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Every business is (or should be) looking for more efficient energy solutions. What’s the easiest way to quickly reduce your energy use? Simply switching from filament to LED lighting.

For years, LEDs were high cost alternatives to the fluorescent bulb, a compact fluorescent, with several other problems such as bad colors, harsh light and poor dimming abilities.

But in the last year the price of LED lights has dropped significantly, the colors have been modified, and they are more flexible than ever.

Normal incandescent light bulb is actually a heater with the byproduct of light? Over 90% of its energy is turned into heat making it an outrageously inefficient—not to mention hot—light source.

Another downfall for fluorescents? They contain mercury. (Health effects of mercury can be found here). Furthermore, fluorescents are prone to breaking, and when a bulb breaks, that neurotoxic element can taint your home or office.

Let’s look at the 15 benefits of LED lighting.

Benefit #1: Long Lifetime

LED bulbs have an operational lifetime expectation of up to 11 years of continuous operation, or 22 years at 50% operation. If you leave a LED fixture on for 8 hours per day it would take around 20 years before you’d have to replace the LED bulb. Lighting diodes emit lower output levels over a very long period of time and become less bright, while LEDs maintain their original brightness throughout their lifespan.

Benefit #2: Efficiency

LEDs use less power, with an estimated energy efficiency of 80%-90% when compared to traditional lighting and conventional light bulbs. Because of the long lifespan of LED lights, the maintenance work is significantly less, meaning you’ll see big energy savings.

Benefit #3: Eco-Friendly

LED lights contain no toxic materials and are 100% recyclable; they’ll help you reduce your carbon footprint. One LED light bulb can save material and production of 25 incandescent light bulbs.

Benefit #4: Durability

Because LEDs are not made of glass and are hollow inside, they are much more durable and able to withstand harsh conditions. This makes LEDs perfect for outdoor lighting systems where they may be exposed to extreme weather conditions. They even work for freezer rooms and iceboxes.

Benefit #5: No Heat

Unlike incandescent and fluorescent bulbs, LEDs are easy to the touch even after they are on for hours so they carry less risk of causing an accidental fire or burn. 

Benefit #6: No Emissions

LED illumination produces little infrared light and close to no UV emissions. Because of this, LED lighting is highly suitable not only for goods and materials that are sensitive to heat, but also for illumination of UV-sensitive objects or materials from artwork in museums to plastics in a kitchen.

Benefit #7: “Dimmability”

LEDs can be dimmed, resulting in a dynamic control of light, color, flexibility, and distribution. Well-designed LED illumination systems can achieve fantastic lighting effects, not only for the eye but also for the mood. LED mood illumination is already being used in airplanes, classrooms and many more locations.

Benefit #8: Light Disbursement

LED is designed to focus its light and can be directed to a specific location without the use of an external reflector, achieving higher application efficiency than conventional lighting. Well-designed LED illumination systems are able to deliver light more efficiently to the desired location.

Benefit #9: Instant Lighting

LEDs provide instant light and illumination; they brighten up when powered on, which has great advantages for infrastructure projects such as traffic and signal lights. In contrast, fluorescent lights don’t provide optimum illumination levels until they run for a few minutes.

Benefit #10: Frequent Switching

LED lights can switch off and on frequently and without affecting the LED’s lifetime or light emission, unlike traditional lighting that may take several seconds to reach full brightness. Also, frequent on/off switching of traditional bulbs drastically reduces operational life expectancy.

Benefit #11: Low-Voltage

A low-voltage power supply is sufficient for LED illumination, making it easy to use LED lighting in outdoor settings by connecting an external solar-energy source. This is a major advantage to using LED technology in remote or rural areas.

Benefit #12: Long-Term Cost

LEDs are still more expensive than fluorescent and compact fluorescent lights, their price continues to drop, which provides huge long-term savings. While incandescent lights last for 800 to 1500 hours, and fluorescent lights last up to 10,000 hours, LEDs can last up to a whopping 60,000 hours. Fewer replacements mean substantial savings.

Benefit #13: Short-Term Cost

LED price have dropped significantly. If you used a bulb for just 2 hours a day and paid the national average of $0.115 per kilowatt-hour, a single 12-watt LED will cost you about $1.00/year. Comparable CFLs that consume about 14 watts come to $1.17/year and about $5.00/year for 60-watt incandescent in that scenario.

Benefit #14: Noise

Fluorescent tubes are notoriously noisy, especially if they have been used for an extended amount of time, which can be distracting. They tend to give off clicking sounds intermittently, but most annoyingly, they can produce a low buzzing sound. LEDs do not have this problem and operate silently with no annoying flickering noises.

Benefit #15: Color

Fluorescent lights are infamous for their color profile, as most produce only a cold blue/white light, which is stark and unwelcoming. LEDs instead provide a range of different colors for different purposes and needs, adaptable for almost any environment or lighting situation.

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New federal regulations, tax benefits, state rebate programs, and utility incentives make it easier than ever to upgrade to LED technology. Best of all, LEDs are modern and app compatible; you can even control your lights from a phone.