LED Lighting: The Simple Green Upgrade with a Big Impact

For green-minded Vancouver residents, LED lighting is one of the first and most impactful upgrades to make when it comes to reducing your carbon footprint. As any professional Vancouver electrician will tell you, LED lighting is versatile, durable, and efficient – and while they were once prohibitively expensive, LED fixtures are now more affordable than ever. At TCA Electric, many Vancouver residents have asked what all the fuss is about when it comes to LED lighting upgrades, having installed many LED fixtures over the years, we’re well-versed in these fixtures. So today, we’re shining a bright, efficient spotlight on LEDs and their many benefits!

How are LED lights different?

LED stands for Light Emitting Diode, and while these fixtures often come shaped like typical lightbulbs, they produce light in a very different way. Incandescent bulbs work by heating a filament until it glows, whereas LEDs shine thanks to electroluminescence, relying on semiconductors to generate light. The process is a bit more complicated than can be explained here, but the result is simple: While incandescent bulbs waste approximately 90 percent of the energy needed to power them (given off as heat), the process used by LEDs converts 95 percent of electricity into useful light.

Efficiency: Energy and cost savings

The different process that LEDs use to produce light gives these fixtures many advantages over traditional lighting solutions, and the first of these is greater efficiency. As described above, incandescent bulbs are rather wasteful, while LEDs convert nearly all of the electricity they use into light. This means that LED lights also draw much less power than their fluorescent and incandescent counterparts – a 60-watt incandescent bulb might be replaced by an LED using only 6-8 watts, for example. Over the long term, this results in a great deal of energy savings, and LED lighting is especially useful for Vancouver businesses that may keep lights on for extended periods of time.

Longevity: Lifespan and high durability

The second advantage of LED lighting is longevity. LED lights can last 30,000-50,000 hours, compared to 8,000-10,000 hours for compact fluorescent alternatives – and a paltry 1,000 hours for incandescent bulbs. Perhaps more importantly, though, LED lighting is much more durable. Since LED bulbs don’t use thin filaments or glass enclosures, they are highly resistant to breaking and effectively immune to vibrations. Further, while the lifespan of other light sources can be shortened the more they’re turned off and on, LEDs are unaffected by rapid cycling. This durability makes LED lighting a top choice for Vancouver business- and homeowners who don’t want to worry about constantly buying new bulbs for light fixtures.

Versatility: Bright and controllable

While traditional light sources often waste energy by emitting light in all directions, LEDs have better light distribution as they focus light in a specific direction. Thus, LED lighting illuminates a much larger space more efficiently than their counterparts. LEDs are also fully operational from the instant you turn them on – unlike fluorescent lights, which take time to warm up and reach their maximum brightness. Finally, while it can be difficult (and sometimes expensive) to make fluorescent lighting dimmable, LEDs come with this compatibility right out of the box. Thus, LED lighting can be every bit as bright or as dim as needed, making it much more versatile than traditional lighting systems.

TCA Electric: Installing LED Lighting in Vancouver

For a long time, the only drawback to LED lighting was the cost of installing these fixtures – but as costs have steadily declined, LEDs have emerged as one of the simplest and most impactful green upgrades. Over the years, TCA Electric has upgraded the lights of countless homes and businesses, helping bring the clear benefits of LED lighting to thousands of Vancouver residents. So, if you’re looking for a solid green upgrade that won’t break the bank, contact us today! Our professional team is ready to update your light fixtures to efficient LED models.

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