How Green Is Green? A Look at LED Lighting

Everyday we are bombarded with the term “green” and, depending on the product or the process, the term “green” could be defined in different ways.

What is green?
When is it a marketing ruse?
When is it an honorable attempt to do the right thing?
How much credit do you give to manufacturers trying to do the right thing?

Defining “Green”

Our definition of a green product is pretty simple. Green products need to have the following characteristics:

• All Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC) must be removed from the manufacturing process.
• The lifecycle of the product should be from 5 to 10 times longer than the traditional product it replaces.
• When in operation, it uses only a fraction of the energy of a conventional product.
• When the lifecycle ends, it is completely recyclable!

This is especially true when purchasing “green” lighting and particularly when you are considering using LED lights. Below are examples of LED lights that can be retrofitted in many common applications.  They all operate off of standard house current, are available in SoftWhite or Daylight, have a lamp life of approximately 50,000 hours and have extremely low heat output containing no harmful gasses.

LED CFLA120

The 6W CFLA lamp has been designed to retrofit existing incandescent and/or CFL installations. This reduces maintenance and energy expenditures.  The lamp is dimmable. Common uses of the 6W CFLA include:

• Task Lighting
• Hospitality Lighting
• Recessed Down Lighting
• Residential & Commercial Lighting

E50

The E50 7W lamp has been designed to retrofit existing incandescent instillations, also reducing maintenance and energy
expenditures. Like the 6W CFLA lamp, it is also dimmable.  Common uses include:

• Retail Display Applications
• Task Lighting
• Recessed Down Lighting
• Hospitality & Institutional Outdoor
• Landscape Retrofit
• Ceiling Fans
• Residential Lighting

PAR 20

This 6W lamp has been designed to retrofit existing bipin, GU and standard E27 medium screw in base installations, thereby reducing maintenance and energy expenditures.  Common uses of this specific lamp include:

• Task Lighting
• Recessed Down Lighting
• Hospitality & Institutional Outdoor
• Landscape Retrofit
• Residential Lighting
• Retail Display Applications

A19 Incandescent Bulb Series

The LED-A19 bulb has been designed to retrofit existing incandescent bulb installations, also reducing maintenance and energy expenditures.  Common uses include:

• Lobby lighting
• Signage
• Chandeliers
• Step Lighting
• Display Cases
• Recessed Cans
• Pathway Lighting
• Hotel Room Retrofit
• Amusement Parks

60 LED Cordless and Rechargeable Work Light

60 SUPER-bright LEDs give excellent work area lighting. Approximately 240 Lumens brighter than any LED flashlight with a 2-hour runtime until half as bright and 4 hours until dead.  Fully charged in 90 minutes from a totally discharged battery! This light can run or recharge off 120 VAC. Common uses include:

• Task Lighting For Cars, Trucks and Boats
• Garage Lighting
• Emergency Lighting
• Camping, Outdoors

Why Use LED Lights?

How about a 70-80% smaller lighting bill? A great example of a very effective first step is LED lighting, which uses only a fraction of the energy for the same amount of light as Compact Fluorescent Light and has none of the hazardous material in it (such as mercury) and can be recycled when its useful life is over.  A typical LED (light-emitting diode) replacement for a 60-watt incandescent light is only 6 watts.  The savings are dramatic when you begin replacing all of the lights in your home.

Applications that work well with LED lighting in your home include:

• Task and reading lights
• Strip lighting for under counters
• Recessed lighting
• Outdoor/landscape
• Porches
• Night lights
• Work Light

LED lights use less electricity, are as versatile as regular lamps, and can be recycled – all perfect reasons to use LED lighting in your home.