subject: Exactly what influence do LED bulbs have on the environment [print this page] It is constantly stated that incandescent light bulbs use large quantities of energy and cause harm to the environment. Adding weight to the debate there is at present a light bulb ban in place. This initiative was supported by environmental activists who have influenced government legislation. As a consequence conventional light bulbs are being phased out in favour of LED bulbs . I will now supply information on exactly what is the impact on your carbon footprint by changing to LED bulbs and compare this to carbon footprint levels for vehicle use and other electrical appliances.
C02 emission reductions from changing to LED bulbs.
Some people are baffled by the fact that a light bulb can create C02! Clearly it cannot and it is the C02 that is made during the generation of the electricity which is relevant. If you buy your electricity from a green supplier who uses wind power or hydro-electric as a result C02 emissions are low. However, the vast majority of electricity is generated using gas and oil stations which do make excessively high carbon dioxide emissions. Lets now look at the data based on a light bulb being turned on for 4 hours per day and assuming you pay 13p per kWhour for electricity. In this case changing one traditional incandescent light bulbs to an energy saving light bulb will save an astonishing 100kg per year in carbon dioxide emissions.
How does this compare to driving my motor vehicle or using the washing machine?
So you may well ask if 100kg per year of C02 for is important and are there not other manners, as opposed to changing to LED bulbs, in which you can make this saving? I think the best way to look at answering these questions is to analyze some comparative examples.
1. If you own a Ford Focus C-Max vehicle and you can organise to drive 340 miles less each year then this is an equivalent saving as changing a bulbs to one of your LED bulbs.
2. If you can amend your travel patterns to avoid 1000 miles of train travel, this will consequently will save 100kg in C02 emissions. LED Bulbs offer you a similar saving by just changing one!
3. A plane journey from London to Edinburgh will create 100kg in carbon dioxide emissions.
Checking out these comparisons then migrating to LED bulbs does look like a no brainer.
Some final remarks
Now for sure swapping your light bulbs to LED bulbs makes a significant improvement but what else?
In rough terms dishwashers and washing machine use between 2 and 4 kWhours of electricity per cycle. Therefore if you use them once a week then this is just about equivalent to having a 100watt light bulb on for 4 hours a day. This is not a monstrous amount so the focus here should be on usage method and methods. Always make sure that they are full and then do not use your tumbler dryer if you can avoid it, hang the clothes out on the washing line.
Exactly what influence do LED bulbs have on the environment
