7 Myths About LED Lighting and the Truth
Behind Them

The residential lighting business slowly began to incorporate white LED around 2007. Since that time, a number of half-truths, rumors and misconceptions have persisted. We’ll look at each of the most popular myths, dispel them and define where the truth lies.

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Sorel Outdoor Wall LED Light

1. Myth: LED is blue.

Truth:

LED is blue, only if you want blue LED. In the years since creation, the color of LED light has matured nicely and good color can now be easily found.

FUN FACT: White LED starts with a blue diode. Phosphors are then placed over the blue to change the color to white. Early LED had lower lumen output, so only small amounts of phosphors were used and they did retain some of the blue coloration. Current LED lights deliver a much stronger lumen output, so the correct amount of phosphors can be used to deliver the perfect color of white light.

LED Myth 1 LED Is Blue2

2. Myth: LED is too expensive!

Truth:

If only looking at the “first-cost” this would appear to be a valid statement. To understand the true cost involved with LED lighting, we must consider the total lifetime cost. Only then can a value be determined. The lighting fixture will be more expensive, but electricity will be at least 75% less, no replacement light bulbs will be necessary and maintenance can be avoided.

FUN FACT: We must begin to think of lighting less like a decorative item and more like an appliance that is plugged-in upon purchase and used until exhaustion, with minimal owner interaction.

3. Myth: My LED is not as bright as my old incandescent light. LED lights are not bright enough.

Truth:

Incandescent lighting brightness was often measured in wattage, rather than the correct metric, lumens. Consequently, consumers are selecting the inappropriate lamp. Label statements, such as, “Replaces a 60W!” or “Similar to a 60W!” are designed to confuse to consumer. It is time to start buying lamps and lighting by lumens. A 60W incandescent lamp delivers 800 lumens, 75W delivers 1100 lumens and 100W delivers 1600 lumens. Lumens are the correct way to shop for light bulbs.

FUN FACT: The Federal Trade Commission has mandated that the largest number on light bulb packaging must now be lumens, so purchasing lighting will be easier.

LED Myth 3 LED

4. Myth: You can't know the LED will last 40,000/50,000 hours.

Truth:

Many of the new LED have not, in-fact been tested for a full 40,000 hours, but the industry has a lot of empirical data that support these longevity claims. LEDs have been around in different colors since the 1960’s and the early white LED, now well beyond 40,000 old are actually performing better than the scientists had claimed.

FUN FACT: The first experiments in electroluminescence were conducted in 1907! This technology is over 100 years old!

LED Myth 4 LED Hours

5. Myth: LED is still changing. I’ll wait until they get better.

Truth:

LED are in a continual state of change, but waiting is not really an option. Like computers and mobile phones, LED lights may never stop evolving. Imagine saying you will not buy and use a computer until they stop changing.

FUN FACT: The United States Department of Energy study on LED states that LED will continue to show improved efficacy, increased life, and lower cost at least until 2025 and perhaps beyond that.

LED Myth 5 LED

6. Myth: Lighting is a small part of my electric bill.
Why change?

Truth:

Lighting currently represents about 15% of a typical household’s electric bill. This is a jump from 8.8% in 2001. Because all of the other electric powered items in the home are regularly becoming more efficient, it is predicted that lighting, without change will reach 45% of a homeowner’s electric bill by 2025! That is the reason for the push to LED lighting now. Lighting will soon be the dominant portion of an electric bill without LED.

FUN FACT: As a nation, we spend about a 1/5th of our electric cost on lighting, at a cost of more than $61 billion annually.

LED Myth 5 Why Change to a LED Light

7. Myth: I don’t know how to select LED. It’s too confusing!

Truth:

Consumers will need to learn two new things to buy the correct color lamp, Color Temperature (CCT) and Color Rendering Index (CRI). These are the two scales used to characterize light.

Color Temperature measures the visual appearance of the color of light and runs from a very warm, orange light (candlelight) at 1500 Kelvin (K) to very blue (skylight) at around 10,000 K. Residential lighting in North America has heretofore lived in a very narrow band, between 2700K (60W incandescent) and 3000K (Halogen.) Stay between these two and the color will feel very natural, 2700K in warmer environments and 3000K in cooler spaces.

Color Rendering Index is a scale from zero (a Black & White TV) to 100 and tells us how well the light interprets color. Look for CRIs in the mid-80’s and above. Lower measurements will make objects appear grayish, dull and uninviting.

FUN FACT: CRI and CCT MUST be used in tandem. Using one measurement and ignoring the other will result in poor combined performance.

Choosing the correct Color Temperature and CRI, using lumens rather than wattage, considering “life cost” and knowing that the cost of electricity will only rise helps us wade through the allegation and non-valid chatter currently heard. Good lighting can be delivered by LED.

LED Color Temperature Chart