Different LED Bulbs Types
LED light bulbs and plenty of other similar products have changed the lighting market because of their minimal energy consumption and long life, especially when compared to other lighting options. LED bulbs also stand out because of how easily users can replace and fit them, making them one of the best lighting options of the modern era.
A Closer Look at LED Lights and How they Work
LED lights use semiconductor devices called Light Emitting Diodes. These light bulbs generate light using a semiconductor in a procedure known as electroluminescence. In this process, electrical current travels through a mini processer that illuminates the LED light source, resulting in bright light. The heat generated by LEDs enters a heat sink. The cool operating temperature and small size ensure that you can use this light in a variety of forms and shapes that would not be possible with other types of light bulbs. What’s most impressive about LED lights is that it is highly efficient when you compared it with incandescent and other types of traditional bulbs. LED lamps and bulbs have tremendous longevity and can last for years without any significant wear and tear. Plus, their energy efficiency can significantly reduce your bills, which is a big reason why more and more people are replacing their regular lights and bulbs with LED alternatives. The LED industry has a vast selection of smart light bulbs for commercial, industrial, and residential applications. As this technology continues to prosper, more and more people will realize that it is a vastly superior alternative to other forms of lighting. It is more consumer-friendly, economical, and comes in multiple designs and color options. In this piece, we will discuss the different types of LED light bulbs available these days, and the things you should consider before choosing one for your home or office.
Different LED Light Types
There have been loads and loads of advancements in LED-heavy technology over the past few years. Because of this, we have an incredible range of styles and designs, which include spotlights, reflectors, tubes, golf balls, candles, GLS etc. Despite the fancy styles these LED lamps or light bulbs come in, they remain energy efficient, ensuring your utility bills remain on the lower side.
Below is a list of common LED light bulb types available in the market:
Graphene Light: Graphene LED bulbs are covered in graphene. These bulbs are arguably the most cost-effective out of every LED light bulb type.
Chip on Board LED: The chip onboard LED is relatively new compared to most LED bulbs. It stands out because of its excellent lumen to watt ratio.
Surface Mounted Device LED: These LED bulbs contain SMD chips for adding extra brightness, making it the perfect option for homes and offices.
LED Lighting Tubes: Led lighting tubes are ideal for replacing fluorescent tube lights. These tubes generally work with multiple LED lights as long as they match the length.
LED Bulb Shapes
As mentioned abundantly, LED lights and bulbs come in a variety of sizes and shapes these days. Here is a look at some of the most popular types you will come across:
Vintage Light Bulbs: This type of LED light bulb is perfect for adding ambiance and aesthetics. Decorative fixtures, in particular, could benefit from vintage light bulbs.
Track Light Bulbs: Track light bulbs provide directional lighting and can also highlight particular areas like kitchen space, workstations, artwork, etc.
Tube Light LED Bulbs: These are linear bulbs, perfect for workspaces, kitchens, and offices.
Candle Light Bulbs: Chandelier bulbs are often used for decorative fixtures or accent lighting.
Globe Bulbs: If you are looking for omnidirectional bulbs for pendant lights, bathroom vanities, and other similar things, opting for globe bulbs would be a great idea.
Flood Light Bulbs: Floodlight bulbs are designed for emitting a narrow but bright beam of light, which is perfect for exterior applications.
Standard Light Bulbs: Standard light bulbs are suitable for bathrooms, hallways, reading lamps, and other general-purpose things/areas.
What is Correlated Color Temperature in LEDs
Modern LED bulbs come in an extensive range of colors that include different shades of white like daylight, bright white, and soft white.
Bright White: The light is refreshing and cool
Daylight: Natural and energizing daylight, perfect for security
Soft White Bulbs: Comfortable and warm light
Why LED Bulbs are so Energy-Efficient?
LED bulbs to come are Energy Star certified and are the best option to save on your energy bills. As mentioned earlier, regular incandescent bulbs estimate brightness in Watts. LED lights, on the other hand, measure it in Lumens. For instance, a regular light bulb of 60 watts emits around eight hundred Lumens. On the other hand, an LED only measures around 8.5 watts. However, it still emits around eight hundred lumens, providing users with excellent brightness. LED smart light bulbs have tremendous longevity and can last anywhere around twenty thousand to fifty thousand hours. Some of the options even go as high as ninety thousand hours. What’s more, if you use your LED bulb for only a few hours each day, it could last more than twenty years.
Common Features You Will Find in an LED Bulb
- A certification from Energy Star, proving that the bulb is tested for efficacy, output, and color- LED lights are dimmable, allowing users to adjust the brightness
- Users can connect smart bulbs through Bluetooth and even Wi-Fi
Choosing the Right LED Lights
LED lights offer longevity, energy-saving, and tremendous color rendering, which are just some of the reasons why more and more people are choosing them. These lights are perfect for decorative, directional, general-purpose lighting, and plenty of other applications. Let us look at some common LED products and applications. Most of you reading this may have heard about sunlight being an excellent source of energy. However, did you know that LED light bulbs are quite similar in that regard? Any bulb capable of emitting blue light creates serotonin. The more serotonin your produce, the more alert and awake you feel. On the other hand, bulbs that do not produce blue light aid in the production of melatonin, making us feel drowsy, relaxed, and sleepy. It’s also worth keeping in mind that bulbs with lower temperatures create warm white colors, which closely resemble fire. Bulbs with medium temperatures create neutral whites while the ones with higher temperatures create cool whites.
Bedroom LED Lights
While you can choose any type of LED light for your bedroom, it would be best to choose an option that makes the atmosphere calm, relaxed, and peaceful. Keeping the blue light away from your bedroom is a great way to maintain an excellent circadian rhythm, making sure you stay relaxed at all times. This will also help your brain create melatonin required for comfortable sleeping. If you like to read at night and lay by a bedside or reading lamp, consider choosing an LED light bulb with neutral or soft blue tones. This will also create an excellent contrast with the pages, preventing your eyes from getting sore.
