As previously mentioned, these lights don’t use heated filaments, or gas and filament combinations to create light, and unlike incandescent bulbs they don’t produce much heat at all. This gives their application even wider scope, and it means that LED spotlights for instance aren’t likely to damage precious / delicate items and surface they’re placed next to. Also, LEDs don’t contain / give off toxins e.g. mercury, which is good for us and our environment.

Perhaps their greatest and most prominent feature is their ability to save energy and keep doing so over a much longer period than incandescent bulbs. Most of us are used to buying (relative short life cycle) incandescent bulbs which seem cheap to purchase. Although LED lights have a higher purchase price due to the expensive sapphire substrate used in their production, their life cycle is likely to be 50 times longer! If you think of how much it is to purchase them with that in mind, you’ll see that they may actually work out to be cheaper.

LEDs have a much higher efficacy than incandescent bulbs – they produce more light relative to the amount of energy used to produce it – this makes them a highly efficient source of light. For example, because they produce more lumens per watt, a 13 watt LED lamp will produce the same lumen value as a 40 watt incandescent bulb, the implication is that less power is needed to do the same job, thus LEDs are ENERGY SAVING – your electricity bills could be lowered by using them.

Environmentally their energy saving properties also translate to less CO2 being produced to run Led lamps compared with incandescent bulbs. Using the 13 watt LED and 40 watt incandescent example again, the LED lamp could produce one third less CO2. Just think of the reduction in carbon footprints of homes and offices if LED lamps were used to replace other types of bulbs and lamps.

As well as lasting a long time, saving energy, and having a much more positive environmental impact, LED lamps are generally much stronger and more robust than their incandescent counterparts. Even though they’re robust, they can also be made into very small sizes, which can make them ideal for accent lighting applications. LEDs light up more quickly switched on relative to other types of lamps and bulbs, and when they finally reach the end of their useful life they tend to dim gradually rather than instantly breaking. They work particularly well in situations where lights are turned on off frequently – combine this with their high output, long life, minimal maintenance requirements, flexibility and low running costs, and you’ve got something with incredibly positive potential for commercial and domestic settings.

The first light bulbs were extremely fragile and sometimes burst while in use. Through the years the glass became somewhat stronger but it was still breakable. LED energy saving bulbs are more durable because they are made out of plastic and do not use fragile glass and filaments. And because they are solid, they can withstand bumping and extreme movements. Because of this inherent sturdiness they are able to be used in fixtures that a traditional bulb could not tolerate. Examples include instrument panels and in electronic equipment, which are often jostled but whose small parts are difficult and expensive to repair.

A second reason for switching to LED is because they provide very efficient lighting. LED lights are often clumped together, and LED clusters have had as many as 180 bulbs. If used with diffuser lenses, they can produce a wider beam of light. Studies show that LED energy saving bulbs use one-tenth of the power of a regular incandescent bulb. You could light nine LED bulbs with the same amount of power needed to light one traditional bulb. So depending on your lighting use, it would be possible to light a whole house with LED bulbs that it currently takes to light one room with a traditional bulb. In many US cities, traditional traffic lights are being refitted with LED bulbs and these municipalities expect to see an approximate 80% reduction in electricity costs. As they require less power they are also ideal for remote areas, helping to reduce the number of generators and electric lines.

Another incentive for switching to LED energy saving bulbs is that they have a long life. Because they conserve their energy so well and do not build up heat, they ultimately last longer. Some studies conducted show that you could burn a LED bulb for twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, and it would take about seven years to burn out. They are even longer lasting than compact fluorescent lighting, lasting up to ten times longer.

THE UK is making “unacceptably slow” progress towards its renewable energy targets, MPs have warned.

The Committee of Public Accounts told the BBC there was no clear understanding of the cost and success of some alternative technologies.

It said the Department of Energy and Climate Change needed “a greater sense of urgency and purpose”.

Energy Secretary Chris Huhne said the coalition government was determined to “deliver on the low-carbon economy”.

During its hearings, the committee was told that the UK would miss its target to supply 10% of electricity from renewable sources by the end of 2010.

The report, Funding the Development of Renewable Energy Technologies, said the Energy Department and its predecessors had not done enough to address the slow progress.

Ofgem wants to discover whether the energy giants are “playing it straight” with consumers, or whether they are simply “lining their pockets” at the consumer’s expense.

However the findings of the review will not be made available until March next year so Energychoices.co.uk is urging people not to wait that long before looking into changing energy suppliers.

Chris Eagle, is warning people not to sit back and wait to see what happens with the Ofgem review, but to act now if they want to save themselves money.

He says: “Although this is great news that the regulator is investigating the transparency and fairness of the big energy firms, it is not an excuse for you to do nothing and become complacent.

“It is about time the watchdog cottoned onto the fact that energy prices are out of control and people need to know why, however this information will not be available until March 2011.

“In the meantime it is important that you do not just twiddle your thumbs waiting for the verdict, but get online and compare energy prices. You’ll probably find that there are cheaper tariffs available for you and if you were to switch you could significantly slash your gas and electricity bills this winter.”

In addition, Energychoices.co.uk is also recommending that people do what they can to make their homes more energy efficient.

There are a number of things you can do to make your house more energy efficient for little cost, if not for free, which will in turn cut your energy bills.

Here are our top five low-cost ways to cut your bills:

1.    Put draft excluders by the doors and hang up some heavy curtains to keep the cold out and the heat in.

2.    Make sure the timer is set appropriately on your boiler, so you don’t waste money on heating an empty house.

3.    Turn your thermostat down by 1 ̊C, it can cut 10% off your bill and you won’t notice the difference.

4.    Use energy saving lightbulbs to cut your bills and they last 10 times longer.

Carbon footprint reductions from moving to energy saving light bulbs

You might well be curious how lamps can create carbon dioxide? Well they cannot and it is the electricity generating stations, which are normally oil or gas fired, which create the C02. Obviously if your electricity is generated by wave power, windmills or different green processes then C02 emissions will be very little. Lets now look at the data based on a usage of 4 hours per day and assuming you pay 13p per kW hour for electricity. In this case changing one traditional incandescent will save a phenomenal 100kg per year in carbon dioxide emissions.

Looking at the comparison with transportation and other ways to reduce my carbon footprint.

I am sure you are questioning if 100kg of carbon dioxide emissions is a cause for worry and also whether it is not possible to make these carbon footprint reductions through other modes as opposed to changing to energy saving light bulbs? In order to respond to these questions I will offer then following data for appraisal.

1. If you own a Ford Focus C-Max vehicle and you can arrange to drive 340 miles less every year then this is an equivalent saving as changing one of your bulbs to one of your energy saving light bulbs.
2. If you can alter your travel patterns to avoid 1000 miles of train travel, then this will save 100kg in C02 emissions. Energy saving light bulbs offer you a corresponding saving by just changing one!
3. If you fly from London to Glasgow on a full plane then this will result in the release of 100kg in C02.

Now with these choices then changing to energy saving light bulbs has got to be an easy winner.