LED Christmas lighting is cool -- literally

Safe, energy-efficient holiday lights

Posted by Joseph Romm (Guest Contributor) at 3:50 PM on 21 Dec 2007

Read more about: holiday | energy | energy efficiency | energy at home

I hope you've all bought LED lighting for your trees -- they are much more efficient and safer, too, because they generate less heat! We have, and so has the White House and Rockefeller Center (see below).

Here is an Electric Power Research Institute fact sheet (PDF) to answer all your questions on LED vs. conventional Christmas lights (PDF).

Happy Holidays!

This post was created for ClimateProgress.org, a project of the Center for American Progress Action Fund.

For story: LED Christmas lighting is cool -- literally
6 Comments | Post a Comment

LED's

LED's are replacing flourescent lites...

http://www.superbrightleds.com/

Care for Mother Earth

by Coolmind at 3:16 AM on 23 Dec 2007

Not quite.

LED's are not even close as general replacements for curly fluorescents, either in cost or, far more critically, lumen/watt efficiency. In other words, it actually uses more energy to provide general lighting for a room with LED's than with CFL's.

LED's are most effectively used in highly directional applications, which CFL's are not so good at - in domestic situations this means accent and spot lighting. The MR16's listed in the above link are the first that I've seen, and they begin to look promising. Give'em another few years and we may be able to use them cost-effectively for directional lighting in home and commercial lighting as replacements not for fluorescents but for incandescent halogens. Much better deal!

There should be no battle between CFL's and LED's. In ten years time I believe we'll be using the two technologies side by side as complementary lighting sources with nary an incandescent in view. I think too that among many other applications we'll also be using LED's very successfully for street lighting, pointing straight down to illuminate the sidewalk, not polluting the night sky.

The true meaning of life is to plant trees, under whose shade you do not expect to sit.

by spaceshaper at 4:57 AM on 23 Dec 2007

No twinkle

LEDs are okay. And I have them on the tree, but I also strung a regular string of tiny white lights because, unfortunately, LED's don't twinkle nor do they light up the shiny ornaments in the same way. It's like the light is right there in the bulb and that's it. It's a totally different kind of light.

by SMLowry at 11:31 AM on 23 Dec 2007

desk lamp

I saw a desk lamp that was LED yesterday for sale at 20 dollars. The amount of light looked fine, I just didn't like the stand with it.
I had read that LED were being made for use in cars, because of the value of having a low use light in with a high cost energy generator. Hopefully, they will keep inproving them.

by trock at 3:28 PM on 23 Dec 2007

LED Desklamps

Check out a site which offers "Finelite" LED products...I'm considering the purchase of one of their 9-watt desk lamps...they offer them in 3,6 or 9 watt sizes. They are more expensive than some, but the LED elements are 1-watt apiece, and are heavily heat-sinked, which is important. The cheaper desk lamps usually use the small, flashlight-sized LED elements which may be okay, but the Finelite appears to be a good product.

I do like the LED seasonal lights; I just purchased two strings of white ones, and they have a warmer caste than the typically cold blue-violet "white" LEDs I've seen. I look forward to further developments of LED technology...

by sortashaman at 4:01 PM on 23 Dec 2007
[ Parent ]

LED's DO in Fact Twinkle

They Twinkle, Color Change, Blink, there are controllers to blink to music, anything you ever wanted in a Christmas Lights. We carry a full line of LED Christmas & Holiday Decorating Lights.

Some Fast Color Change, Some Slow Color Change, there are videos on our home page.

Check 'em out!

Check Out BulkLights.Com Commercial Grade Energy Saving LED Lights

by LED Guy at 2:00 PM on 22 Jan 2008
[ Parent ]

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