As happens with any technology, many new and fun uses have emerged for LED light bulbs that were probably never considered when they were first invented.  Model train enthusiasts have begun using LED light bulbs as the headlamps in the trains, for street lamps, and for general accent lighting to highlight areas of their track.  With LED lights being so small (about the size of a pencil eraser) and long lasting, they actually seem tailor made for this kind of work!

LED lights are also commonly used in home theatre systems, and not just in the jumbo television screens.  Many plasma televisions that are hung from the wall are better viewed with some soft backlighting.  This can prevent eyestrain and also provide a more professional appearance.  LED lighting is perfect for this, since they are small and easy to place in compact areas, don’t give off heat that might damage the television, and are much quieter than compact fluorescents thereby eliminating any competition for the sound from your TV.  LED lights can also provide thousands of color combinations, and can be dimmed to provide softer light at different times of day.

Visual arts are also benefiting from LED technology.  Many artists are experimenting with LED lighting on their paintings, sculptures, and installation pieces.  With so many different color combinations and the fact that lighting can be very narrowly directed, LED light bulbs are a wonderful addition to experimental art pieces.  Of course, all of these different uses have one particular thing in common.  They all require lighting that is energy efficient, long-lasting, and maintenance free.  When lighting becomes a hobby, it’s usually important to keep the costs low and limit the number of replacements.  Because LED light bulbs fit the bill, they are an easy replacement option for the current lighting technology.

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Popularity: 63% [?]

Over the past few years it has become more common for people to consider environmental issues, and more specifically, how their actions are impacting the world around them.  In particular, many people are starting to look at energy use, and where their energy comes from.  When most people plug an appliance into their wall, the power comes from coal, nuclear energy, or hydroelectricity.  Some of these are cleaner than others, but all have their problems.  That’s why many are now turning towards cleaner energy sources such as wind or solar.  These are also renewable energy sources, and are a must for anyone who wants to live “off the grid”, or, not hooked up to mainstream power.

When using wind or solar energy, it is necessary to have a strong awareness of how the electrical items in your home are drawing on your power.  Because all your electricity is generated right in your home, you’ll want to make sure that you aren’t using too much.  Using LED lighting in your solar or wind powered home is an excellent solution, since LED lighting uses far less energy than incandescent bulbs, and even compact fluorescents.  This will limit the drain on your power, and their long life will limit the number of burnt out bulbs heading for the trash.  Many homes that are “off the grid” also rely on battery backup power, so installing LED lights is also smart for those times when relying on the limited resources of a battery.

Additionally, there are many LED lighting products that come in solar powered versions.  Many outdoor lighting systems, such as motion lights, landscaping lights, or even flashlights, can be solar powered.  This is a great way to further reduce energy costs and reduce your environmental footprint.

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Popularity: 54% [?]

Using LED lights for interior design and decorative lighting is not really new; however, the Stanley Center for the Arts has added a whole new dimension to LED lighting.  The theatre, located in Utica, New York, commissioned what is being called the world’s largest LED chandelier.  Over seventeen feet tall and thirty-five feet in diameter, and weighing seven thousand pounds, it’s hard to dispute their claim.  The chandelier is made from steel, acrylic, and hand blown glass, and was built by the company Meyda Tiffany.  The chandelier took over a year to build, has both an antique gold and bronze coating, and features green and white serpents.

The piece was built to fit in with the theatre’s existing décor, and has a traditional look with faux candlesticks complete with drippings, and glass flames.  The LED light bulbs situated in the flames even flicker, creating a realistic look.  Because LED light bulbs tend to give off a direct light, special accommodations had to be made to create the soft lighting effect desired.  The inside of the chandelier was specially sanded and the light bulbs were carefully placed to avoid shadows or direct lighting.

The light fixture will drastically cut back on energy usage at the theatre.  Because of the LED lighting technology, the light fixture will only use just over 1,100 watts, while the same piece using incandescent light bulbs would use over 7,400 watts.  This amounts to the difference between a small coffee maker and seventeen refrigerators.  The chandelier has a special dimming feature that allows it to be slowly dimmed with the house lights.  It also is easily maintained, with a device that lowers it from the ceiling for cleaning and bulb replacement.  There is also a hidden catwalk leading to the chandelier so that employees can quickly access the chandelier.

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Popularity: 52% [?]

Home and business owners both know that keeping their properties safe is an area of much concern.  A popular security technique is to provide lighting to dark areas where intruders could enter the building without being seen.  Motion lights are extremely popular ways to light up vulnerable areas while at the same time alerting the occupants and neighbors to movement on the property.  They can also be used for identification lighting at entranceways, so that occupants can quickly see who is at the door.  LED light bulbs are increasingly being used in motion detector lights, since they are both energy efficient and long lasting, and because they provide bright, white light.  When purchasing a motion detector light, try getting a battery-powered or combination battery/solar powered system so that your lights will continue to work in power outages.  It is also a good idea to consider your local weather conditions, and purchase an appropriate fixture.  If you live in a harsh climate, you’ll need a weatherproof and heavier duty system.  Emergency lighting is also important to keep your home or business from becoming vulnerable during power outages.  Battery powered backup lighting can be used both indoors and outdoors for security and safety.

