LED Vs Fluorescent, we discussed details of both bulbs that give out white lights, and so you may wonder why you should Replace Fluorescent Light Bulb With LED if you are already making use of fluorescent.
If you are using fluorescent bulbs in-home or garage or shop, top-quality LED shop lights will save your money over using fluorescent light.
We will get to the reason in a minute but before then, let’s go over what the two mean differently.
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Fluorescent vs LED Lighting Bulbs
What is a fluorescent bulb?
Fluorescent bulbs or tubes are a kind of gas-discharge light that is commonly referred to as arc light or HID (High-Intensity Discharge). The lights from florescent lamps come as a result of converted ultraviolet emissions with its inside coated with fluorescent coating.
The ultraviolet or UV radiation is produced with the help of an electrical charge that goes inside the inert mercury glass that can be found inside the bulb.
What is LED?
LED vs Fluorescent. The LED which fully means (Light Emitting Diode) is made is an electrical component that has two electrodes – a cathode and an anode – that helps in passing electricity in just one direction (it passes through the anode and then passes out from the cathode).
The diodes are manufactured from selenium or silicon in their solid state which are semiconductive in nature. Now that you know a little about the LED and fluorescent, it’s time to go into a little detail on why you should choose LED over fluorescent.
Reason of Replace Fluorescent Light Bulb With LED
01. Longer lasting
This is particularly beneficial to those that are mindful of how many hours they can get from a source of light. Do you know that some LED lamps, especially the linear ones can last up to 84,000 hours while the average fluorescent lamp can only last for 30,000?
That’s almost three times the lifespan of fluorescent light. You may argue that LED is more expensive than fluorescent but when you consider the almost triple lifespan of a fluorescent you get from a LED lamp, you will definitely understand that it’s worth it.
That means that someone with a florescent will have to change his fluorescent light up to 2 or 3 times before the LED lamp goes out. For one thing, you get to save on labor costs that would have been spent on the replacements.
02. Money-saving
It has been identified that LED is at least 30% higher in efficiency than fluorescents. What this means is that you get to cut down your electricity bill by at least 30% in a year.
LED standard 4-foot bulb uses as low as 12 watts while the florescent usually starts off at 25 watts of power consumption.
Assuming you spend $5,000 on your lighting cost a year using fluorescent, switching to LED can save you at least $1500.
03. Free of mercury
LED bulbs do not contain mercury which cannot be said of their fluorescent counterpart. You may already know that mercury is bad for the environment and requires careful and proper disposal (recycling kits) which could add up to your cost on a yearly basis.
04. Directional light
Another way to put this is that LED lights are more focused and eliminates waste of light because it directs light by focusing on one direction.
The diodes in an LED bulb are located at the bottom of the LED lamp so that light is sent downwards unlike florescent that sends light in all directions. So you get more focused light from LED bulbs and lamps.
05. Dimmable lights
There are two major benefits of having a bulb or lamp that you can dim. The first is that you get to adjust the light to the wattage you need at the particular moment (like nighttime), while the second is that you get to increase the lifespan of the lamp.
With fluorescent lights, you may not have this option because it usually comes with just the ON and OFF options.
You could get dimmable fluorescent lamps but they are usually more expensive than the normal fluorescent bulbs and when you compare other benefits of an LED light, you will certainly prefer to go for LED in the first place.
06. Works better with occupancy sensors
Occupancy sensors are a great way to save on your energy consumption because it makes sure that light is only produced or available where someone is.
So, if you have a large warehouse, you wouldn’t have to bother turning off the switch every time you leave a particular area or section.
Occupancy sensors do not work well with fluorescent lights because it burns off some vapor of mercury each time it’s turned on.
And once this is reduced, your florescent may no longer work. This is not the issue with LED lights because it contains no mercury and does not care how many times it is turned on or off.
07. Easy installation
You may not necessarily need to get an installer to install your LED lights because most of them are plug and play.
When replacing your florescent lights with LED, try and get LED bulb that is certified “ballast-compatible” so that you can use the ballast that was initially fixed for your florescent when plugging your LED bulb.
08. Temperatures options
Before now, you could only get LED bulbs that offer 5000 and higher cooler color temperatures.
Presently, you can get LED bulbs that can go as low as 2700k warmer temperature so that whatever temperature you may need in your home, workplace or at a healthcare center, you will have temperature options that meet your needs.
09. Reduced Air conditioning bill
With fluorescent bulbs, you get to deal with the heat it emits and may need to always have your air conditioning running always in order to cool off the temperature.
But with LED, you don’t have to worry about this because it does not emit heat and you may not need to have your air conditioning running all the time the LED bulb is on.
10. More durable
Should you mistakenly drop a fluorescent lamp on the floor, you end up with shattered glass and some mercury and of course, it will no longer be of any use to you.
But most LED are covered in durable plastics so that they can survive low height drop on the floor.
Conclusion
Finally, with all that has been said about the LED bulb or lamp, you can see that you are better off with a LED than a fluorescent.
And if the price difference is your concern, then you may be happy to know that LED lights are becoming more affordable than they originally were.
