LEDs offer a brighter future, says report

LEDs offer a brighter future, says report

 
A field trial of LED light fittings in social housing says the new technology can deliver huge energy savings, reduce costs and makes residents feel safer.
 
 
The study, carried out by the Energy Saving Trust (EST), measured the performance of more than 4,250 LED light fittings installed at 35 sites.
The EST said it carried out the trial because an increasing number of LED lights were now commercially available.
It is predicted the technology could dominate the lighting market by 2015.
 
 
“We like to test things in-situ in order to understand their real performance rather than rely on manufacturers’ claims,” explained James Russill, EST’s technical development manager.
But, he added: “We are at one of those rare times when there is a revolution, I think it is fair to say, within the lighting sector.
 
 
“LEDs promise to be the way forward for the whole sector, to be honest. There are so many benefits: they can be smaller, brighter; it is one of those rare technologies where the trial has shown it performs better than the lighting systems it is replacing but, at the same time, using less energy.”
 
 
LED appreciation
At the 35 sites in the field trial, the authors of the Lit Up report calculated that the LED fittings saved more than three million kilowatt hours (kWh) each year when compared with the previous lighting.