Lighting Experts Agree That One Of These Bulbs Is Better For Your Landscape Lighting
You deserve the best when it comes to your landscape lighting. This means better brightness, life span, cost, and options.
In this post, you can find what the differences between led and halogen lights are.
Which Bulb Is Best For Our Landscape Lighting?
“We need the best bulb for our outdoor lighting,” says Matt.
Christina nods. “Yep, we sure do. But there are a few different types of light bulbs to choose from. I know we can pick between led vs incandescent vs halogen.” Matt shrugs. “I don’t really know the differences between them.”
Christina shrugs back. “Me either. Let’s look it up on Google. Then we can make a better decision.” Matt nods, taking his phone from his pocket to look.
Here’s what the couple discovers:
What Is Incandescent?
Incandescent bulbs are the classic style used for many years as the household light bulb. It produces light by heating wires to the temperature that creates light. It isn’t as efficient or bright as other, newer light bulbs.
What Is Halogen?
Halogen light bulbs are a more efficient type of incandescent bulb. It uses halogen gas to create a better, more efficient light. This makes it a higher-quality bulb than incandescent.
What Is LED?
LED (Light Emitting Diode) uses more advanced technology, the diode, to produce light. The advancements in LED lighting are continuing today, causing drops in price while raising efficiency and lifespan.
LED Vs Incandescent Outdoor Lighting
LED Vs Incandescent Bulb Cost
The cost for LED light bulbs is about $5 per bulb depending on where and how many you purchase. This is a higher upfront cost than incandescent bulbs, but LEDs can last for years. This gives it a higher lifetime value.
Incandescent bulbs can cost around $1 depending on where and how many you purchase. While the upfront cost can be less than half of LED, over time you will end up paying more.
LED Vs Incandescent Energy Cost
LEDs are the most energy-efficient light bulb on the market. They let off 80% or more of their energy as light.
Incandescent bulbs let off 90% of the energy as heat and 10% as light. This is the opposite of LEDs which make better use of their energy. Due to this, consumers end up paying more in energy bills.
LED Vs Incandescent Color
With LEDs, the coloring can be almost anything you want: warm, bright, mellow, yellow, blue, and even more options. They can even be the exact same color as incandescent bulbs. LEDs have the variety to meet almost any want or need when it comes to lighting.
Incandescent bulbs have a warm, beautiful tone to them that was previously unmatched. Anything underneath this light can be seen as it should be in sunlight. But now that LEDs can mimic this light color, incandescents don’t give many unique benefits.
LED Vs Incandescent Life Span
Depending on where and how often they are used, the same LED light bulb can light a room all the way from birth to college. Left on 24 hours per day they can last roughly 6 years. Their performance can drop near the end, but the technology is developing to stop this.
Incandescent bulbs can last up to 3,000 hours depending on where and how often you use them. In terms of years, this means they can last anywhere from 1 to 2 years. Even though they cost less per bulb, you’d have to spend more in the long run to equal the LED span.
LED Vs Halogen Light Bulbs
Which Is Brighter, LED Or Halogen?
You may notice that LED and halogen brightness are measured differently. Halogen brightness is measured in wattage or energy output. LEDs are measured in lumens or literal brightness (lumen does mean ‘light’).
This means LEDs can give you a more accurate measurement of actual brightness. This is important when it comes to knowing how many lumens your outdoor lighting needs. Halogen wattage basically tells you how hot they are going to get.
LEDs are dimmable, meaning you can change the level of brightness to the exact level you want. You can also choose to have color-changing options so you can make your lights blue, red, or any other color. Halogens can only stay their original brightness and color.
LED Vs Halogen Cost
The cost for LED light bulbs is about $5 per bulb depending on where and how many you purchase.
Halogen bulbs usually cost $3 to $5 per bulb depending on where and how many you purchase.
LED Vs Halogen Energy Efficiency
LEDs use 80+% of their energy as light, with the other percent escaping as heat.
Halogens are the exact opposite, which is probably why they are much dimmer and hotter.
This means with LEDs you no longer need to worry about your kids touching hot bulbs and hurting themselves. It also means they cost less to run.
As for power consumption, in terms of watts LEDs use about 8-20 watts while halogens use 29-72 watts.
So overall, LED lights are better at using energy and are less costly, especially when you consider their lifespan.
It’s always good to know the best wattage for your outdoor lights.
LED Vs Halogen Lifespan
You may find it weird if you switch to LED because you won’t have to change the bulbs nearly as often, as in years.
Halogen bulbs last an average of 1,000 hours, meaning they typically need changing every 1-3 years depending on how often you have them on. LEDs are on the far opposite end, lasting about 50,000 hours or 15+ years.
For example, replacing a classic 60-watt bulb with an LED can reduce energy consumption by up to 73% and extend the light life by 2,500%! Crazy, right?
Statistics from ledsmagazine.com
You May Also Like To Know
“Now we can make a more informed decision,” says Matt. Christina nods. “Speaking of more informed decisions, let’s see what else we can find out about outdoor lighting on this blog. Might help us make even better decisions.”