How to Choose the Best LED Light Bulb

Use energy more efficient or provide better lighting; whatever the reason LED light bulbs made a rapid entry into our homes. Before LED light bulbs, CFL bulbs used at houses which known as energy saving light bulbs among public. As the using of LEDs for lighting become widespread, LED bulbs with E27 socket went on the market. However, when they went on the market, they were not preferred very often because of its high prices.

In recent years, many big or small companies started to produce LED bulbs. As the variety grows, the competition environment gets hot. This situation makes the LED bulb prices cheaper. After that LED bulbs are no longer luxury. Today it is possible to find LED bulbs in many markets, construction markets or electrical product markets. Prices of LED bulbs can compete with CFL now. An energy saving bulb, CFL, has almost equal price to the price of an ordinary LED bulb. Even sometimes LED bulbs can be cheaper than the CFL.

When we examine from a luminous efficacy perspective, the LED bulbs were above 100 lumens per watt, while the CFL bulb gave 50-70 lumens per watt. In summary, a 10 watt CFL which known as a energy saving bulb can give 500-700 lumens of light. On the other hand a 10 watt LED bulb can give over 1000 lumens and more.

LED light bulbs are an attractive option for our homes but there are many brands. Which one should we buy? It is getting confusing when the variety of products increased. However we are going to make it easy for you. Once you realize that what we should pay attention beside the price, you can easily choose the product you need.

First of all, no matter which room you are in, you should analyze the situation well. If you are using a CFL and want to replace it with LED, you better check how many watts the light bulb you are using. You can calculate how many lumens you have by multiplying the value of watts of CFL that you use and the value of CFL bulb 50-70 lm/W. If this light is enough for you, than you will look similar LED bulb. If it does not enough for you, than you need higher lumen value.

Assume that you need 1000 lumens LED light bulb. Put those LED bulbs side by side in the store. Now all you have to do is to find which one consumes less power. If you want to do better calculation, you can divide lumen value on the bulb into the watt value (not the equivalent power) on the bulb. That result gives you the luminous efficacy of the bulb which means, if 1000 lumen LED bulb is indicated as 10W; 1000/10=100 lm/W. When you do this calculation, you can choose the highest one.

We found the lumen value that we wanted and we put aside the bulbs which are provide this lumen output with less power. However our work hasn’t done yet. Now we should compare the bulbs in terms of life expectancy. LEDs are long-lasting, but we can say that the electronic parts are a bit less stable. That is why; the most important factor that affecting the life of is LED driver part. The producers specify the product expected life on the box. For bigger producers, we can say that you can rely on this value. However it is useful to be cautious when you choose unknown brands.

Another subject is color temperature. Roughly, it can be divided into cold white and warm white. Producers usually described their products as white light and yellow light. Although this is entirely preferred by the needs and the habits of the consumer, we can say that the yellow light is healthier for our houses.

After all these examinations, you should lastly evaluate the price. Light output affected the lighting level; absorbed power directly affects the electricity bill. That is why the issue of price comes last. At last stage, I am sure that you will make the right choice according to your budget. Even so, if you have any questions, please feel free to write us at any time.

Written by Emre Yılmaz – Aydınlatma Portalı, Asya Traffic Inc.