Personal security is also important.  Professional security personnel might want to use LED powered flashlights while on the job.  These flashlights are battery powered, rechargeable, and also solar powered.  There are even LED light bulbs made to fit into your existing flashlight, making it easy to convert to LED technology.  LED flashlights also come in various colors and in a UV variety.  For the average user, an LED flashlight attached to a keychain can be useful to have on hand to light up small areas and to quickly find the lock on a car door.

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Popularity: 66% [?]

Staying safe at nighttime requires good quality and reliable lighting.  Because LED lights are both strong and long-lasting, they make excellent options for emergency and safety lighting.  Personal safety is particularly important on roadways.  An easy addition to your vehicle’s emergency kit is an LED traffic baton, which can be used to indicate your presence to other drivers should you find yourself on foot or working on your vehicle.  Of course, traffic batons are excellent for directing traffic at night as well.  Another great item to keep on hand is a flashing LED light that is similar to a traditional flare.  These flashing lights can be placed on the top of your vehicle and can be seen up to three miles away.  They are ideal for attracting attention if your vehicle breaks down at night.  There are also powerful LED strobe lights available for use on boats, which can be seen for miles around.

LED emergency lighting is also growing in popularity.  These powerful backup lights can provide hours of light when the power goes out.  Because LED lights operate on such low power, they can last for a very long time on battery power.  Some emergency systems can be hooked up to your existing wiring, and provide plenty of light for occupants to exit the building, particularly in earthquake or fire situations.  LED lanterns are also popular items, both for emergency kits as well as for campers.  Some can be dually used as a flashlight or a lantern, and some models give two hundred hours of lighting on just a couple of AAA batteries!  There are many types of LED flashlights available, most of which operate in the same manner as traditional flashlights.  However, there are LED flashlights available that are specifically designed for hazardous situations and can even provide light in smoky environments.

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Popularity: 52% [?]

Because of their energy efficiency and long-term cost savings, many businesses are switching from neon and other lighting technology to LED light bulbs.  Because LED works on a similar principle as neon, it is becoming more and more popular to replace neon signs with LED technology.  From “open” signs in the window or door to flashing outdoor road signs, using LED technology can help you to attract more customers.  Because LED lighting is more visible than other forms in daylight, they are an excellent choice for these types of signs, and are useful during all times of day and not just at night.

Floodlights are often used in business landscaping to accent trees, signs, and walls.  Using an LED light bulb will give you a longer lasting light source and will ultimately save you money.  If you have been thinking about adding light accents to your property but were unsure about costs, look no further!  LED lights allow you to add bright, broad spectrum projection lighting without adding much to your monthly electricity bill.  Different colors of lighting are available, and can also be used to light up pathways, lawns, murals, or even flags.

In addition to floodlighting and spotlighting, simple landscape lighting can be an effective way to make your business property look more professional while at the same time providing enough visibility to keep customers safe in times of low light.  LED lighting is available in many shapes and sizes, and can be used as markers along a pathway, to more strongly light up outdoor areas, or to provide accent lighting to particular plants or bushes.  Many LED light fixtures are now waterproof, making them perfect for use in outdoor gardens or fountains.  Some of these lights can even be used in pools or ponds, up to three feet in depth.

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Popularity: 86% [?]

Growing hothouse flowers and plants can be a time-consuming and expensive task.  Whether you are the owner of a commercial greenhouse or are simply an avid hobbyist, you might want to consider switching your grow lights from fluorescent or HID to LED light bulbs.  LED grow lights are safe for use with heat and UV sensitive plants and allow you to utilize multi-tiered gardening techniques.  Additionally, when compared to HID lights, they are lower in noise and voltage and also can be used in spaces that are difficult for HID lights to fit.  Like all LED light bulbs, LED grow lights are cooler and more energy efficient than other forms of lighting, making them safer and inexpensive.  If you choose to keep your existing HID lights, adding LED grow lights to your operation can provide a boost in growth without adding a lot to your power bill.

Typically you can purchase red or blue grow lights or full spectrum lights.  These will affect your plants in different ways.  Specifically, the balance of red and blue light will affect how the plants grow, how quickly they flower, and how fast their fruit develop.  Adding blue light can be beneficial for young plants and also if you find your plants are ‘leggy’.  Blue light can also create more compact growth, preventing plants from spreading over your growth area in too short a time.  Red and blue lighting should not be placed closer than twelve to twenty-four inches from your plants.  Full spectrum lights, on the other hand, can be placed up to three inches to your plants.

