Human beings evolved with natural light patterns. Our bodies respond differently to the rising sun, the light at full noon and the darkness of night. For some time, researchers have known that our internal circadian rhythms are modified by the eye’s exposure to light, whether it comes from the sun or from LED lighting.
It just makes sense to use LED light for bicycles. For one thing, LED lights are extremely bright, so they’re sure to catch the attention of nearby motorists. While most bike lights are intended for this sole purpose – to announce the presence of a biker to drivers – LED lights are also powerful enough to light your way through dark streets this winter. Finally, LED lights are efficient, so you won’t have to change out batteries every week just to make it through your commute.
LED lights have been used in a variety of applications since their invention in 1961. From inexpensive appliance display lighting to automobile daytime headlamps, light-emitting diodes seem to be everywhere. Indeed, LED lighting could even change air travel as we know it. The 787 Dreamliner, Boeing’s new jetliner, includes LED lighting designed to positively influence passengers’ circadian rhythms.
How could LED lights possibly affect the body’s diurnal rhythms? The answer hinges on the fact that LEDs are “programmable.” Unlike filament-heating incandescent bulbs, LEDs are tiny semi-conductors, fueled by electricity-stimulated electrons crossing a field to fill electron holes. The chemistry here is pretty complex, but suffice it to say that engineers can affect the light wavelengths an LED produces by changing the semi-conductor material. Zinc selenide, for instance, is used to produce blue LED lighting.
Michelangelo, eat your heart out: The temporary LED Cathedral in Ghent, Belgium may not have a laboriously frescoed ceiling, but its dazzling 55,000 LED lights illuminate an entire street in a cacophony of color.
The giant colonnade, reaching a height of 91 feet at its peak, blends Romanesque and Renaissance architecture and is constructed of wood covered with thousands of LED lights. It’s the creation of Luminarie De Cagna – an Italian, family-owned lighting and illumination business established more than 80 years ago – for Ghent’s recent Light Festival. It was lit by joining LED lights together to make massive curtains, which were then draped over the structure.
Did you all catch the Audi commercial that aired during Sunday’s Super Bowl? The luxury car manufacturer touted its innovative LED headlights as bright as daylight and thus vampire-killing. The LED lights used in Audi’s LED headlamps produce the closest recreation of daylight available (5500 Kelvin).
Audi first incorporated a full-LED headlight design in its R8 model in 2008 (read our original Audi R8 LED headlamp post). The LED light design is combined with features like a high-beam assistant that detects the headlights of oncoming traffic and the “rear lights of other road users and responds by varying the position and width of the LED headlights accordingly” (for more visit LED Magazine).
The national shift away from traditional incandescent light bulbs toward more energy-efficient forms of lighting, such as LED lights, has caused quite a stir among home designers and even electrical contractors. According to Electrical Contractor magazine, more and more contractors are making the effort to enhance their knowledge of LED lighting in order to effectively utilize LED technology in both residential and commercial settings.
This is because as LED light usage becomes more widespread, contractors are increasingly recognizing the benefits of LED technology, which can be creatively blended with traditional lighting to not only solve design challenges but to meet the requirements of energy codes and other programs, such as LEED certification. (more…)
As a society, we are looking for lighting solutions that are effective, inexpensive and healthy for the environment. The last decade has seen an explosion in lighting technology. Twenty years ago, incandescent bulbs were the only widely available lighting option. Today, there are various new lighting technologies competing for consumers’ attention. This article compares and contrasts two types of lighting: induction and LED light.
First, it’s helpful to understand why both induction and LED technology are superior to the original incandescent bulb designed by Edison. An incandescent light bulb consists of a vacuum glass envelope, two electrodes connected to an electrical source, and a filament suspended between the electrodes. When electric power is flipped on, the electrodes complete a circuit through a tungsten filament. This filament glows white hot, creating usable light.
LED lights are already on the cutting edge of technology. But LED technology at its highest level of performance is innovative and forward-looking – as demonstrated by the latest LED light by Cree. Announced in August, this new LED light prototype exceeds the U.S. Department of Energy’s standards for both output and efficiency.
A traditional 75-watt incandescent bulb produces 1,100 lumens at only 14.6 lumens per watt (LPW). Using Cree TrueWhite Technology, the new LED light delivers more than 1,300 lumens while consuming a mere 8.7 watts – that’s 152 lumens per watt. Third-party testing has confirmed that this bulb is both brighter and more energy efficient than other LED lights – not to mention traditional bulbs. Plus, the new LED technology produces a high-quality, warm white light.
