Deciding Points: Why LED Bulbs are better than Traditional Blubs

While it is true that new doesn’t always translate as better, the axiom can NOT be readily applied when LED bulbs are being talked about – with just cause.

As a standard for electronic lighting devices, LED bulbs are indeed more robust and practical than traditional light bulbs, developed to be more enhanced in terms of lighting lumens standards, as well as long term use. Also, LED bulbs are more efficient with power consumption considerations, with LED bulbs known to require lesser power wattages when compared against their traditional counterparts.

Apart from the more evidently advantageous upsides of LED bulbs over traditional bulbs, LED technology itself proves to be more versatile when compared to the more traditional electronic lighting technologies and standards.

Short for light-emitting diode, the technology essentially allows for the creation of different sized LED bulbs, ranging from lighting-specific bulbs used in contemporary art galleries to the miniature, portable sized lights found in key chains and other similar items.

Far from being a new technological standard, LED bulbs were, in the past, considered to be too expensive to produce, thus the pervading popularity of the standard light bulb as the de facto norm for lighting technologies.

Thankfully, due to the advances in the production of electronics, LED bulbs are now not as expensive as they were to develop in the past, boasting all the benefits of LED bulbs without the stings of having to spend a fortune in having them installed in homes, places of work, schools and in other venues where lighting is required (which essentially translates to anywhere).

As lighting options, LED bulbs are inclined to offer featured advantages to users, advantages that go beyond better lighting and low power consumption figures over traditional blubs.

Longer lifespans are proven LED bulb upsides, and as advances in the development and manufacture of LED bulbs are currently ongoing, options such as controlled power saving features and even multi-colored light options can be found in certain LED bulbs.

Taking the shape of standard electronics sockets, the installation of LED bulbs don’t require an overhaul with the installed electronic components of a home or office, further illustrating the advantageous side that can be found in LED bulbs.

Bottom line, with the relative affordability and availability of LED bulbs today, there’s really no reason why you have to contend with the use of older, more traditional blubs.

Though their overall functions are no different, LED bulbs prove to be more featured than old standard bulbs, inclined towards being of better service to their users.

Cleveland Gets LED Lights from General Electric to Light Up to Landmarks

The City of Cleveland is getting an LED makeover, thanks to a donation of more than $200,000 worth of LED lights courtesy of General Electric Lighting. The new energy-efficient lights will provide illumination to two of the city’s historic landmarks, the West Side Market and Public Square, with the goal of reducing current electricity costs.

The addition of energy-efficient lights coincides with the current sustainability initiative led by Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson. He notes that GE’s history of community service in Cleveland and their commitment for innovating technologies in lighting make them the perfect figure to help initiate the city’s sustainability drive.

Initiative Overview

The mayor first launched the initiative in 2009, with the goal of preserving the environment and reducing energy consumption, as well as to promote economic growth through the introduction of sustainable technologies.

Since then, the company has held regular annual summits to tackle different sustainability issues, such as lighting, which was discussed in the earliest of these meetings.

According to Cleveland chief operating officer Darnell Brown, the installation of new LED lights won’t just help make the downtown area brighter and more attractive, it’ll also help reduce maintenance costs. He notes that while conventional lights have a rated lifespan of just 6 to 12 months, LEDs last for decades.

Cleveland Rich in Lighting History

The installation of LEDs in the city is appropriate, given how the City of Cleveland was a leader in street lighting. The city’s Public Square was one of the few areas to get the first electric street lights in the country in 1879.

Likewise, LEDs are a pioneering technology, which GET says generates a more uniform light, less shadows and dark spots associated with conventional fixtures like high-pressure sodium lamps.

Bay Bridge Shows Off Amazing Light Display of LEDs

The San Francisco – Oakland Bay Bridge, known locally as the Bay Bridge, celebrated its 75th anniversary last year, and to mark the occasion, it’s getting a new touch of light delivered by LEDs.

Around 25,000 light-emitting diode (LED) lights will be installed across the Bay Bridge’s western span during the course of the next several months; the project is part of a 2-year art installation that pays tribute to the bridge’s anniversary and its colourful history.

Ben Davis: Visionary

Two years after the proposal of the ambitious art project, Ben Davis and his team, The Bay Lights, are finally in the crucial stage of hanging the lights. The group has secured all the necessary permits for the installation of LEDs and has amassed close to $8 million of the funds required to bring his brainchild to life. 

According to Davis, the LEDs will finally be strung on the bridge in October, which will culminate in a grand lighting ceremony during the project’s completion in March 2013. 

Installation Begins, Artist Leo Villareal on Board

This October, crews will finally begin the task of installing the art project, which was conceptualised by lighting designer Leo Villareal—he has already created similar lighting sculptures and installations in public spaces and museums, and this will be one of his largest yet.

The installation features around 25,000 LED lights, each one programmable and attached to the Bay Bridge’s suspension cables, which span 1.8 miles (2.9 kilometres) of the bridge’s northern section.

The LEDs, designed to work in unison, will display elaborate lighting displays, which will be programmed by Villareal himself. 

Cost and Return of Investment

The Bay Lights managed to do the nearly impossible task of amassing over 60 percent of the $8 million in private funding to make the installation possible. Even more impressive is how the group managed to secure permits from various authorities in the San Francisco – Oakridge area. 

What’s more, a commissioned study by the project’s organisers project that the installation will help bring in close to $100 million in revenue for San Francisco—the money is predicted to come from visitors coming to view the art installation.

The Bay Lights from Words Pictures Ideas on Vimeo.