LED Savings Long Term But Worth It!

How much do you really save?

The Holiday season is in full swing. The halls are decked with holly and this year it looks like many of us have adopted a new and more “greener” approach to decorating our homes. Driving around I have noticed more and more LED lights being used as decorations. They are easy to spot as they are much brighter and pierce the darkness more than their incandescent older siblings.

This trend is really good news. The efficiency of these lights is nothing short of extraordinary. One string of 50 LED lights uses about 7 watts of power. One standard incandescent lamp that we used on our trees … you know the ones that were also used as nightlights when we were kids … consumes between 4 and 7 watts EACH. So a string of 50 lights would consume between 200 and 250 watts verses the LED’s consumption of 7 watts.

For sure the environmental impact is very positive. The amount of electricity required to power our festive displays using LED lights is a small fraction of the incandescent alternative. For sure you are being “green” when you switch over to LEDS. But will you save some “green?”

If you are buying new lights you will quickly find that the LED lights are priced at about double of what you will pay for the standard incandescent strings. I found sets of 50 LED lights at a local store for about $7. So your initial cash outlay is higher. The LED lights do have a much longer life. Most are rated for about 25,000 hours of use. That works out to almost 3 years of continuous use. So your kids’ kids’ kids will be using these lights (if they can keep track of where they store them…that’s another issue).

In the long run, and I really mean long run, someone will save money but in most cases it won’t be you. Nevertheless, the positive impact of using less energy is enough of a reason to choose LED lights for this and other lighting needs. The prices continue to fall and there are more choices of lamps that have a softer glow than the original LED offerings.

One other thing…in January I will be offering “A Digital Survivor’s Guide” at the Harrison Library. This 2-part presentation covers new technologies, services and devices. Part 1: Monday, January 16 and Part 2: Monday, January 23. Both run from 6:30-8:30 p.m. Please register in advance for both sessions. Call (513) 369-4442 or email Harrison@CincinnatiLibrary.org.

LED Savings Long Term But Worth It!

How much do you really save?

The Holiday season is in full swing. The halls are decked with holly and this year it looks like many of us have adopted a new and more “greener” approach to decorating our homes. Driving around I have noticed more and more LED lights being used as decorations. They are easy to spot as they are much brighter and pierce the darkness more than their incandescent older siblings.

This trend is really good news. The efficiency of these lights is nothing short of extraordinary. One string of 50 LED lights uses about 7 watts of power. One standard incandescent lamp that we used on our trees … you know the ones that were also used as nightlights when we were kids … consumes between 4 and 7 watts EACH. So a string of 50 lights would consume between 200 and 250 watts verses the LED’s consumption of 7 watts.

For sure the environmental impact is very positive. The amount of electricity required to power our festive displays using LED lights is a small fraction of the incandescent alternative. For sure you are being “green” when you switch over to LEDS. But will you save some “green?”

If you are buying new lights you will quickly find that the LED lights are priced at about double of what you will pay for the standard incandescent strings. I found sets of 50 LED lights at a local store for about $7. So your initial cash outlay is higher. The LED lights do have a much longer life. Most are rated for about 25,000 hours of use. That works out to almost 3 years of continuous use. So your kids’ kids’ kids will be using these lights (if they can keep track of where they store them…that’s another issue).

In the long run, and I really mean long run, someone will save money but in most cases it won’t be you. Nevertheless, the positive impact of using less energy is enough of a reason to choose LED lights for this and other lighting needs. The prices continue to fall and there are more choices of lamps that have a softer glow than the original LED offerings.

One other thing…in January I will be offering “A Digital Survivor’s Guide” at the Harrison Library. This 2-part presentation covers new technologies, services and devices. Part 1: Monday, January 16 and Part 2: Monday, January 23. Both run from 6:30-8:30 p.m. Please register in advance for both sessions. Call (513) 369-4442 or email Harrison@CincinnatiLibrary.org.

LED Christmas Lights Keep the Holiday Green

The Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden has adopted them. Many commercial buildings and malls have followed suit. This year may be the right time for you to consider replacing your decorative holiday lights with energy efficient LEDs. Doing so will save energy, reduce your electric bill and, over time, save you some hard cash.

We might overlook these strings of colored lights as a major source of energy waste. The small glass lamps individually consume only a small amount of electricity. The problem is that we don’t often use just one or two bulbs, but attach hundreds on long strings. If you are of my generation, you remember when strings of lights on trees were made up of large bulbs similar to the ones used in night lights and other small appliances. These are called C-9 bulbs. So when the mini lights came out we thought we were already saving energy. It is true that the mini lights consume only about ½ watt of power for each bulb compared to 3 to 5 watts each for the larger C-9 bulbs. Nevertheless, when compared to the efficiency of LED bulbs, even these mini lights are power gluttons.

