Slashdot Mirror
LEDs - Do the Benefits Outweigh the Cost?
7x7 asks: "We keep hearing about the latest and greatest thing to come out of LED technology, and every article seems to give an over-view of the topic. How LEDs consume little electricity and last a long time, etc. However the manufacturing process involves super hot ovens and expensive componants. Do the requirements necessary in the manufacture LEDs and LED componants out-weight the requirements for standard bulbs over 10 years? One LED light can last ten years, but contains dozens of LEDs. Has anyone seen or performed an evalutation to see if the trade-off is really anything to speak of?"
I wish the bulb that burned out in my truck's dashboard had been an LED to begin with.
It cost $95 to change it.
--I am an extreme flashlight fiend, I mean I got dozens of them. My LED flashlights are just a sheer joy. The bulbs don't burn out or pop in temp extremes, I got literally years of normal use off a set of batteries. Most of them will run for days if you just turn them on and leave them on, I've tried it. a regular flashlight lasts a couple of hours max usually. I took one of my first ones, a ccrane model, and read several books at night on one set of batts, just to see how they did "real world". Just outstanding.
I switched several years ago from 12 vdc incandescents to fluorescents for my interior lighting in my RV I live in,got a good boost in performance, but as soon as the LEDs get a scosh cheaper in a normal 12 vdc config for area lighting I will switch to them instead.
Previous Ask Slashdot discussions on LED lighting, LED Light Fixtures for the Home? and Which LED Flashlight Do You Use?
I've got a fever and the only prescription is more COBOL.
I think the question asks about the total cost of manufacturing/consumables used to run LEDs vs fluorescent vs incandescent bulbs. I'd also throw in the environmental impact as well.
Incandescence are pretty simple to make now and don't contain much in the way of harmful chemicals, just glass and tungsten (older ones used a leaded compound for the base.) But the monetary and environment costs of the electricity are high.
fluorescents contain mercury, but I don't believe they are too hard to manufacture (correct me if I'm wrong.) They are currently the cheapest to run from an electricity point of view, but LEDs are rapidly (yes, there is more electrically efficient lighting out there, but not in the brightness range that most offices and homes require.)
LEDs use some nasty chemicals to manufacture, but the end product is fairly harmless (it contains tiny amounts of some harmful things, but the LEDs last such as long time that, imho, the impact is very small when depreciated over its lifespan.
From a battery-operated point of view, LEDs are the way to go. Fluorescents require some bulky voltage and signal conversion and don't run the battery completely empty. LEDs are strong, light weight, and very energy efficient. Plus batteries contain their own nasty chemicals. I just can't wait for portable fuel-cells!