LED Articles & Recognitions

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Affordable Mass Market LED Lights on the Way
(Category: Energy) Posted 2007/02/23 | By: Ryan McGreal
(this article has been updated)

The folks at treehugger just reported that a company in The Netherlands has launched a new LED light, called the "Pharox", which generates as much light as a 40 watt bulb but uses only 3.4 watts.
A pack of four costs € 22.68. That's $8.63 Cdn per bulb. Granted, that sounds like a lot of money, but as always with these matters, it's important to pay attention to the lifecycle costs, not just the initial capital cost.

*A three-way comparison between LEDs, compact fluorescent lights (CFL) and incandescent light bulbs (ILB) is in order.

Purchase Costs
Because LEDs and CFLs have a much longer lifespan than ILB, we need to calculate the lifetime costs of replacing the lights. Let's start with LEDs, which have the longest lifespan. Because the LED actually produces less light than the other two, I bumped the price up to an even $10 for the sake of comparison.

LED: lasts 60,000 hours. At $10.00 per light, it costs $10 for 60,000 hours.
CFL: lasts 10,000 hours. At $10.00 per light, it costs $60 for 60,000 hours.
ILB: lasts 1,000 hours. At $0.50 per light, it costs $30 for 60,000 hours.

Energy Costs: So far, LEDs are ahead. However, we also have to calculate the lifetime energy costs of operating the lights. For the sake of this example, I used $0.10 per kilowatt-hour. Bear in mind that over the next twenty years, that price is ridiculously optimistic; we will more likely be paying at least triple that price, either directly in our hydro bills or indirectly through tax subsidies.
Note: the featured LED is 3.4 watts but only produces light equivalent to a 40 watt bulb. For the sake of comparison, I calculated that an LED producing light equivalent to a 60 watt bulb would require 5.1 watts.

LED: 5.1 watts * 60,000 hours = 306 kilowatt-hours. At 10 cents per kilowatt-hour, you'll pay $30.60 to run an LED for 60,000 hours.
CFL: 16 watts * 60,000 hours = 960 kilowatt-hours. At 10 cents per kilowatt-hour, you'll pay $96.00 to run CFLs for 60,000 hours.
ILB: 60 watts * 60,000 hours = 3600 kilowatt-hours. At 10 cents per kilowatt-hour, you'll pay a whopping $360.00 to run incandescent bulbs for 60,000 hours.

Total Costs: Now we can add up the purchase price and usage price for each light over 60,000 hours to get the total price.

Light Types: Total Cost Comparison

Light

Purchase Price

Usage Price

Total

LED
$10.00

$30.60

$40.60

CFL

$60.00

$96.00

$156.00

ILB

$30.00

$360.00

$390.00

Over the 60,000 hour life of an LED light, you'll save $115.40 compared to CFL, and $349.40 compared to ILB. Hmmm, tough decision.

Update: A reader noticed that my summary table erroneously listed the total purchase costs of a CFL as $10 instead of $60. I've corrected this. Thanks for pointing it out! - R.

Update 2: A few commenters have suggested that $10 per CFL is too much money. The last time I bought CFLs was a couple of years ago and they were that much back then. For the sake of argument, I re-calculated the Cost Comparison based on $3 per CFL. Replace six times, that works out to $18.

Light

Purchase Price

Usage Price

Total

LED
$10.00

$30.60

$40.60

CFL

$18.00

$96.00

$114.00

ILB

$30.00

$360.00

$390.00

As you can see, at $114 total cost, CFL is still considerably more expensive.

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L.E.D. Holiday Lights Win Timely Endorsement of Energy Dept.

By Michael Rubinkam
Associated Press

Consumers can save money on their electricity bills by switching from traditional Christmas lights to L.E.D. (light-emitting diode) lights, the government said last week, giving a boost to a suburban Philadelphia company that holds a patent on the technology. The Department of Energy report confirmed what Yardley-based Fiber Optic Designs Inc. has been saying for the last several years: L.E.D. lights last much longer, cost a lot less to operate, and are much more durable than conventional Christmas-light sets that frequently malfunction.

"L.E.D. technology is well-suited to this application, and will replace conventional incandescent lights over time, saving significant energy and money," the report said. L.E.D. lights are becoming more popular and utility companies are touting the benefits of L.E.D. Christmas lighting to their customers. L.E.D. lights have been used on state Christmas trees in Oregon, Washington and Montana, while the Long Island Power Authority in New York has sent a holiday flyer to nearly 1.1 million customers praising L.E.D. lights as the "greatest invention in lighting since Edison invented the light bulb!"

