Led Bulb Research Paper

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LED Bulb Research paper Just a few years ago a 60 watt equivalent LED bulb cost upwards of $50 (LaMonica, M n.d.). You’ve probably heard about how expensive LED bulbs are, but there are many benefits to using them that you might not know. Today you can get a 60 Watt equivalent LED bulb for about $10-15 (LaMonica). Some benefits to using LED bulbs in your home are reduced energy costs, longer bulb life, and they’re environmentally friendly. You may have to pay more upfront for an LED light bulb, but did you know that the average homeowner could save a total of $238 a year in energy costs alone by switching to LEDs (Howard, B. n.d.)? Traditional incandescent bulbs create light by heating up a wire, called a filament, white hot. Up to 98% of the energy used by incandescent bulbs is lost as heat leaving just 2% being turned into light. LED’s light up by the movement of electrons in a semiconductor material (Howard), using much less energy to create light, and giving off much less heat, so much less, that you can leave an LED bulb on all day, and the globe will only be warm to the touch. The average bulb life of an incandescent bulb is 750-1000 hours, while the average bulb life of an LED bulb is anywhere from 25,000-50,000 hours (n.d. staticbrain.com). At the assumed 3 hours per day usage, that bulb should last you between 22 to 45 years. Incandescent bulbs burn out much faster because as the filament heats up, the tungsten that coats it evaporates, until eventually the filament gets so thin that it breaks. At $1.50 a bulb for an incandescent and $10 a bulb for an LED, the LED bulb will pay for itself in a little over 6 years, just due to its longevity. Another advantage to longer bulb life is when replacing the bulbs in those hard to reach areas like at the top of a stair case or cathedral ceiling, imaging only needing to replace those bulbs every 45 years. You
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