Choosing the Right LED
Guest Post: Keith D. Brown – Business Development – Audio Video Innovations
Back in the good old days of incandescent lighting you drove to the store, purchased a 60-watt bulb, and installed it wherever it was needed. It truly seemed that simple. Today the 60-watt bulb doesn’t exist, lights are all different colors, and prices are all over the board. How do you know which bulb is going to fit your needs? Learning these five things to look for when purchasing LED bulbs can keep you from making multiple trips to the hardware store to replace that one darn bulb. 
Lumens
Purchasing LED lights is most confusing when you are replacing traditional incandescent lights. You have to replace a 60-watt bulb, but that same nomenclature isn’t used for LED bulbs. Incandescent bulbs were rated by the amount of energy they consumed, but LED and CFL bulbs are rated by the amount of light they emit, typically measured in lumens. Luckily, you don’t need to memorize conversion ratios; most manufacturers tell you right on the box which incandescent bulbs a given LED will be a suitable replacement for example, a traditional 60-watt incandescent light bulb puts out about 800 lumens. To produce 800 lumens, a modern LED bulb only has to use around 13 watts of electricity. Why the huge difference? In short, most of the energy being consumed by an incandescent bulb is being converted into heat, not light. LED bulbs are able to much more efficiently convert that energy into light, meaning they also put off far less heat. In a hot area such as Texas, just switching to LED bulbs can help make your home cooler and reduce the load on your HVAC system. According to ASHRAE (American Society of Heating, Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Engineers) switching from a 90-watt incandescent to a 14-watt LED in use 12 hours a day can save as much as 328 kWh (or $33) per year! And that is just the change due to additional air conditioning requirements!
Color Temperature
Probably the most important decision you have to make when standing on the lighting aisle is the color temperature of your bulbs. Color temperature, in simple terms, means what color the light emitted by the bulb will appear. Color temperature is measured in degrees Kelvin. A lower number means that the light will appear more yellow (or warm) and a higher number indicates that the light will appear more blue.
5000° is generally considered the color temperature for sunlight, while 2700° is similar to a traditional 60-watt incandescent bulb. For the most part, 2700° – 3500° is ideal for a home. Warmer bulbs within that range can be used for lamps and living spaces, while cooler bulbs work well for task areas such as kitchens, sewing rooms, etc. One room in the home that would benefit from a 5000° bulb is a garage or workshop. Anything higher will appear too blue, but at 5000° you have good visual acuity, and mixing artificial light with sunlight during the day will still lead to a pleasant work environment.
CRI
CRI stands for Color Rendering Index, a value assigned to describe the ability of a light source to faithfully reveal the true colors of an object. High CRI bulbs are essential for merchandising products such as clothing, produce and artwork. Within the home, high CRI light can make your fruit look fresher and can help you determine if that sock is black or navy. CRI is not a perfect science, but purchasing a bulb with a CRI of 90 or higher will tend to produce a better, more natural, appearance to your artificial light.
Bulb and Base Types
Your traditional “60-watt light bulb†is known as an A2 base bulb. A 6†recessed can light typically contains a BR30 or BR40 bulb, the BR standing for “bulged reflector.†Knowing which bulb you are looking for can be tough, but it isn’t impossible. The best way to make sure you get the right bulb is to take your old bulb with you to the store, or in new construction, check the specifications of the fixture receiving the bulb. The chart below shows some of the most common lamp types and lets you see how they compare with similar style bulbs.
Dimmability
The last important detail when purchasing energy efficient bulbs is checking to see whether or not they are dimmable. Incandescent lights dim beautifully as an inherent result of their design. The same cannot be said for LED and CFL bulbs. Always check to see if LED bulbs are dimmable, and if possible, ensure they are certified to work with the dimmer type you possess. Even if you don’t currently have a dimmer installed, I would recommend purchasing dimmable lights. Since the bulbs can last up to 30-years there is a chance you may want to add dimming at some point, and waiting for your old non-dimmable bulb to burn out isn’t a viable option.
So there you have it, your crash course in purchasing LED bulbs. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact us at info@avinnovations.net or by calling our office at 972.529.4470.