LED strip lights are becoming a staple in most homes. You can see them either (or both) as a functional lighting solution or an aesthetic design feature in various interiors. However, can you use LED strip lights in more enormous volumes? Won’t it jack up your electricity bills?
Fortunately, LED strip lights are incredibly energy-efficient. As long as you don’t use them 24/7 for no apparent reason, you can expect to still be paying a reasonable amount for your electrical consumption. What’s even more remarkable about this mode of lighting is it will give you more illumination and less heat for a significantly lower price.
A 40W traditional incandescent bulb would typically have a 400 lumens light output. It’s about the same brightness as a one-metre warm white LED tape with high-quality LED chips. However, instead of consuming 40W of power, that one metre LED strip will only consume around 5W! For the same lumens output, LED strip lights can create better light quality but only requires lower energy consumption.
LED Strip Lights vs Traditional Lights: Which is better?
As mentioned earlier, LED strip lights can actually help you decrease your power consumption more than other traditional lighting fixtures. In fact, LEDs draw up to 85% less electricity than incandescent bulbs and around 18% less electricity than CFLs.
If you’re already impressed with these savings, then you’ll be more enticed to get LED strip lights once you find out that it gets better! Aside from being energy-efficient, LED strip lights also last longer than traditional lights. It can last from more than 30,000 hours to more than 50,000 hours, depending on the brand and model that you’re using. If you compare it with an incandescent bulb that lasts for 2,000 hours and a CFL bulb that can last up to 15,000 hours, you’re getting more of your money’s worth with LED strip lights!
How do LED strip lights affect the environment?
Collectively, LEDs are the best eco-friendly lighting solution. They can help reduce carbon emissions and offer other green benefits for the environment.
While fluorescent lights convert only 5 – 10% of energy to light (wasting up to 95%), LEDs can covert up to 95% (just 5% goes to waste). Because of this, LEDs use less power to produce the same level of light and, with that, lower the demand for energy, reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Another green benefit that LEDs have is the non-toxic nature of their components. It’s known that fluorescents contain mercury and a pollutant that is potentially hazardous. Because of this, if you carelessly dispose of these bulbs, they can contaminate the environment and may end up destroying the ecosystem.
In addition, because of the long-life LEDs have, they will not only lower your maintenance cost but can also reduce the need for more bulbs. Because of that, there’s a massive reduction in the industrial power needed to manufacture replacement bulbs (another greenhouse gas emission decrease).
How much money can you save from using LED strip lights?
If you use LED strip lights, you’ll be able to save you money twice. First, you’ll be able to save money from your lower electrical cost. If you compare your old bills (from when you’re not using LED strip lights) to your new bills (from when you’re using LED strip lights), you’ll be able to see how much you’re actually saving. Second, you’ll be able to save money on your maintenance cost. As mentioned before, LED strips can work for years, so you don’t need to buy new bulbs every month. Since you don’t need to keep buying replacements, you can save the funds intended for it and use them for other things that you like!
How long can you leave an LED strip on?
Theoretically, you can leave your LED strips on 24/7. However, that does not mean that it’s ideal. While it won’t significantly impact your electricity bills (but you’ll still notice a bit of increase if you leave it on for weeks) compared to if you are doing it with an incandescent bulb, you still need to let your strip lights rest. Your LED strip lights need to cool down between use. If you don’t allow it to recuperate, it will use up the lifespan of your lamps.
In addition, you also need to consider heat dissipation. The longer you keep your lights running, the more heat it will end up generating (although, generally, LEDs don’t produce a significant amount of heat). If you really have to use your LED strip lights for more than 24 hours, you’ll need to mount a proper heat sink, mainly if your strip is in an unventilated area.
So, how long can you keep them on? Keep it 5 hours per day, so your LED strips have some time to reset. It will also allow your lights to last longer and continue to bring brightness into your home!
Now that you know LED strip lights are not as energy-consuming as you initially thought, you don’t need to hesitate anymore! It’s time to start incorporating them into your lighting system. If you don’t know where to get high-quality LED strip lights, check out our website, Simple Lighting. We have a wide variety of not only strip lights but other lighting solutions as well!
