LEDs Vs Incandescent, Halogen, Fluorescent & CFL Lighting

How lights work

Incandescent and halogen light bulbs create light by heating a filament inside the bulb. The heat makes the filament glow white hot, producing visible light. Using electricity to heat a filament to create light is a pretty inefficient way to make light and so a lot of energy is used and wasted in the process. Incandescent bulbs actually waste approximately 90% of the electricity they use to get hot and they do get incredibly hot.

Fluorescent light tubes and compact fluorescents bulbs use a gas (usually argon), mercury particles and phosphor to create light. The gas is excited by electricity, combining with mercury particles to produce invisible ultraviolet light. The UV light then hits the white, phosphor coating inside the fluorescent tube or bulb, causing it to fluoresce and emit white light. Because fluorescents don't use heat to create light, they are far more energy efficient than regular incandescent bulbs.

Don't flick the switch

However, fluorescents don't take kindly to being turned on and off frequently. They require a starter as well as a ballast to regulate the amount of electricity flowing through the tube or bulb, ballasts are subject to random failure and starters wear out with excessive switching. With time, phosphor levels drop off and the light becomes dimmer. Mercury is eventually lost, resulting in a dim pink glow.

Health concerns

There are also health concerns surrounding fluorescent lighting. Older style fluorescents tend to flicker at twice the supply frequency. This is not always apparent to the human eye but can still pose safety hazards in workshops, produce eye strain and headaches in students and officeworkers. Studies have linked this flicker to epileptic episodes and to repetitive movement in autistic children. Newer fluorescents don't produce visible flicker as they use electronic rather than electromagnetic ballasts. Both old and new styles give off more EMR (electromagnetic radiation) than LED lights.

LEDs

LED stands for Light Emitting Diode. Diodes are semiconductors, which will conduct electricity in only one direction. LED bulbs and tubes use diodes instead of gas or heated filaments to produce light making them the most energy efficient of all the lighting systems. LED lights do not require starters or ballasts and so are more durable and longer-lasting than their fluorescent counterparts. You can expect up to 50,000 hours from an LED. They produce the healthiest form of light, known as Full Spectrum, the closest to natural sunlight available.

Be careful

The fact that LEDs do not contain mercury or phosphor makes them a more environmentally sensible choice than fluorescents. Fluorescent tubes can contain up to 15mg of mercury and compact fluorescents contain an average of 5mg. Mercury is an extremely toxic element, especially dangerous to pregnant women, babies and children. One fluorescent tube contains sufficient mercury to pollute 30,000 litres of water.

When a mercury containing bulb is broken, you must immediately open windows and leave the room for at least 15 minutes. Then clean up the residue using a damp cloth. Place all of the pieces, including the cloth into a plastic bag. Seal the bag and place it into another plastic bag. Check with your council or waste facility as to where to leave the bag. Don't just throw it in with your regular rubbish.

The winner is...

Clearly, LED tubes and bulbs are the most environmentally friendly choice. They consume the least amount of energy, last longest and are not hazardous to health or the environment. They are now available in Australia at G Warehouse and are more affordable than you thought.