About to buy some new light bulbs for your home? Whether you are finally deciding to upgrade to LED, have already done so, or have no intention to do so, here are some general tips that apply to most light bulbs:
- Look at the fitting – one mistake that many people make, regardless of whether they are shopping for LED lights online or at a physical store, is that they simply forget to account for the fitting. The fitting is basically the part of the light bulb which connects it to the electrical outlet, and depending on its fastener shape, there are a number of types. The most common types of fittings are the screw and the bayonet, but there are additional types as well. Before you decide to buy a light bulb, make it a point to consider what type of fitting you use in your home. You can easily check this by removing a light bulb and directly confirming it, or checking a packaging box of a light bulb you previously bought. If your house has different fittings for different outlets, it might make sense to check each individually before making your shopping selections.
- Do not be afraid to buy LED – modern wall lights and LED oyster ceiling lights nowadays are usually LED. This last has overtaken the lighting market in recent years, putting up a fierce competition (and most definitely winning) against CFL, halogen and incandescent bulbs. As you would know, the latter two leave much to be desired in terms of energy savings, and until a few years back, CFL bulbs led the competition in terms of energy savings. However, coupled with the fact that their disposal was hardly environment-friendly and that their glare was somewhat irritating to some, the CFL bulbs garnered some displeasure as well. The LED bulbs nowadays can save up to over ninety percent of the electricity usage of the average incandescent bulb, and they will last for more than two decades. As such, whilst the upfront price may be somewhat expensive, in the long run, they are definitely the cheapest choice.
- Colour and brightness – when buying light bulbs, do not forget to read the labels on the box to understand the colour and the brightness of the bulb, which are each described in terms of the Kelvin scale and lumens (originally watts). The Kelvin scale is arguably the more difficult of the two to understand, as this provides the colour of the light in terms of ‘temperature’. On the other hand, the higher the lumen value, the higher the brightness.