Energy Matters Forums

[LowEnergySupporter]

Hi ho,

just found this forum on the internet and I think this is the right place for my questions. Nearly a year ago I replaced all lights in my bathroom from 6 x 50watts halogen down to 6 x 4 watts LEDs. And i really was overwhelmed how great the LEDs did there job. So i decided to built a little website with an easy to use LED calculator. This calculator compares your energy costs of your old light bulb with a comparable LED. I really want people to buy LEDs, In my opinion this technology saves both; Energy and Money.

My goal is to program an easy calculator that everyone can use. What do you think about the calculator? Do you miss something? Is it to complex?

http://www.buy-or-not-blog.de/led-energy-usage-calculator/

[jules]

Good to see LEDs being promoted.

Could I suggest that on your page for LED headlights it's worth making a special mention of LEDs for trailer tail lights [and off road bikes] . Trailers have next to no suspension and filament globes die at a dangerous rate. I almost think LEDs should be mandatory for trailers and I suspect most trailer users aren't aware of the frailty of filaments.

Jules

[Smurf1976]

LED's also have a significant non-energy cost advantage in any situation where maintenance is either costly or physically difficult.

Anything relating to vehicles is one, since replacing bulbs is just a hassle and, for commercial operators, a cost with downtime etc and then there's the road safety factor. Same presumably with aircraft lights - reliability is more important than outright cost given safety and the cost and hassle of replacing faulty bulbs.

Traffic lights were one thing that adopted LED's quite early, driven by the benefits of safety (reliability) and the labour cost of replacing bulbs. Similar aspects apply to streetlights and commercial lighting generally.

Residential use, where the labour cost of lamp replacement is normally zero, is thus the least attractive use of LED lighting since the only financial benefit is energy saving. That's not to say homes aren't using LED's, they are, but non-residential users gain an even greater benefit given the labour costs of lamp replacment in a commercial environment versus usually free labour at home.

[LowEnergySupporter]

[Moderator - cut entire previous posting down to the relevant sentence]

Could I suggest that on your page for LED headlights it's worth making a special mention of LEDs for trailer tail lights [and off road bikes]

That's a good hint, i will update my page the next few days !

[LowEnergySupporter]

[Moderator - cut quoted text down to a sensible size, quoting an entire recent posting is unnecessary - just look up the page if you need to read it all again!]

LED's also have a significant non-energy cost advantage in any situation where maintenance is either costly or physically difficult.

You are right, i didn't consider the LED usage in a more industrial environment. The robustness of a LED is also worth to mention. But i also believe that LEDs will replace the lights in our homes within the next few years. Here in the EU, normal filament bulbs are not allowed anymore and that will also increase the sale of LEDs. Energy saving light tubes are not very popular because of their mercury, so i think most people will go for LEDs, also for residential use. Do you have any LEDs at home?

[Smurf1976]

As one example of the economics, the use if high bay LED lighting (high powered) in an actual major power station.

Energy cost isn't the driver there, not when you literally are the electricity company, it comes down to maintenance and light quality. Lights high up on the roof above the turbines - that's an expensive and difficult place to be changing bulbs (of whatever type) so longevity wins out over other factors. There are also safety aspects, both due to the lack of mercury with LED's and that they restart instantly in the event of a power supply disturbance. Needless to say, being plunged into darkness inside a power station amidst some grid emergency situation isn't a desirable thing to have happen (mercury vapour lights being inherently prone to tripping off if there's a power supply disturbance and taking a few minutes to restart).

Photo shows both mercury vapor and LED high bay lights in use. The center row are the LED's. Location is Gordon Power Station (Tasmania).