Today is Earth Day, a yearly celebration and reminder to treat our precious home with love and care. That's why Niche offers CFL and LED lamping options to pair with stunning, handmade modern pendants. With a variety of unique shapes and sizes, you don't have to compromise on style when making an environmentally sound choice for your perfect pendant. Before we tell you 10 benefits of CFL and LED lamping, here is some basic information about these lighting alternatives.

CFL Lamping

Compact fluorescent (or CFL) lamping options use less energy than incandescent bulbs, much like an LED. The biggest benefit is that CFL bulbs are generally more affordable compared to LED options. They also produce brighter light that spreads evenly and are available in soft, warm, and bright white hues.

LED Lamping

LED stands for Lighting Emitting Diodes. LEDs are tiny light bulbs, but unlike incandescent bulbs, they do not have a filament that will burn out, and they don't get particularly warm. LEDs are illuminated by the movement of electrons in a semiconductor material. Photons, the most basic unit of light, are released as a result of the moving electrons and turn your light on!

Reasons to Make the Switch

1. Longevity

The long lifetime of an LED light stands out as the number one benefit. LED bulbs and diodes can last about 25X longer than their incandescent counterparts. LEDs are different than standard lighting, as they don't burn out, but diodes will emit a lower output over a very long period of time and become less bright. You can make your bulb last even longer by installing it on a compatible dimmer.

2. Energy/Cost Efficiency

LED light bulbs use only 2-17 watts of electricity, 1/3rd to 1/30th of incandescent bulbs. The LED method of producing light uses far less energy than other lighting technologies. A light fixture with a standard 60-watt incandescent bulb consumes about 525 kWh (kilowatt-hours) of electricity in a year, but an LED bulb only uses about 65 kWh. That's about 85% more efficient than the filament method used in incandescent bulbs, which will make a big difference in your next electricity bill.

3. Ecologically Friendly

LED lights are toxic chemical free! Most fluorescent bulbs contain a multitude of materials like mercury that are dangerous for the environment. LED bulbs are also 100% recyclable! Additionally, the long life of LED bulbs can save material and production of 25 incandescent bulbs.

4. No UV Emissions

LED lights produce little infrared light and close to no UV emissions. This makes LED lighting highly suitable for goods and materials that are sensitive to heat, and are great for illumination of objects found in museums, art galleries, or archaeological sites.

5. Durable Quality

LEDs are extremely durable and resistant to shock, vibrations, and external impacts, making them great for rough conditions such as exposure to weather, construction and manufacturing sites.

6. Operational in Extremely Cold or Hot Temperatures

LEDs are ideal for operation under cold and low outdoor temperature settings and are excellent for winter settings or freezer rooms. Low temperatures affect the performance of fluorescent bulbs.

7. Low-Voltage

Low-voltage power supply also makes LED lighting easy to use in outdoor settings by connecting an external solar-energy source — this is a big advantage for using LED technology in remote or rural areas.

8. Light Dispersal

LED is designed to focus its light and can be directed to a specific location without the use of an external reflector, achieving a higher application efficiency than conventional lighting.

9. Design Flexibility

Individual LEDs can be dimmed, resulting in a dynamic control of light, color and distribution. LEDs can be combined in any shape to produce highly efficient illumination.

10. Instant Lighting & Frequent Switching

LED lights brighten up immediately when powered on, which is a great advantage for traffic and signal lights. Also, LED lights can switched off and on frequently without affecting the LED’s lifetime. Traditional lighting may take several seconds to reach full brightness, and frequent on/off switching reduces life expectancy.

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