Lighting is something that you cannot do without. However, lighting is also responsible for a high amount of energy consumption in both residential and commercial application. One of the biggest problems with traditional incandescent bulbs is the wastage of more than 90% energy, which is given off as heat. There are new lighting technologies that offer much more efficient use of energy. They include Halogen CLFs, incandescent and LED lighting, which are widely available in most stores.

Halogen Incandescents

In order to beat the 90% heat loss from traditional incandescent bulbs, halogen incandescent hold gas around a filament inside a capsule for better efficiency. They meet the minimum energy efficient standards although there are more efficient options available for lighting today. You can find halogen incandescent bulbs in various shapes and colors. They can also be used with dimmers.

CFLs

CFLs are Compact Fluorescent Lamps, a smaller curly version of the long tube fluorescent lights that many people are familiar with. It takes CLF bulbs about nine months to pay for themselves and start saving you money from then on because these bulbs use less electricity than traditional incandecents. CFLs last 10 times longer than traditional incandescent bulbs, so you can also save money on the cost of buying new bulbs while putting out the same amount of light.

CFL bulbs are available in a variety of colors and shapes. With lighting being a huge part of interior décor, you can use the white to yellow tones with dimmable option to improve the ambience in your house. You can also control the amount of light produced by CFL bulbs using bulb casing. Bulb casings also allow you to achieve the bulb shape you desire to match the décor of your home.

In addition to being energy efficient, CFL bulbs are also recyclable at the end of their lifespan because they contain a small amount of mercury.

LED lights

LED is an abbreviation for light emitting diode. LED lights use solid-state lighting technology, which are semi conductors that change electricity to light. LED lights are popularly known for use as car indicators and traffic lights. However, LED lights today have become popular because they last up to 25 times longer than traditional incandescent bulbs. LEDs in white light are some of the most energy efficient illumination applications. LEDs use about 20 – 25% of the energy used by traditional incandescent. You can find LED lights for various applications including replacements for 40W up to 75W traditional incandescent. You can use LED lighting in small track lights, recessed features and general lighting.

Currently, LED lighting is considered expensive. However, these lights can save you money because they are extremely durable with very low energy uses. You can expect the prices of LED lights to reduce as more products hit the market just like any other type of electronics. Replacing your traditional incandescent lights with LED lighting will result in an immediate difference in the energy expenditure in your home and you can return the cost of investment in no time.

Bio

Joseline Ryan is an electrical engineer. You can find more about the best power to choose Texas for better energy efficiency through her site.