LED Lighting
LED lighting is an extremely exciting market at present. Their application has increased massively during the previous 
20 years and is continuing to flourish with many more interesting uses being developed for the light-emitting diode.
Coupled with this is an extremely environmentally friendly application – they can use up to 95% less energy than an equivalent method of lighting. Originally, they were introduced in 1962 as a practical electronic component – early examples emitted a red-light – a colour that remained synonymous with them well into the 90’s.
Things have changed however. The LED market rapidly picked up pace due to the demands of industry and for ways of saving both money and energy.
LED lights are, basically, specialist diodes that produce light when current passes through them. They present many advantages over incandescent light sources including longer lifetime, lower energy consumption, improved robustness, faster switching and more versatility due to their smaller size. LED’s are monochromatic in nature, which means that they emit only single light that has fine range of frequency. Modern versions are available across the visible, ultraviolet, and infrared wavelengths, with very high brightness and therefore have a plethora of uses.
Having featured heavily in industry and electrical technology over the previous two decades, they have now become a viable option for lighting the home.
For everyday household use, it is possible to exchange your high-energy consuming bulbs with low energy LED alternatives. This is now also possible with halogen lamps that are commonly embedded into dropped ceilings and are a popular choice in both kitchens and bathrooms. These lamps often have a very low lifespan and are incredibly inefficient. With LED lamps, whilst upfront costs may be slightly more over time great savings can be made. LED lights outlast the vast majority of other lighting devices and use a vastly lower percentage of energy consumed by the most common lighting products.
As well as for home and industrial usage there is also a high demand for LED lighting in industries of entertainment and (leisure/hospitality). The benefits are that LED lighting is versatile, energy efficient and ultimately provides a visual spectacle. It is available in multiple forms such as LED ropes, LED strips and LED tubes. These are widely used in theatres, live music events, nightclubs, on stages and also as architectural backlighting.
It is interesting to note that LED lighting is finding more and more uses in a variety of applications. The motor vehicle industry is currently adapting LED’s for both internal and external lighting, while some in some areas of the world they are switiching to using LED products for street lighting. In the opening ceremony of the Olympic games, the mammoth 5 ringed display on Tower Bridge was lit wholly using LED lighting.
