LED lightbulb technology has been rapidly evolving, making them now a much more cost-effective solution as well as a way to dramatically reduce carbon footprints. For more information about LED lightbulbs as well as our Caribbean Save As You Pay - Pay As You Save LED Solutions and Savings Program, visit http://www.reelcaribbeanenergy.com

1. LED Light Bulb
Basics
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2. Our traditional incandescent light bulb,
which loses most of its energy as heat, is
primarily being replaced these days with
the higher-efficiency compact fluorescent,
or CFL. The CFL, though, has its own
problems, primarily the inclusion of toxic
mercury in the design and a strange,
sometimes unpleasant color that even gives
some people headaches.

3. LED light bulb (Light-Emitting Diode)

4. LEDs have been around for many years --
they light up digital clocks, Christmas lights,
flashlights and traffic signals, and they tell
you when you've got a new voicemail
message on your cell phone.

5. Certain drawbacks have kept companies
from manufacturing them in standard,
replacement-size light bulb form, so they
haven't taken off as quickly for household
lighting.

6. Let's cover LED light
bulb basics.

7. An LED is what's called a "solid-state lighting" technology, or SSL.
Basically, instead of emitting light from a vacuum (as in an
incandescent bulb) or a gas (as in a CFL), an SSL emits light from a piece
of solid matter.
In the case of a traditional LED, that piece of matter is a
semiconductor.

8. An LED produces light when electrons move
around within its semiconductor structure.

9. A semiconductor is made of a positively
charged and a negatively charged
component.
The positive layer has "holes" -- openings for
electrons; the negative layer has free electrons
floating around in it.
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+
+
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10. In the past as LED technology was evolving,
the structure of an LED caused some of that
light to get trapped inside.
So an LED bulb has traditionally been
dimmer than an incandescent bulb.

11. However, now LEDs are getting brighter. You
can find LED replacement bulbs that emit
light equivalent to a 60-watt incandescent
light bulb.

12. An LED replacement light bulb emits 60-
watt equivalent light using 7.5 watts of
power.

13. The LED method of producing light loses far
less energy to heat than do other lighting
technologies.
It's dramatically more efficient than the
vacuum/filament method used in
incandescent bulbs -- up to 85% more
efficient.

14. A single light fixture stocked with a 60-watt incandescent bulb consumes
about 525 kWh of electricity in a year; put an LED bulb in that light fixture,
and the annual energy use is more like 65 kWh.
65
525
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
LED Incandescent
kWh/year
kWh/year

15. The annual CO2 reduction is in the
hundreds of pounds for a single lamp.

16. You could go 20 years without having to
change an LED light bulb!
A typical incandescent bulb lasts about 750
hours; an LED bulb lasts 30,000 hours.
20 Years
LED
LED
LED

17. The lighting industry in general expects LED
costs to come down quickly.
Lighting Science Group, a company that
develops and manufactures LED lighting,
estimates a 50 percent price reduction
within two years.
Breakthroughs are popping up at a
breakneck pace.

18. For more information about LED light bulbs
and related topics, visit our website at
http://www.reelcaribbeanenergy.com and
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