Ultra efficient LED lighting

1. Long lifespan

LEDs have extremely long lifespans. Most good quality lamps are guaranteed for 50,000 hours, which equates to approximately 17 years if the lights are on for an average of 8 hours a day. Imagine living in a home where you never had to change a bulb again. Although the initial cost of installing an LED may be higher, they last a lot longer, which means less money on new fixtures in the long run. They also reduce the amount of time spent on maintenance and replacement.

2. Energy efficiency

With electricity costs rising, people are demanding lighting that costs less to run. This is where LEDs excel: they are extremely energy efficient. They produce a large amount of light for a relatively small amount of energy. A traditional halogen GU10 lamp uses 50 watts of energy, but the equivalent LED GU10 lamp uses just 5 watts of energy. Therefore if you have 10 spotlights in your kitchen you are using 500 watts v 50 watts. You pay your energy provider for each and every one of those watts.

3. Lower temperature

Traditional lamps heat the element within the bulb to such a high temperature that it gives off a light, which wastes a lot of energy on heat rather than light. This not only has an impact on the ambient temperature of a room, it also effectively “cooks” the lamp and the fitting, significantly shortening the life of both. I’ve also seen many cases where fittings have been jammed up against joints and cable has been trapped behind badly fitted lights and these instances create a serious fire and safety hazard.

LEDs, however, are cool to the touch. As light produced by LED lighting is a result of the diode, the majority of energy used is actually producing light rather than heat.

4. Colour temperature

LED lamps are available in different colour temperatures: there are cool white, warm white, daylight white, single colour and colour changing options. This means different lighting effects can be created by choosing the appropriate temperature. This is another strong reason why you should seek the proper advice… you don’t want your cosy lounge to be as bright as an operating theatre!

5. Cost savings

Ultimately, switching to LED is really a bit of a no-brainer. Energy prices are only ever set to increase and the promises made of LED reducing your lighting energy bills by 90% are all true. The facts and figures speak for themselves. As a general guide, the cost of running 10 GU10 halogen spotlights for a year is £150. The equivalent running costs for the LED lamps for a year is £15. A good quality LED GU10 lamp will cost approximately £6 (£60 for 10). You will be in payback after just one year.

6. It’s green

LED lamps are very eco-friendly. Unlike some CFL and halogen bulbs, they contain no harmful and toxic polluting substances like mercury, phosphor and lead. This means they are far safer to use around the home and can be recycled without damaging the environment. They also do not emit any UV (Ultraviolet) light.

Case Study of an LED upgrade

We would like to share a worked example with you so you can see for yourself just how easy it is to shave money off your energy bill just by upgrading your lighting. This case study is a real property, located in Chichester, and is an example of how Master Spark can reduce your electricity bill. Previous to Master Spark’s intervention, they had 38 halogen downlights, each one guzzling a huge 50W. The electricity cost from their electricity provider is 13.5 pence per kilowatt hour (p/kwh) and over the course of a year, each light was on for an average of 5 hours per day. The cost to the customer to run these downlights alone was a staggering £468.11 per year!

We discussed with the customer the possible savings and advantages of LED lighting and the customer decided this was the route to take.

How much did they save?

So the 38 x 50w, GU10 halogen downlights were replaced, without the need to alter the fittings, with direct 5W LED replacements. This meant that instead of using 1,900W, they were now only using 190W to light their home, costing them just £46.81 – a massive saving of £421.30 per year!

LED lamps are slightly more expensive to buy; however they are designed and manufactured to last around 20 years. So the 38 bulbs that have been replaced will save on average an estimated £8,426 over the course of their lifetime.

Each LED lamp costs around £7.00, so the whole order was £266.00 (cost of lamps only). As mentioned the yearly saving was £421.30 so it would take under 8 months for them to recoup the cost of the LED lamps, so clearly makes changing your lighting one of the best and easiest ways of reducing energy bills!

Don’t believe us? Have a look at the maths.

38 (lamps) x 50 (watts) x 5 (hours a day) / 1000 (kw) x 365 (year) x 0.135 (p/kwh) = £468.11

38 (lamps) x 5 (watts) x 5 (hours a day) / 1000 (kw) x 365 (year) x 0.135 (p/kwh) = £46.81

£468.11 (with halogen) – £46.81 (with LED) = £421.30 (savings per year)

We appreciate not all properties will have a lot of downlights like this property, but even in properties where very few are used there are still worthwhile savings to be made. Below is a calculation of savings that can be made if you’re upgrading just 10 downlights.

10 (lamps) x 50 (watts) x 5 (hours a day) / 1000 (kw) x 365 (year) x 0.135 (p/kwh) = £123.18

10 (lamps) x 5 (watts) x 5 (hours a day) / 1000 (kw) x 365 (year) x 0.135 (p/kwh) = £12.31

£123.18 (with halogen) – £12.31 (with LED) = £110.87 (savings per year)

Converted to LED yet? Of course!

So what are you waiting for? LEDs will last you around 15 times longer than your halogen bulbs, use up to 90% less energy (the environment will thank you for this) and will yield an enormous reduction in your electricity costs. Knowing that, who wouldn’t be sold on them?