Monday, May 9, 2011

Think..

......With energy prices on the rise and natural resources receding, it has become more important to conserve power for the brighter life of our future generation. Small steps at the individual level can really change the way we utilize electricity at homes or even outside. A good supply of light does not necessarily mean the consumption of a great deal of electricity. If the right lamp is selected for the right type of function, it is possible to save electricity.
Till date, we have been used to five basic types of lighting: incandescent, fluorescent, high intensity discharge, low pressure sodium and compact fluorescent lamp (CFL).
Incandescent lamps are the least expensive to buy but are the most expensive to operate. They have the shortest lives and are inefficient compared with other lighting types. Fluorescent lighting is used mainly indoors and is about three to four times as efficient as incandescent lighting. They last about ten times longer than the incandescent types.
High intensity discharge lamps or the HID provide the longest service life and the highest quality of any lighting type. They are extensively used for outdoor lighting and in large indoor applications. The three most common types of HID lamps are the mercury vapour, metal halide, and high-pressure sodium lamps.
Low pressure sodium lamps are the artificial lighting. They work in some ways like fluorescent lights and are used where colour is not so important. Its typical applications include highways and security lighting.
Compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) were considered till date to be the most significant lighting devices for homes but these lights are sensitive to the fluctuation and inconsistent power supply in India. On the other hand, Solid-state lighting or light emitting diodes (LED) are rugged, sustains power surges, shocks and vibrations. LEDs are easy to install and have long span of life - 50,000+ hrs (10+ years). The advantages of LED lighting, besides lower power consumption, reduces the worlds carbon footprint and are easily recyclable - thus considerate to be absolute green technology.
There are no starting problems in cold environments because LED’s are “Instant on” with no warm up time needed as seen in conventional CFL lighting. In addition, LED lighting solutions do not contain environmentally hazardous metals such as mercury or sodium and do not emit potentially harmful Ultraviolet radiation or Infrared radiation like Halogen lamps. Another benefit is the extremely long life cycle lowers maintenance costs in the long term.

Unlike the CFLs, LEDs can illuminate your houses as well as streets and even the outdoors replacing the HIDs, at a fraction of cost. Until recently, LEDs were limited to single-bulb use in applications such as instrument panels, electronics, pen lights and, more recently, strings of indoor and outdoor Christmas lights, but now these small bulbs are ready to take the place of the established technologies for the better of the human beings.
In many green conscious states, government is enforcing LED bulbs for street lighting and other public areas to bring savings to bloated energy bills. LED is surely a drive towards green earth.

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