LED Lighting for your Home or Business – Save Money, Reduce heat output and cut carbon emissions.
Quick question: How many light bulbs have you bought since 1 September 2018?
The chances are you’ve bought fewer bulbs recently because since that date there has been an EU-wide ban on importing and producing halogen bulbs.
You can, however, still buy halogen bulbs as the existing stock can still be sold. In addition there are still specialist halogen bulbs in security lights, ovens and cooker hoods.
Yet it is the versatile LED bulb that is leading the way in efficiency, durability and versatility, too.
In many cases, making the change is as simple as changing a bulb. In some instances, often depending on the age of your electrical circuits, you may need a qualified electrician.
Punton Electrics offers electrical condition reports which can help identify electrical problems in your home. In addition to this we can highlight opportunities for energy efficiency.
Read more on condition reports HERE.
Why LED lighting for your home or business makes sense
Compact fluorescent (CFL) bulbs were among the first energy-efficient alternatives. Early adopters grumbled about its cold light and the length of time it took to illuminate.
The LED bulb followed and has overtaken the CFL and now confidently leads the market – you can get LED bulbs for almost all fittings and sizes, from downlights to strip lights.
Brian Horne is a senior insights and analytics consultant at Energy Saving Trust
He said: “LEDs use less energy and cost you a lot less in the long run. There is not a huge difference in price, they last longer so you won’t need to keep buying replacements. It makes complete sense to buy LED bulbs.”
A traditional halogen bulb lasts around two years, based on three hours’ daily use. So that’s around 2,000 hours of average usage.
An LED under similar conditions lasts 10,000 hours upwards, for 10 years or longer!
Saving money with LED lighting
In the UK, lighting accounts for 15% of a typical household’s electricity bill. You can save £2-3 per year for every traditional halogen bulb you switch to a similarly bright LED bulb.
If the average UK household replaced all of their bulbs with LEDs, it would save a significant amount on energy bills over the lifetime of the bulb.
Saving carbon emissions with LED bulbs
In addition to the cost saving of LED bulbs there is an environmental benefit too! For every traditional halogen bulb you switch to a similarly bright LED bulb you save around 5kg of CO2 emissions.
By replacing all bulbs in the average home with LED alternatives, that’s around 63kg of CO2 emissions.
If all 28 million homes in Britain switched to 100% LED bulbs, we could save 1.7 million tonnes of CO2 emissions annually.
So, if energy saving isn’t enough motivation, we hope that this environmental impact will be.
If you are interested in changing the electrics to LED lighting for your Home or Business, get in touch with the team at Punton Electrics to arrange a free quote.
LED buying guide – what lighting to look for
Most LED bulbs’ packaging contains a lot of information to help you choose the most suitable bulb – everyone’s tastes are different.
Packs often state the bulb ‘colour’ and give an approximation of the LED’s equivalent in wattage e.g. 40W or 60W or 100W.
- warm is a yellow colour, ideal for bedrooms, living and dining rooms
- cool gives a bluer, sharper light. You may prefer this in kitchens, bathrooms and office spaces, where you need good illumination to perform tasks
- daylight is the ‘coldest’ and close to pure white light, often used by professional photographers for backlighting.
What next for LED
Many security lights, floodlights and decorative lighting still use halogen bulbs as standard. But there are now very suitable LED alternatives to these high energy usage bulbs. There is no reason not to ‘upgrade’ them to and LED alternative. There are energy and money savings to be made.
For outdoor lighting advice you can get in touch with Punton Electrics. You will probably need a qualified electrician. With an established network of suppliers we will be able to find the best LED outdoor lighting solution for your property.
What else can I do to reduce my lighting bill?
- Always turn lights off when leaving a room. The quickest way to start saving is just remembering to turn lights off when you don’t need them. The typical household could save almost £11 a year just by switching off the lights as you leave the room.
- Be aware of how many lights you have on in a room. If you have the main light on, do you need the lamp on too?
- Arrange light switches so it is easy to turn them off, for example, place switches for rooms at the door.
- Use sensors or timers on external lights, so they are only on when they need to be.
- Consider using transparent shades or fittings, as a dark lampshade can absorb some of the light a bulb emits.
- Ensure that you regularly clean any lamp shades or fittings to increase the impact of the light.
Get the best out of your lighting
LED lighting for your Home or Business helps lower electricity bills and carbon dioxide emissions, all without reducing the quality of light.
We understand that quality, efficiency and value for money are important to our clients. If you want to upgrade the lighting, whether it’s at home or in a commercial property in the New Forest, get in touch with Punton Electrics today.
