Smart Home
With the Internet of Things and Smart Homes setup gaining increasing popularity, LEDs are the perfect choice as you can control them using a variety of mechanisms including a phone app, Google Home or Amazon Alexa. LED light bulbs can even be controlled by you talking as well as Wi-Fi linked to your mobile phone.
5. LED light bulbs are safer
LEDs are extremely durable as well as being tougher to break. Many of our North Brisbane customers didn’t know incandescent light bulbs contain mercury until we told them. If one of these old style lights gets broken, your children or pets could face potential health risks. Additionally, incandescent light bulbs produce a lit of heat which has been know to start fires – this is no longer an issue with LED lighting.
6. LED bulbs are environmentally-friendly
By chewing through less electricity, LEDs put less demands on the grid and help reduce your carbon footprint and the amount of fossil fuels used. Additionally, LED light blubs are made from a high percentage of recyclable materials.
What LED Lighting Options Do You Have?
The great thing about LED lighting is that it’s so versatile. From ambient and task lighting to feature lighting and garden strips, the sky’s the limit. The licensed electricians at Blue Electrical are well-versed in installing LED lighting throughout the Brisbane northside and Sunshine Coast so we’ll be able to guide you through the whole process.
Some different types on LED lighting you might like to consider include:
- LED bulbs
- LED ceiling oysters
- LED corn lights
- LED dome lights
- LED fluorescent lights
- LED flood lights
- LED strips
- LED fairy lights
- LED down lights
Contact Our Licensed Electricians Today
We hope that this blog has helped you understand more about how LEDs work and what to consider when considering installing this type of home lighting. As previously discussed, LED lighting advantages are many and there are a variety of different types available to suit almost every possible situation.
Blue Electrical can help you install LED lighting in your home or commercial building for an affordable rate. Our electrical contractors have over 20 years’ industry experience and are fully licensed and insured for your peace of mind. If you’re located anywhere on the northside of Brisbane or the Sunshine Coast, call our electrical technicians on 0423 627 680 or email admin@blueelectrical.com.au