Buying and using LED light bulbs

LED light bulbs are the newest lighting technology, developed in recent years to provide white light for general lighting applications. Being a new technology, LED light bulbs are still relatively expensive compared to the old incandescent bulbs. However, as LED light bulbs use much less electricity and last much longer, you will save money. Now you can replace many of your standard bulbs with LED light bulbs such as B22, MR16 and GU10 ranges.

Things to consider when deciding which light bulbs to buy:

What will you use the LED bulb for?

LED light bulbs produce a directional, focused beam, rather than general broad illumination. They are often used where you want to light a specific area of a room, or provide accent lighting for a feature, and multiple installations in the ceilings of bathrooms and kitchens. Examples include spot lights and down lighters, desk and cabinet lights, garden and security lights.

How long will the LED bulb last?

You can expect your LED light bulbs to last for up to 50,000 hours. That’s over 5 years of continuous 24/7 operation, or 17 years with an average of 8 hours a day. This is about 3 times longer than a CFL (Compact Fluorescent Light) bulb, and over 30 times longer than a traditional incandescent or halogen bulb.

How much will the LED bulb cost?

LED light bulbs will save you money even though they are more expensive to buy. As they last longer, you don’t have to buy so many bulbs – on this alone, LED light bulbs will save you money. But it doesn’t stop there. As LED light bulbs convert electricity into light more efficiently, they produce a lot less heat. This heat is a waste product in most lighting situations, and is one reason for the much shorter life of incandescent bulbs.

Because LED light bulbs are more efficient, they use a lot less electricity. For example, a GU10 High Power LED bulb uses 3×1 watts and produces the equivalent to 45 watts of incandescent lighting. This means the GU10 LED bulb uses only 1/15^th of the electricity.

You can often recoup the cost of an LED bulb in less than a year on the electricity saving alone.

Check out our range of GU10 LED light bulbs, which are available individually or in multi-packs.