The standard LED holiday lights consume about 15% of the power used by traditional incandescent mini lights. This not only saves money, but allows you to safely string many more lights in outdoor displays without the need for extra extension cords and power outlets.

When LED lights first came out some people did not like the fact that the light was a “bluish white” rather than the traditional soft white of a candle. Manufactures have made some great improvements and have lights that appear very much like the traditional warm mini lights.

The initial cost of LED lights compared to incandescent mini lights can be significant, as much as double, so you will not save dollars in the first few years of using them. But, since they are much more durable than mini lights and will last up to 10x longer, there will be savings down the road.

So, this year when you are untangling that green mess and trying to find which one of the bulbs is bad and keeping the entire string from lighting up, save yourself some holiday hassle and extend your “green” Christmas beyond the tree in the family room by investing in LED lights.

LED Christmas Lights Keep the Holiday Green

The Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden has adopted them. Many commercial buildings and malls have followed suit. This year may be the right time for you to consider replacing your decorative holiday lights with energy efficient LEDs. Doing so will save energy, reduce your electric bill and, over time, save you some hard cash.

We might overlook these strings of colored lights as a major source of energy waste. The small glass lamps individually consume only a small amount of electricity. The problem is that we don’t often use just one or two bulbs, but attach hundreds on long strings. If you are of my generation, you remember when strings of lights on trees were made up of large bulbs similar to the ones used in night lights and other small appliances. These are called C-9 bulbs. So when the mini lights came out we thought we were already saving energy. It is true that the mini lights consume only about ½ watt of power for each bulb compared to 3 to 5 watts each for the larger C-9 bulbs. Nevertheless, when compared to the efficiency of LED bulbs, even these mini lights are power gluttons.

The standard LED holiday lights consume about 15% of the power used by traditional incandescent mini lights. This not only saves money, but allows you to safely string many more lights in outdoor displays without the need for extra extension cords and power outlets.

When LED lights first came out some people did not like the fact that the light was a “bluish white” rather than the traditional soft white of a candle. Manufactures have made some great improvements and have lights that appear very much like the traditional warm mini lights.

The initial cost of LED lights compared to incandescent mini lights can be significant, as much as double, so you will not save dollars in the first few years of using them. But, since they are much more durable than mini lights and will last up to 10x longer, there will be savings down the road.

So, this year when you are untangling that green mess and trying to find which one of the bulbs is bad and keeping the entire string from lighting up, save yourself some holiday hassle and extend your “green” Christmas beyond the tree in the family room by investing in LED lights.

LEDs Can Save Your Life

Having just returned from a week of riding my bike across the cornfields of mid-America, I am still very much in two wheel mode this week. While the number of riders in the Harrison area does not compare to the throngs riding with me last week, there is an increasing number of bikes on the streets, roads and trails in our community. Unfortunately, pedal power and horsepower don’t always play nice together. While the bad guy is often the automobile driver, the cyclist is not always in the right.

One of the biggest safety issues with mixing cars and bikes on the same roads is visibility. There are several inexpensive devices that can assist. For about 10 bucks you can purchase a small tail light for your bike. The light uses high intensity LEDs instead of traditional light bulbs. These tiny LEDS are very bright and the circuitry allows you to change the display from a standard red tail light to a pulsating strobe effect. While these lights are made for riding at night, I find that since they are so bright, they can be seen even in bright sunny weather by anyone approaching from the rear. Since one of the often heard comments by car drivers following a bike / car accident is “I never saw him,”
the red strobing light is just enough to get the car drivers’ attention.

There are also very bright white LED headlights available. Again, these lights are intended for riding at night so the cyclist can see the road ahead. In the day they serve the same purpose as daytime use of headlights on motorcycles and more recently on new cars: visibility. I ride a lot in the Harrison area, and on the open roads and hills you can ride at a good clip. My experience is that cars don’t realize you are approaching at 25 mph or more and as a result often pull out in front of you. Seeing a bright white light often gets their attention.

These LED lights are amazing as they are small, light weight, very bright and consume very little power. I use my tail light for months at a time using two standard AAA batteries. While the headlights use a bit more power, a couple of inexpensive batteries will last many hours. This is a small price to pay for safety.

LEDs Can Save Your Life

Having just returned from a week of riding my bike across the cornfields of mid-America, I am still very much in two wheel mode this week. While the number of riders in the Harrison area does not compare to the throngs riding with me last week, there is an increasing number of bikes on the streets, roads and trails in our community. Unfortunately, pedal power and horsepower don’t always play nice together. While the bad guy is often the automobile driver, the cyclist is not always in the right.

