What is an LED Lighting System?
The Benefits of Using an LED Lighting System
What Can an LED Lighting System Do?
How to Choose an LED Lighting System
Since their invention in 1962 by Nick Holonyak Jr, also known as the "Father of the LED", these long-lasting light bulbs have become the choice alternative to traditional, hotter and quicker-burning bulbs. The average Light Emitting Diode lasts three to four times as long as halide, fluorescent, or other types of bulbs, and over three dozen times as long as incandescent lighting-or anywhere between 50,000 - 100,000 hours. Not only do LEDs last longer, but they use 85% less electricity than traditional lighting sources.
So let's look at LED lighting systems in greater detail, and see what makes them such a great energy alternative.
LEDs consist of a microchip inside of a light bulb. When an electrical current is passed through the chip, photons are emitted, which are what create light. The photons' energy level is what determines the light's color. The first LEDs were infrared, but now LEDs can be made in any light range, including visible or ultraviolet light.
An LED lighting system is a large set of lights set up to a network and controlled by the user, usually via an app or software. Quality systems are easily monitored over a reliable wireless connection.
There are two main types of lighting in an LED lighting system: Edge and direct lit systems. Edge-lit systems are LEDs that give off light from the side, and either lenses or other surfaces project or transmit the light from the edge. Direct lit systems are more like your computer monitor: the LEDs face directly outward. Edge-lit lights can look really cool when they illuminate the right surface, plant, or piece of art, just remember that direct-lit lights require less energy because the transmission process in edge-lit systems will scatter or lose some light, so more energy is needed to obtain the required brightness.
The benefits of LED lighting systems are numerous, and this is by no means an exhaustive list:
The short answer? Everything.
Think about your yard, or the inside of your home. Where have you wanted to put a light? Behind a bush? Flanking a lounge chair near the fire pit? Running along the driveway so you can see your car at night? Along the room-length closet doors to protect from nighttime monsters?
Regardless of your reasons, the flexibility of LED lighting systems and equipment is huge. LEDs can come as screens or bulbs, panels or strung along a wire like Christmas lights. It's possible to anchor or install a light outside or in. Units can include solar batteries or be plugged in via cable.
And thanks for remote control and timed settings, energy use can be both monitors and mitigated from inside your home, which saves you energy. You can raise your outdoor lighting when guests come over, and turn the whole set off before bed, or time it to turn off automatically at two o'clock in the morning. Your limitations don't come down to your imagination, but cost.
That massive customize-friendly variety is kind of a double-edged sword. Yes, the variety means your wildest nighttime mood lighting dreams can be realized (complete with strobe or multicolored rave effects if you wish!), but that can also make it very difficult for people to figure out what they really want. Or need!
The key to properly planning for an LED lighting system installation is finding a trusted source of information and using that to create your design. Some are perfectly happy doing the research themselves, which includes things like:
It's not an impossible process, but certainly a daunting one. What most people tend to want when choosing an LED lighting system tailored to their living or working spaces are experts that can help them select the proper lights and installation methods. Salespeople and installation experts can listen to customers explain what they want to have done, and offer appropriate situational suggestions.
In short, it pays to have a person knowledgeable in the industry to help prevent you from buying too many wasted materials during the installation process, or for overpaying for a bulky light that doesn't fit or properly illuminate your patio. That way, the only difficult decisions you need to make regarding your LED lighting system come down to things like what lights you want, where you want them, and how strong you want them to be.
