![\"LED](\"https:\/\/2bgreener.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/LED-bulbs-300x225.jpg\")
Old-er LED on left<\/p><\/div>\n
I grabbed the new LED and the old LED bulbs and was stunned at the changes in just one year!\u00a0 The new one is about half the weight of the old. They both still are replacement screw in bulbs, they both use LED with the typical drivers, and they both mimic the shape of a \u201ctraditional\u201d incandescent.\u00a0 Other than that they are vastly different.\u00a0 The old bulb (old-er, really, as it\u2019s only a year \u201cold\u201d and just a small part through its life use) has a heavy heat sink that takes up about half the bulb length.\u00a0 It is an entirely closed \u201cbulb\u201d and it uses 8 watts to produce 430 lumens.\u00a0 The new one has no visible heat sink as the LED are placed on small separate fins along the center core of the bulb. The bulb housing is plastic and highly vented at the top as well as the lower sides.\u00a0 It uses 11.5 watts, which includes networking capability to dim and switch the bulb <\/em>with a smart home control system, to produce 815 lumens. All that advancement in just one year!<\/p>\n “Nutrition” label from new LED<\/p><\/div>\n Think of what this means regarding energy efficiency, use of materials and engagement of users.\u00a0 Energy efficiency is pretty obvious, and the easy part of the development \u2013 more lumens per watt and an ability to control the bulb output with a home automation system such as Smart Things. \u00a0Control nearly always leads to savings.<\/p>\n The most significant improvement is in\u00a0material use. Aluminum, often used in heat sinks for LED, is one of the most burdensome materials regarding \u201cattributed carbon\u201d due to its mining and processing, even though aluminum is a highly recycled material.\u00a0 The short history of LED has focused on integral heat sinks, and very few, if any, manufacturers have made modular products where the heat sink can be taken off and re-used directly or easily recycled.\u00a0 LED is a long-lived bulb or fixture, and attention to the modularization of that system has not occurred market-wide.\u00a0 This is a huge failure in the world of LED.\u00a0 Reducing the weight of the heat sink (the new bulb is less than 1\/2 the weight of the old) or eliminating it completely by clever, open airflow design of the bulb casing is likely to be a real environmental game-changer.\u00a0 And there are clear sustainable benefits to solid state technology.\u00a0 An LED bulb will emit about 15 lbs of CO2-e a year while a CFL will emit 35 lbs and an incandescent will emit 150 lbs (shocker)! And LED bulbs do not include mercury.<\/p>\n Finally, the control system and ability to dim the light help people understand and engage in their own energy use systems.\u00a0 The capabilities at the level of app-run control or automation systems include setting day\/night ranges, dimming for varied use of the space (we dim down to 10% or so when we watch movies) and, most powerfully, referencing on-line weather and time sites to react to predictive or real time exterior lighting parameters. This is engagement at a whole new level, well beyond merely switching a light on or off.<\/p>\n Huh, all that in a simple replacement bulb.\u00a0 We\u2019re down to about 300 days to \u201cchange a light bulb\u201d and that timeframe will likely half for each pending generation of replacement LED (or other innovative lighting), just as it does in any advancing technology.\u00a0 Does this mean you should wait to install LED replacement bulbs?\u00a0 Absolutely not.\u00a0 Especially now that the quality is exceptional, the bulbs themselves are lighter and less material intensive, there is no mercury content, the price is lower than ever and they now can include network connectivity.\u00a0 \u00a0Be momentarily blinded by the light of opportunity, and install the current generation of LED bulbs!\u00a0 Of course, you should recycle any CFLs responsibly by bringing them to Home Depot or another local company that will process them with care (see link below).\u00a0 When the next-gen of LED comes around you should take a little time to decide if you\u2019re ready to upgrade again.\u00a0 Rest assured you\u2019ll be free to donate your \u201cold\u201d LEDs to your local community theatre, church or school knowing there is no harm in that bulb.<\/p>\n Let there be light!<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/2bgreener.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/label.jpg\")
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