Buildings need to be well lit in order to be welcoming and safe but regular lighting can be costly, for both the church budget and the environmental impact.

LED lamps are highly energy efficient, using up to 90% less energy than traditional lighting sources. You can replace the bulbs in your building to reduce your energy bill and save the environment.

What is an LED?

A Light Emitting Diode (LED) consists of a semiconductor that emits light when an electrical current is passed through it. This differs from traditional incandescent lamps that use heat to alight a filament which then glows.
It’s predicted that LEDs are the future of lighting, with halogens facing a ban across Europe in the coming years.

How long do LEDs last?

This can vary depending on the lamp. Standard spotlights and bulbs will last up to 25,000 hours (that's over 8 years if it's on for 8 hours per day).
Heavy duty LED products such as floodlights and commercial lighting will last between 35,000 and 50,000 hours. On average, halogen equivalents will last approximately 3,000 hours.

How often will I have to replace LED bulbs?

The beauty of LED bulbs is that they last far longer than traditional lighting sources. Take an LED product with a 50,000 hour lifespan, if you use it for an average of 8 hours each day that's an incredible 17 years!

Why are LEDs more expensive?

There’s sophisticated technology both in the bulb and manufacturing process of LEDs, and some of the materials used are costly (eg. aluminium is used to dispell the small amount of heat the bulbs produce). 
LED bulbs are still a fairly new technology, and as with most modern advancements or inventions there’s always a bedding-in period before they become the norm. This’ll mean that they’re sold in smaller quantities and only made by a few manufacturers. The more frequently an item is made, the cheaper the production becomes due to technological advancements and new processes. In that sense, the more people buy LEDs, the cheaper they will become. There’s already evidence of this; when LEDs first came on the market they were far more expensive than they are now.

The up-front cost on LEDs is more than halogens. True. But LEDs use up to 90% less energy than halogen lamps, meaning you will often recoup your investment within just 6 months.
And the best bit is, you’ll continue saving money on your bills every month thereafter.

Why are LED lights considered a green technology?

Unlike traditional forms of lighting, where the majority of energy is lost to heat, LEDs use around 80-90% of electrical energy for light.
Compare this to an incandescent bulb that only uses 20% of its energy for light, with the rest going to heat.

Do LED bulbs get hot?

LED bulbs run significantly cooler than other types of lighting like halogen or even fluorescent lamps. Heat is dissipated by metal sinks that take heat away from the light source. This maintains the lifespan of the LED bulbs, but they will get hotter the longer they’re kept on.

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