Will LED light bulb change our lives?

Will LED light bulb change our lives?: "Will LED light bulb change our lives?

By ELISABETH ROSENTHAL and FELICITY BARRINGER , New York Times



To change the bulbs in the 60-foot-high ceiling lights of Buckingham Palace's grand stairwell, workers had to erect scaffolding. So when a lighting designer two years ago proposed installing light emitting diodes, or LEDs, an emerging lighting technology, the royal family readily assented.

The new lights, the designer said, would last more than 22 years and enormously reduce energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions -- a big plus for Prince Charles, an ardent environmentalist. Since then, the palace has installed the lighting in chandeliers and on the exterior, where illuminating the entire facade now uses less electricity than running an electric teakettle.

The palace is part of a small but fast-growing trend that is redefining the century-old conception of lighting, replacing energy-wasting disposable bulbs with efficient fixtures that are semi-permanent.

Studies suggest that a complete conversion to LEDs could decrease carbon dioxide emissions from electric power use for lighting by up to 50 percent in about 20 years. A recent report by McKinsey & Co. cited conversion to LED lighting as potentially the most cost-effective of a number of simple approaches using existing technology to tackle global warming.

LED lighting was once relegated to basketball scoreboards, cell phone consoles, traffic lights and colored Christmas lights. But as a result of rapid technology developments, it is poised to become a staple on streets and in buildings, as well as in homes and offices. Some American cities, including Ann Arbor, Mich., and Raleigh, N.C., are using the lights to illuminate streets and parking garages, and dozens more are exploring the technology. The lighting adorns some Renaissance hotels, a corridor in the Pentagon and a green building at Stanford."


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