People are genuinely concerned with lowering their energy consumption, and lighting is one of the easiest things a person can improve on.

Lighting typically accounts for up to 30% of total electricity costs within the home, and by installing energy efficient lighting or lamps you can reduce your overall energy costs .

With the phasing-out of old-fashioned incandescent light bulbs in many developed countries, people are faced with choosing between a handful energy efficient forms of lighting - compact fluorescents (CFL) and light emitting diodes (LED).

While CFLs are energy efficient, they contain mercury and have relatively short lifespan. Also, they are not available in sizes that replace track light bulbs, such as MR16 and GU10. It is unlikely that CFLs will be available in these sizes.

{mosimage} While CFLs provide a good combination of efficiency and cost, there is an even better option - the ultra energy saving light bulbs - LED light bulbs. 

Save Energy
LED lights are very efficient when compared to other lighting products.  Over time, this means that you'll save money on your energy costs by using LED lights in your home. With rising energy costs, these products can help you reduce cost on your energy consumption, which also helps reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Long Life
LEDs are extremely energy efficient, and have lifetimes ranging from 50,000 hours to 100,000 hours.  This makes them a great option for difficult to access places or areas that are lit for long periods of time such as stairs, hallways, kitchens and living rooms where changing light bulbs often is difficult and time consuming. Although LED light bulbs can cost more up front, you'll save money over the long haul as you won't have to buy additional light bulbs, in some cases, for years.

No UV Emissions
LEDs don't produce UV radiation and they remain cool to the touch. This means that you can place LED rope lights in areas like porches, decks, and other wooden structures without worrying that the heat will cause fires or other damage. You can also use LED lights around sensitive antiques or other items like art works as the light won't damage the objects.

Durability
LED lighting is very durable. Combined with the long life and other advantages, this makes LED lighting ideal for many different situations. Shock and vibrations won't damage these lights.

Design Flexibility
Many people love using LED's because of their flexibility. You can combine LED lights to create any shape or design that you want. You can also create fun special effects with the colorful lighting that LED offers. Whether you want chasing lights or other effects, LED makes it possible.  It is especially recommended for mood lighting as light is a powerful mood manipulator tool.

Tips for Buying LEDs (by Joseph Reis)
There are several varieties of residential LED light bulbs on the market. Presently, LEDs best replace track lighting and flood lights, both of which take advantage of the directional nature of LED light. Below are some tips for buying LED light bulbs.

* The Basics
You want to find an LED bulb that produces a healthy amount of light, but at the lowest possible power consumption. A good metric that equalizes your search is "lumens per watt". To derive this figure, simply divide the bulb's number of watts into the number of lumens. Right now, a good LED bulb should have at least 40 lumens per watt, but preferably more.

The question is often asked about comparisons between normal light bulbs and LEDs. Here are some examples to guide you:

5-watt, 3 high power CREE LED, MR16 ~ 25-watt MR16 Halogen 5-watt, 3 high power CREE LED, E27 spot ~ 30-watt E27 spot Halogen 6-watt, 165 traditional LEDs, PAR38, ~ 50-watt PAR38 incandescent

* Lifetime of Bulb
Many manufacturers of LED bulbs claim lifetimes of 50,000 hours to 100,000 hours. The lifetime of an LED lamp is generally considered to be the point where the light output has declined to 70% of it's initial output, measured in lumens. So, a 300 lumen LED bulb with a lifespan of 50,000 hours will have 210 lumens at the end of it's lifetime. However, the lifetime of a bulb does not mean it is unusable, only that it's light output has degraded to a certain point. The LED bulb may continue to be useful for several thousand hours past it's stated lifetime. Unlike old-fashioned light bulbs, it is extremely rare for an LED light to simply burn out. Rather, it will gradually fade over time.

* Color
Generally, you should use warmer light indoors, and whiter light outdoors. A color temperature of 2500-4000 Kelvin works great indoors. You should use a bulb with a color temperature of 5000-7000 Kelvin outdoors, as the whiter light allows your eyes to see better at night.

White light in the 5000-7000 Kelvin range is also excellent for display cases, boutiques, artwork, or other settings where you need excellent color rendition.

* Type of LED lamp
LED light bulbs use one or more tiny semiconductor lamps to produce very focused light. Contrast this with normal light bulbs that generate light in all directions. LED lamps are currently available in two forms: traditional LEDs (typically 5mm), which are smaller, and high power LEDs. Light bulbs using traditional LEDs require a large number of LED lamps to produce sufficient light, whereas high power LED bulbs use one or more lamps to generate light.

In general, the more LEDs, the better the light dispersion. Always get LED bulbs with more than one LED. You will find that single LED bulbs produce a very conspicuous outline, similar to a halo. Unless you enjoy halos across your walls, it's better to buy light bulbs with multiple LEDs.

{mosimage} Here are some common track light and flood light bulb types, and suggestions for the LED arrangements:

For track bulbs such as MR-type and GU-type, try to get bulbs with 3 high power LED lamps (preferably using CREE or Nichia lamps). Avoid buying track bulbs using an array of traditional LED lamps, as these are not as effective as high power lamps.

For flood light bulbs, such as PAR-type, you can find reasonably priced traditional LED arrangements. High-power LED flood lights produce good light, but are also very expensive. In my experience, a PAR bulb using 120 or more traditional LED lamps works just as good, at a fraction of the price.

* Cost and energy savings
LED bulbs have a higher upfront cost, but they pay for themselves several times over their lifetime. Because LEDs have lower power consumption and a very long lifetime, they are very energy efficient. Let's take an example of a $45, 5-watt, 50,000 hour MR16 LED bulb. Let's assume a constant electricity cost of $0.10 per kilowatt hour, and a 0.61 electrical grid CO2 output factor. Compared with a similar $8, 25-watt halogen MR16 bulb, the LED will save $255 and reduce carbon emissions by 1,345 pounds. Not bad for a light bulb.

As energy costs continue to rise, the cost savings and carbon reduction from using LEDs will become far more pronounced.

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