Living Room LED Lights
Most people use their living room as a place for entertainment, relaxation, seating guests etc. Whether you are talking to your friends, watching your favorite film, or just kicking back, having the right light sources is critical for your living room. Similar to your bedroom, it would be best to steer clear of lamps that emit too much blue light. Instead, it would be better to utilize spotlight lamps, making sure you can point them at your walls, illuminating your family photos, artwork or reducing glare in your T.V. What’s more, placing your spotlight lamps at ceilings or walls is also a tremendous way to steer clear from unneeded shadows. You can even use three-way LED lamps to add some aesthetic appeal to your room.
Home Office LED Lights
Whether you have a home office or a commercial one, you must make sure you have a sufficient amount of lights for maximum productivity. Installing white, cool lights in your office can significantly increase the production of serotonin, keeping you energized, alert, and most importantly focused. Consider choosing a place that doesn’t create glares on your workstation or computer screen. LED desk lamps can also prove to be a tremendous option, especially if it comes with a brightness control option.
Dining Room LED Lights
The last thing you want when eating a meal with your guests and family is a bunch of overly bright lights. It is obnoxious and can cause a headache within minutes. However, making your LED lights excessively dim would not be a good idea either. The best thing to do would be to choose LED lights with a neutral tone to create ambiance. You can also install LED bulbs in your dining room’s chandeliers. Once again, however, make sure that the brightness and color are not too much to handle.
Bathroom LED Lights
Virtually everybody looks at themselves in the mirror when getting ready to go somewhere. It would be ideal to have the lighting coming around your mirror rather than the ceiling. Installing bright lights is an excellent way to make sure you do not miss any spot when lathering, shaving, or putting on makeup. Since a lot of us start our day with a bath, installing a high output mount fixture in your shower’s fixture is an excellent way to wake up. Using large, globe-shaped bulbs for illuminating the common fixtures in your bathroom, such as your mirror.
Kitchen LED Lighting
It would be fair to say that the kitchen is more or less a workspace. Most of us begin our day in our kitchen. Therefore, using LED smart light bulbs that emit blue light around your kitchen could be a great way to stay awake and alert while getting ready for breakfast. If your kitchen also has a table, placing an overhead fixture (dimmable) can create an excellent ambiance for balancing your kitchen counter’s bright blue lights. You can also utilize recessed overhead lights, which can benefit from recessed retrofit kits or even LED BR bulbs.
The Most Common Type of LED Light
While there is no shortage of reasons why LED lights are so popular, their versatility is arguably their strongest point. As mentioned abundantly, these lights have plenty of uses and are available in a wide range of styles. Although there are plenty of LED varieties available in online and offline stores, there are three main types of LED lights.
LED Light BulbsLED light bulbs are arguably the most popular lighting option these days. You will find these bulbs in a wide range of colors and shapes (globe, spiral, luster, candle etc). What’s most impressive about these bulbs is that you can even adjust their brightness according to your preference, an option that you will rarely find in traditional lighting options.
LED Light PanelsLED light panels consist of multiple strips joined together for making a panel. Once again, you will find these panels in different sizes and shapes. However, the most common shapes these light panels come in are rectangle and square. People often use these panels for lighting large and small spaces such as parties, stadiums etc. Flexible lighting panels are especially famous among cinematographers and filmmakers for lighting movies and videos. The main reason behind this is that they are easily portable. You’d be surprised to learn that many people make LED panels by themselves. All you need to do is combine different light strips and you will be good to go. Because of this, LED light panels are incredibly versatile because they allow you to control the color, brightness, and shape of your panels.
LED Light StripsAs the name suggests, LED light strips to consist of tape with multi-colored LEDs and several other components attached to it. Like almost every LED product, these strips are available in different sizes and shapes. They are incredibly versatile and you can utilize them for lighting unusual corners and tight spaces. Some people even use LED strips as grow lights.
Things to Consider When Getting a LED Bulb
Contrary to popular belief, merely choosing LED lights is not enough. You also have to consider things like shape, design, installation, etc. Below is a list of things to consider when buying an LED light for your home or office.
BrightnessSince LED light bulbs come in various sizes and shapes, choosing the right option can be tricky, especially for first-time buyers. Ideally, choosing flashy colors with too much brightness isn’t a good idea, unless you are getting them for a party. If you plan to install your bulb in your home or office, consider choosing a plain white color with adjustable dimness. The Edison bulb is a particularly great option for those who want dimmer lighting options.
InstallationInstallation is an important factor to consider when getting an LED bulb or light. In most cases, these bulbs are quite easy to install in fixtures and lamps in your house. Alternatively, you can also attach them to aluminum profiles. That being said, things could get a bit tricky if you install your bulbs for in-built fixtures or recessed lighting.
ControlAnother critical consideration when buying LED bulbs is how you intend to control these devices. Smart LED bulbs come with several handy features, like letting users change colors, dim the brightness etc. If you want to control your bulbs from remote distances, consider choosing the smart bulb option. However, that doesn’t mean that regular LED bulbs are bad. All they lack is a remote controlling option – other than that, their quality remains the same. This is particularly true if you get an LED light bulb, like the gu10 LED or similar products from a reputable company.
Final Thoughts
Now that you know the basics of LED light bulbs and what they have to offer, consider getting one right away and reduce your utility bills by tenfold. However, make sure that you get a licensed electrician in Vancouver to install these bulbs and any other appliances, making sure they are installed professionally and you are safe from electrical hazards.