Under recent UK government legislation, the sale of all traditional incandescent light bulbs will be phased out by the end of 2012. So what does this mean? Candle-light or Energy Saving Bulbs only? No - the next-generation light-bulbs are bright, environmentally friendly, save you money and on top of all that they look cool too – welcome: LED lighting.

LED or Energy Saving (CFL) light bulbs?

Both Light Emitting Diode (LED) and Energy Saving Light bulbs, a.k.a. Compact Fluorescent Light (CFL) offer substantial energy savings over traditional light bulbs, however LEDs are the clear winner offering a greater financial savings, with higher longevity and less energy usage, as well as the production materials being less harmful to the environment.

LED Lighting

LED's are currently less common than energy saving light-bulbs due to their slightly higher price. Now LED lighting is poised to become far more widely available and competitively priced; the future default for general home lighting.

When first developed LEDs were limited to single-bulb use, for things like instrument panels, dot matrix displays and fairy lights – which would hardly light your home.

The light of LED's is one-directional, as opposed to the spherical light produced by traditional bulbs. The solution is to encase a cluster of LED's in diffuser lenses, spreading the light in wider beams. This, combined with bases which fit common household light fixtures, has led to LED's being the next generation in home lighting.

New LED bases are designed to fit common household light fixtures

Benefits of LED lighting

• Long-lasting – The life time of an LED is at least 20,000 hours, more than 10 times the life time of a normal energy-saving bulb
• Cost-effective – On average, a 5W LED light will generate the same lighting as a 15W energy saving light bulb does. Although LED’s are initially expensive, the cost is recouped over time through less energy usage and a long lifespan
• More efficient – Use only 2-17 watts of electricity, less than both CFL and incandescent bulbs
• Cool – Do not cause heat build-up; LED’s produce 3.4btu’s/hour compared to 85 for incandescent bulbs
• Mercury free – No mercury used in the manufacturing of LED’s

What does LED lighting look like?

When viewed up close LED lights are small points of light but - like a Monet – from a little further back the light blends together to create a natural uniform light.

Here are some examples of kitchen LED lighting we have used for our clients. They were delighted with the outcome.

LED lighting really is the future.

Just in case you're not convinced that LED lights were cool already – check this out: