LED lights usage – pros and cons

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(Free-Press-Release.com) April 6, 2011 -- LEDs are considered to be the best solution to reduce the carbon foot print. Due to increase in the usage of electricity, there is need for increasing its production. It results in the release of large amount of carbon-di-oxide to the environment. Because of this carbon foot print will be increased which will cause global warming. Since LEDs will not produce heat, energy is not wasted. For the same amount of power, the light produced will be very high compared with the incandescent bulbs. So LEDs are used as energy saving bulbs. Usage of LEDs has its own merits and demerits.

Because of their capability to produce more light per watt, LEDs are considered to be the best choice for using in energy saving devices. There will be some devices which make use of battery for operation. Energy saving is very essential in those devices. The usage of LEDs in them is highly recommended. There is no need for using color filters to obtain a specific color from LED. In traditional lighting system, color filters are used which increases the initial cost. In the case of fluorescent lights and incandescent lights, there is a need for a reflector to focus the light in a particular area. In the case of LEDs, the internal lens available will focus the light. There is no need for reflector. The incandescent bulbs will change to yellow color when the current passing through them is reduced. But LEDs will not change their light color in such situation. So LEDs can be used in dimming applications. The response time of LED is very high. After switching ON, in fraction of second the LED will attain its maximum brightness. The smaller size of LEDs makes them to easily fit on to the PCBs. If the incandescent bulbs are dropped down accidentally, they will be broken. But LEDs are highly resistant to external shocks.

Though LEDs have many advantages, there are some demerits that have to be considered before selecting them. The cost of LED is very high when compared with the traditional lights such as incandescent lamps. But the maintenance cost and energy cost is very less for LEDs. Since LEDs are cost effective when considered for long term use, they are replacing the incandescent bulbs in many places. LEDs can not be operated in the high temperature environment. Proper heat sink facility should be provided for this. Without this, the LED package will be overheated resulting in the failure of LED light. Since LEDs are being used in various critical applications in medicine, military and many other fields, proper care should be taken to maintain the temperature. LEDs can not provide high directivity beam. So usage of LEDs in applications that require high directive beam is not possible. The light produced by LED will be at a very narrow angle. In the case of incandescent lights, widespread light can be obtained.

The advantages of LED overcome its disadvantages. So usage of LEDs keeps on increasing.

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