LED Bulbs

What you need to know about LED bulbs

LED bulbs generally look very similar, but there can be significant differences in technology and quality, which mainly affect the brightness and lifespan of the light source. As many are aware, LED technology has brought about a major change in energy consumption and lifespan. However, there are a few things you need to know about LED bulbs to find a good replacement for the traditional incandescent or halogen bulb.

LED Bulb - Three values to keep an eye on

As a consumer, it's easy to be tempted by the low price of LED bulbs that promise a very long lifespan, low consumption, and warm white light. But unfortunately, reality is not quite that simple. When it comes to LED bulbs, there are primarily three values you should keep an eye on: luminous flux, color temperature, and color rendering. It's also good to know how the lifespan is calculated for LED lighting, and why this oddly plays a lesser role. We will go through it in order. Luminous flux tells you how bright an LED bulb is, one could say that Lumens (lm) is the new and more accurate way to measure the strength of both LED bulbs and other light sources. Previously, Watt (W) was mistakenly used to give an impression of how bright a light source emitted. Watt is really only a measure of electrical consumption from the light source. But since low-energy and halogen and especially LED bulbs came on the market, this measurement has become totally misleading for that purpose. However, it is a good measure to keep track of how much lower your energy consumption becomes, which you will notice a big difference if you use LED bulbs. That's why lumen has instead begun to be used as a measurement for light flow.

Color temperature of LED bulbs

The next important measurement for an LED bulb is color temperature, which is divided according to the Kelvin (K) color scale. Within LED lighting, people usually talk about a range from as low as around 1800 K (candlelight) to as high as around 6500 K (daylight). The lowest value gives a very warm light to a yellow/orange light. The highest value corresponds to a pure white daylight. A normal and comfortable warm white general light should be around 2700-3000K. If you are looking for a cooler and more reading-friendly light, you should look for an LED bulb that is between 3000-3300K.

Color rendering reveals the quality of the lamp

The last value is color rendering (Ra), which is simply a scale for the light's ability to reproduce colors naturally, which is a quality stamp for LED bulbs. An Ra value of 80 out of 100 is the most common on LED bulbs, which is usually sufficient when you don't have high demands on the light. Ra 90 is more like ordinary incandescent bulbs, but they are more expensive to manufacture, which makes the price also higher. 95 out of 100 is very rare in the market for LED bulbs, as 90 out of 100 is considered sufficient in most cases. Ordinary incandescent bulbs and halogen bulbs have an Ra value of 100.

Why is the lifespan of an LED bulb less important?

LED bulbs or rather LED diodes lose (just like fluorescent tubes) light efficiency over their lifetime. The reason the diode loses light efficiency is the heat that occurs behind the lamp, the diode itself never gets hot. The small amount of heat that occurs means that the diode will lose light strength over time. Therefore, good LED bulbs have a heat sink behind the diode that continuously cools the diode, this makes an LED bulb last longer and loses less light. Good LED bulbs lose a maximum of 15% of their light strength during the first 25,000 hours, then the diode continues to shine but loses light strength faster.

Let's take an example. It states on an LED bulb that it lasts 40,000 hours and has a warm white light. If the diode is of poor quality, the bulb will quickly lose light efficiency, e.g., it may lose 40% of the light strength in the first 4000 hours. After this, the LED bulb is essentially unusable, because it simply shines too dimly. So, the fact that the diode then continues to shine for another 36,000 hours (and continues to lose light efficiency) is actually unnecessary. So, if you want to invest in LED bulbs and also be satisfied with the quality and light, you should invest in proper fixtures/LED bulbs from the start. It pays off!

How much does an LED bulb shine?

A 40W incandescent bulb gives an approximate lumen value of 340 lm, while a 60 W incandescent bulb gives about 560lm. In this way, you can more easily translate and compare traditional incandescent bulbs with LED bulbs.

How hot do LED bulbs get?

Just like all other light sources, LED bulbs also get hot. But LED bulbs generate so much less heat than regular incandescent bulbs that you can touch them even if they have been on for a long time.