Using LED lights outside is becoming a popular option for cities and counties. Municipalities around the country are seeing significant savings in lighting costs as they switch from traditional lighting options to LED lights. Lancaster, a small town in New Hampshire, is expecting to cut their street lighting costs in half after installing LED lights in all their streetlights. The much bigger city of Los Angeles has converted 80% of its streetlights to LEDs and is expecting to save almost $9 million annually in energy costs.
Homeowners have different lighting considerations than cities, and many may wonder if using LED lights outside would be a good choice for them. Fortunately, with the advantages in LED technology, LEDs provide cities and homeowners with energy and cost savings that quickly add up.
Energy Savings
Just like municipalities, homeowners can expect to see energy and cost savings by switching to LED lights. LEDs are able to produce significantly more light per watt than incandescent, fluorescent and CFLs. This can especially be useful in battery powered devices.
LED lights and insects
One frequent complaint of outdoor lighting is the insects that are attracted to the light. The majority of bugs are only attracted to Ultra-violet rays. Because LEDs don’t have UV rays, they will attract very few, if any, insects when they are being used in the evenings or at night.
Focused Light
The design of LED lights automatically makes it possible to focus the light produced to illuminate a specific area. Incandescent and fluorescent bulbs usually require a reflector or mirror to collect light and then redirect it to the desired area.
Additional benefits of using LED lights outside
There are other benefits of LED lights that make them a good choice for outdoor usage. A few are:
- Solid state components: LEDs are more difficult to damage with external shock than other lighting options
- On-off cycling: unlike fluorescent lights, the lifespan of LEDs do not suffer if they are frequently turned on and off
- Long-lifespan: LED light last significantly longer than other bulb options, making them ideal for hard to reach spaces
