The Light-Emitting Diode<\/h2>\n
First thing\u2019s first: the Light-Emitting Diode<\/strong> – Simply put, like any other light, the LED is a semiconductor device that emits light when an energy current passes through it. Unlike traditional lighting, the LED does not require the heating of a filament to light up. Instead, they use chemical compounds to produce more efficient light. Naturally, the LED is not a white light source, which is why they are they are commonly used for things like street lights, colored holiday lights and digital billboards<\/a>. To make the light white so we can have normal looking lights on our homes, they use two methods. One is phosphorous conversion<\/strong>, where phosphorous is put onto the diode to it can make white light. The other, known as RGB conversion<\/strong>, is when red, green and blue light is mixed, resulting in white light. LED lights are far more sophisticated than incandescent bulbs, as different types can let off a different shade or color or white light. They can be dimmed and the big benefit is that they produce the same amount of power as the incandescent blubs but use much less energy to do so. It\u2019s a win-win <\/em>if you know what you\u2019re looking for when you\u2019re at the store.<\/p>\n Color Temperature<\/strong> is the shade of color that characterizes the how the white light looks. For instance, if the light gives more of a blue color, it would have a \u201ccool\u201d temperature, and if it\u2019s more yellow looking, it would be \u201cwarm\u201d in temperature. So, depending on which part of your house you want to put the lights in, paying attention to temperature is helpful. This is mostly visual, so if you have a particular temperature in mind for your home, you should refer to the package to find out exactly what the Kelvin color temperature is.<\/p>\n But, how do we know which kind of light certain Kelvins will put off to choose? Kelvin Color Temperature<\/strong> is the measure of the color of a light source relative to a black body at a particular temperature, which is measured in degrees Kelvin (K). Incandescent lights have a low color temperature (about 2800K) and have a red-yellow tone. Daylight lighting, such as fluorescent lights, has a high color temperature (about 6000K) and looks bluish to the eye. White light is somewhere in between 5000-6000K, LEDs can but LEDs can be found in all of these shades, too. You just have to know a little about Kelvins and you\u2019ll be all set when choosing which light you want! All of that information can be found on the packaging of the product.<\/p>\n<\/div> <\/div> A lumen<\/strong> is the measurement of light that is relevant to humans. The lumen scale indicates the amount of light (brightness) that our eyes can perceive. Simply put, lumens measure the amount of light produced by that particular bulb in which we can see, and is what most people look at when shopping for LED lights. It is important to remember, however, that lumens do not describe the quality of light generated \u2013 that would be referred to as color temperature, explained above.<\/p>\n A watt<\/strong> is a measurement of electric power. Watts refer to the power consumption of that specific product. The higher number the wattage is, the more energy it takes to power that product \u2013 whether it\u2019s a light fixture, light bulb, or flashlight \u2013 they all require watts to power them. The benefit of higher wattage, though, is that the higher the number, the more light it will produce. If we think of this using a real-world example,<\/p>\nColor Temperature<\/h3>\n
Kelvin Color Temperature<\/h3>\n
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<\/p>\nLumens & Watts in LEDs<\/h2>\n
Lumens<\/h3>\n
Watts<\/h3>\n