How to save on your electricity bill: LED or “low-energy” light bulbs?
In 2014, Japanese inventors Isamu Akasaki, Hiroshi Amano, and Shuji Nakamura received the Nobel Prize in Physics for inventing blue light-emitting diodes, which reduce energy consumption in bright white light sources. Apart from the announcement, the Swedish Academy was, in fact, defining what we know as LED light bulbs, a technology available in our homes today which the Nobel Prize winners in Physics dubbed "the new light to light the world."
White LED lamps are long-lasting and highly energy efficient. A fundamental innovation considering that around a quarter of the world's electricity consumption is used for lighting. According to their creators, "LED light bulbs can last up to 100,000 hours, compared to 1,000 hours for incandescent bulbs and 10,000 hours for fluorescent bulbs." What's more, if we consider that they can be powered by solar energy, we can get an idea of the long-term savings possible with these light bulbs.
Why buy LED bulbs?
Below, we go over advantages that an investment in LED lamps can have in your home.
- The lifetime of these bulbs is significantly longer, although in places with high temperatures their lifetime may be shorter;
- Switch on instantly;
- Fewer pollutants, as they do not contain mercury.
What is BBVA doing to safeguard access to clean energy?
Committing to sustainable development is the best guarantee for a better future. With this in mind, all measures aimed at improving energy efficiency and increasing the use of renewable energy are welcome. This is precisely UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) No. 7 (ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable, and modern energy for all.) toward which BBVA is also working.
While the technology provides many advantages, choosing the right LED lighting is no easy task. The market offers a wide variety of brands, types, and models that should be carefully analyzed, as over time, we have come to see that there are big differences in their savings potential. Therefore, the following aspects must be taken into account when choosing an LED bulb:
- Consumption and power: As a general rule, the lower the power (measured in watts), the lower the consumption. Before buying an LED bulb, you should calculate the size of the area you want to light and identify what activities you do in that area (reading a book is not the same as watching television; the same applies if it is an area for working or resting).
- Duration and functioning: It is important to analyze the times when you will need lighting, as each bulb can be switched on a limited number of times (the number of times you can switch the bulb on and off before it fails). It is also important to know if you will use a dimmer; if so, you need to check if the bulb is compatible with the manufacturer's recommendations.
- Appearance: There is a wide variety of LED bulbs with different color temperatures or cooler or warmer tones, ranging, respectively, from the most to the least affordable. Another relevant point in this regard is color reproduction, which represents the reliability of artificial light in relation to natural light. Typically, this information is found on the bulb's box on a scale from 0 to 100, which means that the higher the number, the more quality of light the bulb provides.
The advantages of low-energy bulbs
Low-energy bulbs, known technically as compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFL), offer an improvement over traditional lighting in that they are more efficient and much less polluting.
In addition to these benefits, they have other noteworthy advantages:
- They last longer than conventional bulbs and consume less light, giving the consumer added savings;
- They promote energy savings by consuming between 50% and 80% less than normal light bulbs;
- They are cooler than classic light bulbs and, thus, prevent burns and other accidents.