When designed well, LED lighting can be more efficient,
durable, versatile and longer lasting.
LED lighting products use light emitting
diodes to produce light very efficiently. An electrical current
passed through semiconductor material illuminates the tiny
light sources we call LEDs. The heat produced is absorbed into
a heat sink. The useful life of LED lighting
products is defined differently than that of other light
sources, such as incandescent or CFL. This is because LEDs
typically do not “burn out” or fail. Instead, they
experience lumen depreciation, where the amount of light
produced decreases and light color appearance can shift over
time.
Instead of basing the useful life of an LED product on
the time it takes for 50 percent of a large group of lamps to burn out
(as is the case with traditional sources), LED product
“lifetime” is set based on a prediction of when the
light output decreases 30 percent.
Look for the ENERGY STAR
rating when shopping for lighting products. Use the chart below
to compare lighting options.
