Go to your local hardware store and you will notice that LED (light-emitting diode) lights are becoming increasingly more popular. These lights use very little energy and they are rapidly replacing older, more energy consuming light bulbs. They have a wide range of uses, including:

• Lamps,

• Strip lighting placed under cabinets,

• Outdoor lighting,

• Solar lights,

• Regular light fixtures,

• Pot lights, and

• Lights that highlight art work.

How do they work?

Before 1993, the colour of light that an LED produced came from using a combination of red, blue and green LEDs. This combination of colours could produce any colour of light, including ultraviolet and infrared. In 1993, Nichia developed a way to have a single diode produce white light by using a chip coated with phosphor. This method was much cheaper and helped LED lights to gain the popularity they enjoy today.

An LED light can produce one, two or three different colours. To produce two colours in the same light bulb, two different LEDs are used. They are both connected to the same wire where the electric current flows in two different directions. When the electric current flows in one direction, a certain colour is produced. Change the direction of the current and the light changes to a different colour.

To produce three colours, a similar process incorporating two different LEDs is also used. However, in this case each one is connected to a different wire. One LED produces a certain colour and the other one produces a different colour. When both lights are on at the same time a third colour is produced.

Benefits of LED lights:

• They save you money,

• They use less energy than an incandescent light bulb,

• They last longer - up to 30,000 hours per bulb,

• They give off less heat than an incandescent light bulb,

• They are more durable because they don’t have fragile filaments in the bulb, and

• They fit standard light fixtures.

Disadvantages:

• They are more expensive than an incandescent light bulb,

• They usually cast light in a narrow beam, and

• They are heat sensitive and excessive heat will reduce the expected life of a bulb.

Interesting facts:

LED lights can last up to 30,00 hours compared to an incandescent light bulb, which lasts about 1,000 hours. That means they will last 30 times longer than a regular bulb.

If you left an LED light on for 24 hours a day, it would last over 3 years. Turn it on for just 8 hours a day and that same light bulb will last for over 10 years!