7 Tips To Save Money Using LED Lights
Green Ray Lights (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
LED lights are in fashion these days. Due to their colossal benefits, many residential, commercial as well as industrial users are considering LED retrofit for their buildings. These lights are not only safe, energy efficient and environment friendly, but also offer huge potential of money savings.
Although a bit higher in capital cost, the overall life cycle analysis shows that these lights are way cheaper than conventional counterparts. This is because of the amazingly longer rated life, higher energy efficiency and lower maintenance needs. However, the money saving potential of LED lights is not confined to these qualities. There are other avenues which, if explored, can help you maximize the money savings through LED lights.
Here are top 7 tips which help you save money using LED lights:
1. Start With Outdoor Lighting:
Outdoor lights are generally the most high wattage lights present in any building. In parking lots, gardens and other open spaces, large floodlights are used which consume a lot of energy and need to be continuously illuminated for the whole night. The commonly used floodlights are high pressure sodium lights and halogen lights, both of which are high wattage fixtures.
Therefore, when you start investing in outdoor LED lights, you should start with replacing the outdoor floodlights. This way, you will get good money savings, instantly.
2. For Starters, Prefer Frequently Used Indoor Areas for LED Retrofit:
If you are considering to install some LED lights for indoor use, then lighting replacement in the most frequently used areas like kitchen and living room might be the best idea. These share the biggest chunk in your electricity bills and will provide maximum money savings when the old lights in these areas are replaced with LED lights.
3. Select Customized LED Lights Which Fit To The Specific Need:
LED lighting technology offers customized lighting solutions which cover the need of specific areas and uses. So in order to achieve maximum money savings using LED lights, make sure that you install the type of LED light which best fits to the lighting requirement.
For example, LED tube lights are good for providing spread-out illumination in wide areas such as halls and living rooms. On the other hand, LED spotlights are designed to provide focused lighting which can be best employed for highlighting the architectural details and artifacts. Choosing the misfit bulb will not only affect the illumination level but can also result in unnecessary electricity consumption, hence increasing your electricity bill.
4. Consider Task Lighting:
Sometimes, we can avoid switching on the powerful background lights, which consume more electricity, by installing low power, energy saving task lights. For example, while reading a book in your bedroom, you do not need to illuminate the whole room, rather a properly focused LED lamp can serve the purpose in a very efficient, yet cost effective way.
5. Use Dimmers:
Most of the modern LED lights are compatible with dimmer switches, which are excellent for adjusting the level of illumination in the areas like hallways and bedrooms where full illumination is not always necessary. The lesser the illumination level, the lesser will be the electricity consumption and the greater will be the money savings. So whenever and wherever possible, complement your LED lights with dimmers.
6. Try To Install Sensors:
Use of sensors, especially with the high wattage outdoor LED lights, is yet another very effective way of saving money. You can use vacancy sensors, occupancy sensors or sunset switches, depending on the requirement.
7. Prefer Open Fixtures:
Research suggests that the heating up of LED light bulbs decrease their lifespan. In order to ensure longer life, invest in lighting fixtures through which air can circulate as the air helps maintaining the bulb temperature.
Category: Saving Money
