As a kid, I was inspired by the decorative lighting in my grandparents' finished basement. They had festooned the place with multicolored C9 string lights (aka old-school Christmas lights) from wall to wall, beneath the built-in wet bar, around hanging mirrors, and anywhere else they could add an ambient accent for the parties they hosted down there year-round.

Since then, I've festooned every home I've lived in with decorative lighting, whether in a sequestered man cave or throughout my apartment. In short, I've spent an embarrassing amount of money on lighting up my abode like a carnival attraction. So it was good news for me when manufacturers introduced a more cost-effective, environmentally sound lighting option: the LED (light emitting diode).

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A rudimentary form of LED tech surfaced as far back as the late 1960s, but its illumination was weak and limited to one end of the spectrum (the red end). Once LED lighting became popular for consumer use in the early 2000s, its evolution toward brighter bulbs and higher efficiency was relatively swift.

Today, LED bulbs are replacing other types of bulbs for every application, from plant-growing arrays to decorative rope lights to arrestingly bright floodlights. LED is the new standard for both practical and ambient lighting, and we're much better off for it -- for several reasons. 

LED lights waste less energy than traditional bulbs

For one thing, LED bulbs are way more efficient than older types of lighting technology. The Second Law of Thermodynamics dictates that every mechanism (natural or man-made) that transfers energy is subject to some degree of waste. Incandescent lightbulbs, for example, are pitifully inefficient. As little as 10% of the electricity they consume is converted into visible light. The remaining 90% is lost as heat. That's not the case with LEDs.

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The semiconductors in LED bulbs can convert up to 95% of electricity into light, making them 8 to 9 times more efficient than incandescent bulbs. Even if money weren't an issue, that's an impressive engineering upgrade in terms of conserving resources. LEDs have integrated heat sinks that absorb heat while the source is lit. This is why LED bulbs and fixtures never feel hot to the touch.

How do LEDs compare to incandescent bulbs?

As recent as the last decade, the majority of bulbs in household lamps were incandescent. Research shows that incandescent bulbs are steadily phasing out, both in homes and on the shelves of your local Home Depot. Here are a few reasons why:

• An incandescent bulb needs about 60 watts of power to generate 800 lumens of light, while an LED bulb only requires about 10 watts.
• Traditional incandescent bulbs typically produce about 13.5 lumens per watt, while LED bulbs produce 75 to100 lumens of light per watt of power.
• LED bulbs use only ~0.01 kilowatts per hour (kWh). An incandescent bulb will soak up six times as much power (0.06 kWh) for an equivalent brightness.
• The average lifespan of an incandescent bulb is around 1,200 hours, while LED bulbs generally survive 25,000 or more hours of use. This means you'd need to replace that incandescent bulb over 20 times to get the same duration of use as one LED bulb.

Keep in mind that the figures above are averages, and performance will vary from brand to brand and material quality. These numbers and ratios are similar when comparing LEDs to halogen bulbs, although the difference between the two is more dramatic because halogen generates so much heat.

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While fluorescent (CFL) bulbs run much cooler than incandescent or halogen bulbs, LEDs are still 1.5 times more efficient than a fluorescent bulb that produces the same amount of light. CFLs are used primarily to illuminate workshop areas like garages or office rooms, and they lack the dynamic qualities of LEDs, which can be crafted into myriad form factors.

Finally, on the macro scale (worldwide), LED lighting could save over 569 TWh (terawatt-hours) of energy annually by 2035, equal to the annual energy output of more than ninety-two 1,000 megawatt power plants. 

LEDs are cost-effective, but what else?

LED lighting is more than efficient and cost-effective. Its list of benefits runs deep compared with conventional lighting.

1. LED bulbs help reduce greenhouse gas emissions from power plants because they demand less overall energy consumption, leaving a much smaller environmental footprint.
2. LEDs can last up to 25 times longer than traditional incandescent bulbs. One typical LED bulb might function for as many as 20 years!
3. LEDs are highly versatile. They have a strong color rendering index (CRI) that can generate thousands of colors and different hues of white light. Many LEDs are dimmable, and some have daylight and motion sensors. You can also find solar-powered LED outdoor lighting.
4. LED bulbs contain no hazardous chemicals such as mercury, lead, and cadmium found in conventional bulbs.
5. LED lighting doesn't suddenly die like incandescent bulbs, where the filament breaks after a certain amount of use. Instead, it slowly dims until it fades out altogether, giving you a visual warning and more time to find a replacement. 

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The bottom line:$$$

Compared with Thomas Edison's world-changing invention of the incandescent bulb in 1880, the LED is a space-age evolution of the original. But for all its modern advantages, what usually matters most is cost. So, how do these benefits translate into dollars?

According to the US Department of Energy, lighting accounts for around 15% of an average home's electricity use, and the average household saves about$225 in energy costs per year by using LED lighting. I have found wide-ranging statistics from studies that suggest those savings could be anywhere from$75 to $300.

I would never recommend tossing out a working incandescent bulb while it's still working. Use it until it flashes its final light. But on your next trip to Home Depot, you'll save far more in the long run by paying a bit more upfront for LEDs. 

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