One of the biggest safety issues with mixing cars and bikes on the same roads is visibility. There are several inexpensive devices that can assist. For about 10 bucks you can purchase a small tail light for your bike. The light uses high intensity LEDs instead of traditional light bulbs. These tiny LEDS are very bright and the circuitry allows you to change the display from a standard red tail light to a pulsating strobe effect. While these lights are made for riding at night, I find that since they are so bright, they can be seen even in bright sunny weather by anyone approaching from the rear. Since one of the often heard comments by car drivers following a bike / car accident is “I never saw him,”
the red strobing light is just enough to get the car drivers’ attention.

There are also very bright white LED headlights available. Again, these lights are intended for riding at night so the cyclist can see the road ahead. In the day they serve the same purpose as daytime use of headlights on motorcycles and more recently on new cars: visibility. I ride a lot in the Harrison area, and on the open roads and hills you can ride at a good clip. My experience is that cars don’t realize you are approaching at 25 mph or more and as a result often pull out in front of you. Seeing a bright white light often gets their attention.

These LED lights are amazing as they are small, light weight, very bright and consume very little power. I use my tail light for months at a time using two standard AAA batteries. While the headlights use a bit more power, a couple of inexpensive batteries will last many hours. This is a small price to pay for safety.

Thin TV Requires a Thick Wallet

Last week I discussed the use of LED (light emitting diodes) in home lighting and how these energy efficient replacements for Mr. Edison’s bright idea were beginning to become available and affordable. I thought that this week we could look at another application of LED technology that is receiving a lot of buzz in the consumer electronics arena of late.

Joining the LCD, Liquid Plasma, and DLP TV screen options is LED based display technology. These TVs have only recently been showing up in any great numbers in retail stores but as prices fall they very well might become the standard for TVs.

Most LED TVs on the market do not use LEDs to actually render the picture. Rather, they use LEDs to backlight the traditional LCD screen. Older LCD models used fluorescent lights or other older technology light sources for this task. LEDs, because of their very low energy consumption and very long life, are a better fit. Also they can be more precisely controlled to turn on and off, allowing deeper “blacks” and more vivid colors.

So is the picture really that much better? It depends on the eye of the beholder and whether the TV set has been set up correctly when fist installed. My opinion is that there really is not much of a difference in the actual picture quality between a traditional LCD set and an LED set.

For sure there will be a significant reduction in power consumption and the LEDs should remain bright much longer than the fluorescent LCD models. Even with this better efficiency it is unlikely that most consumers will be able to save enough on their Duke bill to pay the difference in price of the LED set over the standard LCD or Plasma models.

One of the “Wow” features of LED TVs is the thin profile. A large 50” screen can look like a picture frame with a depth of less than one inch. While that is great for your “know- it-all,” “have-it-all” neighbor to regale you with at the next Super Bowl party, in reality, who cares. Remember that “thin” profile comes with the need for a “thick” wallet. LED TVs are very expensive right now.

With manufacturing capacity increasing, look for LED sets to drop in price as to be competitive with other models. Right now, unless you are one of those “gotta have the newest and greatest” kind of people, wait to buy.

Thin TV Requires a Thick Wallet

Last week I discussed the use of LED (light emitting diodes) in home lighting and how these energy efficient replacements for Mr. Edison’s bright idea were beginning to become available and affordable. I thought that this week we could look at another application of LED technology that is receiving a lot of buzz in the consumer electronics arena of late.

Joining the LCD, Liquid Plasma, and DLP TV screen options is LED based display technology. These TVs have only recently been showing up in any great numbers in retail stores but as prices fall they very well might become the standard for TVs.

Most LED TVs on the market do not use LEDs to actually render the picture. Rather, they use LEDs to backlight the traditional LCD screen. Older LCD models used fluorescent lights or other older technology light sources for this task. LEDs, because of their very low energy consumption and very long life, are a better fit. Also they can be more precisely controlled to turn on and off, allowing deeper “blacks” and more vivid colors.

So is the picture really that much better? It depends on the eye of the beholder and whether the TV set has been set up correctly when fist installed. My opinion is that there really is not much of a difference in the actual picture quality between a traditional LCD set and an LED set.

For sure there will be a significant reduction in power consumption and the LEDs should remain bright much longer than the fluorescent LCD models. Even with this better efficiency it is unlikely that most consumers will be able to save enough on their Duke bill to pay the difference in price of the LED set over the standard LCD or Plasma models.

One of the “Wow” features of LED TVs is the thin profile. A large 50” screen can look like a picture frame with a depth of less than one inch. While that is great for your “know- it-all,” “have-it-all” neighbor to regale you with at the next Super Bowl party, in reality, who cares. Remember that “thin” profile comes with the need for a “thick” wallet. LED TVs are very expensive right now.

With manufacturing capacity increasing, look for LED sets to drop in price as to be competitive with other models. Right now, unless you are one of those “gotta have the newest and greatest” kind of people, wait to buy.