In its report, the Energy Department said that, if all conventional incandescent Christmas lights in the United States were replaced with L.E.D. lights, annual energy savings would total 2 billion kilowatt-hours - enough to power almost 200,000 homes for an entire year.

Mike McCabe of the Energy Department's Building Technologies Program said he expected L.E.D. technology to improve to the point where it can be used to light homes and offices all year round. L.E.D. technology has been around for decades, and L.E.D.s are steadily replacing light bulbs in a variety of devices.

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How to Make Your Business Green
There are more ways than ever for your business to save energy, money and the environment.

By Chris Penttila
Updated: 8:00 a.m. PT March 19, 2007
It's Easy Being Green

As we celebrate the 37th Earth Day this month, there's a renewed emphasis on energy conservation and growing evidence that an eco-conscious mind-set is not only good for the environment, but also good for business. Consider Wal-Mart, which is installing freezers with energy-saving LED lights in its new Wal-Mart and Sam's Club locations. And a November 2006 McKinsey Global Institute study found that companies and households could slow the yearly growth rate in worldwide energy demand more than 50 percent by 2020 through increased energy efficiency.

To read the entire article, click onto: www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17689195/

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METRO
New Lights Put to Test To Boost Platform Safety

By Lena H. Sun
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, March 8, 2007; Page B04

   Yes, those lights along the platform edges at the Gallery Place-Chinatown Metro station are a different color. They are red on the upper-level Red Line platform and yellow on the lower-level Yellow and Green Line platforms. The traditional ones were white.
   Metro is conducting a six-month test of the new lights, which flash when trains enter and exit the station, to see whether they will keep passengers away from the edge of the platform when trains approach. The agency is testing red and yellow lights to see which work best as a deterrent, not because the colors match the train lines.
   Metro also has installed the lights to cut energy and maintenance costs. The new ones use light-emitting diode (LED) bulbs, which give the same amount of light as the 40-watt incandescent bulbs but use one-third the energy and last longer, Metro officials said.
The LED lights also cost a lot more. Regular bulbs cost about $1.50 apiece and last three months. The off-the-shelf price for the LED lights is $76 each, but they are supposed to last 10 to 12 years, officials said.
   The new lights also would decrease work for Metro employees and train delays for riders because tracks are often taken out of service to change hard-to-reach bulbs. It costs Metro as much as $400,000 a year in labor, personnel and maintenance costs to replace edge lights. Officials estimate that the new lights could save as much as $100,000 a year.

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Home Safety Council Award

The Home Safety Council’s 2006 Commendation Award for Product Innovation for Consumer Safety winners include the following companies and their respective products:

HCI – LED Light Strings: For holiday and summer use, the HCI LED light strings are cool to the touch, the bulbs do not break and they do not cause fire, shock or choking hazards. The light strings also reduce green house gases and are much safer than traditional incandescent light strings.

For Immediate Release

HOME SAFETY COUNCIL® ANNOUNCES WINNERS OF THE COMMENDATION AWARDS FOR PRODUCT INNOVATION
Leading Manufacturers Recognized for Developing Products
to Improve Consumer Safety

Washington, D.C. (XXXX) – At the 2nd Annual Salute to Home Safety Awards Dinner on June 8th in Washington, DC, the Home Safety Council awarded its Commendation Awards for Product Innovation for Consumer Safety to 21 deserving companies. Product manufacturers from a variety of industries including home improvement, fire safety and interior décor were among the organizations that received the award in recognition of their outstanding contributions to home safety.

According to the Home Safety Council-commissioned study, The State of Home Safety in America™, home injuries cause an average of nearly 20,000 deaths and 21 million medical visits each year. The Home Safety Council’s Commendation Award for Product Innovation for Consumer Safety was established in 2004 to acknowledge manufacturers for their contributions to reducing home injury risks by implementing proactive safety programs and developing innovative products that improve consumer safety.

“Manufacturers are a valuable partner in the Home Safety Council’s ongoing efforts to create safer American homes,” said Home Safety Council president Meri-K Appy. “This year’s award winners represent a wide range of home safety product innovations and all demonstrate a clear commitment to health and safety. We applaud their efforts and are honored to present them with this award.”

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Light Energy Designs: A company Promoting ENERGY STAR®

Retail Grade String Lights that have earned the ENERGY STAR®.
Products/homes/buildings that have earned the ENERGY STAR®, prevent greenhouse gas emissions by meeting strict energy efficiency guidelines set by the U.S. Environmental protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Energy