Where you place your lights is important to their growth.  Simply reducing the distance between the plant and the light by one half will increase the energy by four times.  Blue lights can be used in place of HPS lighting, and are also great for seedlings.  Red lights can be used instead of sunlight or MH lights.  Red lights are also excellent for use on leafy crops, particularly at the end of the growth cycle.

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Popularity: 19% [?]

If you’ve noticed your city or town replacing large numbers of traffic lights, you aren’t alone.  More and more cities are switching their traffic lights over to LED technology because of its many benefits over traditional illumination methods.  Traffic lights have only recently jumped on the LED bandwagon.  Historically, traffic lights were made with incandescent or halogen light bulbs until the mid 1990s when manufacturers realized the benefits of LED and started utilizing this technology.  While the incandescent-based lamps use a single large bulb, LED-based lamps display a continuous light source by arranging an array of elements in pre-determined patterns.

There are many advantages to using LED-based lamps over the incandescent models for traffic lights.  As with any LED light, it is much more efficient to operate and will enjoy a longer lifespan.  It can also switch quite a bit faster since LED lights can turn on quicker than incandescent, and illuminate brighter with better contrast against the direct sunlight.  Multiple colors and patterns can be used in the same LED lamp, whereas incandescent cannot.  Finally, while incandescent lights will suddenly fail and leave the traffic signal inoperable, LED lamps will gradually dim when they wear out, which will provide city maintenance departments with plenty of advance notice when it’s time to change the light.

Most traffic light manufacturers have realized the extensive benefits of LED technology, particularly the fact that LED-based signals are much less expensive to operate and maintain than similar incandescent-based lamps.  They may appear more costly in the beginning, but that cost is quickly recouped by the impressive energy efficiency.  Today, almost all new traffic light deployments in North America utilize LED-based lamps, and many existing systems have been reconfigured.

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While it may seem that LED lights have just come into fashion in recent years, they have actually been in existence for several decades.  In fact, the first light-emitting diode was discovered in 1907 by a British experimenter, Henry Round of Marconi Labs, who first realized a semiconductor junction could produce light.  Subsequently, in the mid 1920s, a Russian named Oleg Vladimirovich Losev invented the first actual LED light and published his achievement in Russian, German and British scientific journals.  These were important initial steps in LED’s growth, but were ignored for several more years.  Additional relevant findings were noted in the 1950s and early 1960s but it wasn’t until 1962 that the first practical visible-spectrum LED was actually developed by Nick Holonyak Jr., who is often regarded as the “father of the light-emitting diode” for this invention while working for the General Electric Company.

By the late 1960s, the first LEDs were available in commercial markets, but only in red. They were initially used solely as replacements for incandescent indicators in laboratory and electronic equipment, but soon became widely recognized on household and office appliances such as TVs, radios, telephones, calculators and wrist watches.  Since the initial light output of these red LEDs was very low, at that point they could only be used as indicators rather than actual sources of light.  Soon, however, more colors were created and overall efficiency was improved.

In 1972, M. George Craford, a former graduate student of Holonyk, created the first yellow and red-orange LEDs, as well as a new red that was 10 times as bright as the original.  In later years blue LEDs were created by a Japanese corporation, which eventually led to the development of white LEDs so commonly seen today.  Along the way, materials technology advanced significantly, stimulating rapid improvement in light output, efficiency and reliability, allowing LEDs to finally become bright enough for illumination.

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Popularity: 41% [?]

Did you know that almost all huge video screens, commonly seen in concerts, sporting events and popular outdoor areas such as Times Square in New York, operate using LED technology?  They need to because the screen has to be bright enough to be seen from a distance and, if outdoors, it competes with the brightness of the sun.  Normal television technology can’t be used in these circumstances.

Jumbo TV screens are made up of pixel modules that usually range in size from 4mm to 4 cm (0.2 inches to 1.5 inches).  Each pixel module contains LEDs that combine the colors red, blue and green to form all other colors needed to produce the desired images.  Thousands of these modules are then arranged in a rectangular grid to form a jumbo TV screen.

Huge display screens like these are run by computer systems and use a significant amount of power, although less than they would if they used other lighting technology.  The computer system acts as a translator by receiving the incoming TV signal, calculating the color signals and intensity required, and converting this information into instructions for the display.  The power system obviously acts as the power source but also manipulates the intensity so that each LED module delivers the correct brightness.  A typical 20-meter jumbo screen may consume up to 300,000 watts of power.

The use of these massive TV screens has increased greatly in recent years, as the cost of LED technology has dropped.  Sporting events that used to simply show game scores now broadcast fast-action highlights.  Bustling street corners like those found in New York and Tokyo have transitioned from static billboards to full-motion advertisements.  Even shopping centers and office buildings use jumbo screens indoors to educate or inform visitors.  Thanks to the amazing benefits of LED and LED Light Bulbs, we now live in a world where a TV screen can be found almost anywhere!

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Popularity: 17% [?]