Choosing your LED light bulbs

See how much energy you can save

Let us see how much energy you can save when you switch to an LED light bulb. Incandescent bulbs use up 100 watts and CFL bulbs use up 25 watts. LED bulbs, in comparison, use up 11 watts only. If you are wondering how an LED bulb can offer the kind of light the other two types of bulb offer, the next sentence should clarify it. In the case of incandescent and CFL bulbs, the lumen to watt ratios are 17:1 and 68:1 respectively. An LED bulb offers a lumen to watt ratio of 155:1. The difference is staggering and this is why an LED bulb efficiency is amazing: they produces more light while using less wattage.

Make sure you get the right colour

Colour is a point to be noted when buying LED bulbs. Colored LED bulbs emit different colours that can range from red to purple to green or blue. In most cases, you would want the light colour to be what you get from incandescent and CFL bulbs. Here you have 3 choices of white LED bulbs - warm white, soft white and bright white. The former two produce yellow hues and the light colour is similar to incandescent bulbs. The latter produces bright white coloured light like CFL bulbs. It is up to you to make your choice.

Understand the labels on an LED bulb package

When you go out to buy an LED bulb, the writings on the package may confuse you. Here they have been clarified. First is the brightness indicator that shows you how much light you can expect the bulb to produce. The ENERGY STAR logo on the package will tell you that it is energy efficient. The life figure gives you an approximate idea about the number of years the bulb will last. The light appearance tells you which shade of colour the bulb will produce. The wattage shows the amount of energy the bulb is going to use. The label also tells you whether the bulb contains any mercury or not.

Install the bulb with space around it

It is important for you to choose a place for installing your LED bulb. While these bulbs produce less heat than the other bulbs, they still produce some. If you place the bulb in an enclosed space, the heat will have no way to dissipate. As a result, it will stay close to the bulb and reduce its life. Because you look at long term when you buy an LED bulb, there is no reason for you to let it die before it is due to.

The dimmable feature is worth exploring

Some consumers, and you could be one of them, want dimmable LED bulbs. Please keep in mind that some of the LED bulbs may not work with a traditional dimmer. In such cases, you may want to look a dimmer compatible LED bulb. The other option is to install an LED dimmer so that your purpose is achieved.

Which LED lights bulbs for which use?

Consider the shape of an LED bulb because you need to buy one that complies with your usage pattern. If you want to light up a large area, you need to choose between A-line and floodlight LED bulbs. For a narrow beam of light, choose a spotlight LED bulb. If you want to light up a chandelier, a candle LED bulb is what you need. The reason for choosing the bulb shape is that LED bulbs emit directional lights and the lighting pattern is like a flashlight. Philips makes some of the best LED bulbs and you can choose any of these stated bulbs with Philips as the name. If you want to buy an LED bulb at a lower cost, any of the products from Chuan Ze Zhao Ming should do.

LED bulbs can be used for normal lighting or special lighting. If you want to use an LED bulb for normal lighting, any of the white shades will do. If you want to light up your room in other hues, then choose from any of the available colours. If you want a red LED light, then consider the lightinthebox GU10 1.3W 40LM red light LED bulb.

Some of the LED bulbs can also purify the air inside your home and this is one point that you should keep in mind should there be a need. The E27 1W Air Purifier Ionic Ionizer White LED bulb is an example of such a bulb.