a simple task like picking a light bulb can be very intimidating because of all the options available to us one thing's for certain we're told to switch the light bulbs in our homes from incandescents to energy efficient leds many countries are phasing out and banning old incandescent bulbs but what's the difference between the two should we still use incandescents in certain cases what are the downsides of using leds we're going to answer all of those questions and more in this video let's start with how incandescent light bulbs work the key component is a six foot long coiled piece of tungsten metal tungsten has a very high melting point and high resistivity electricity has a difficult time passing through the tungsten atoms are heated up and electrons temporarily move to higher energy levels when the electrons move back to their original energy levels they release extra energy as photons are light this phenomenon is called incandescence two nickel plated copper wires hold up the tungsten filament these are connected to the aluminum foot of the bulb and the screw threads an inert gas like argon or krypton fills the glass bulb ordinary air would rapidly oxidize the filament and the bulb would burn out in seconds the tungsten filament inside a light bulb can reach temperatures as high as 4500 degrees fahrenheit or 2500 degrees celsius over time the tungsten evaporates and is deposited on the inner surface of the bulb causing black spots incandescent bulbs are very wasteful and inefficient because only 10 percent of the energy used generates light the remaining 90 percent of the energy used generates heat led bulbs or light emitting diodes work very differently their key component is a semiconducting material like gallium arsenide gallium phosphide or indium phosphide they make up a diode that allows current to flow in only one direction the n-type material has extra electrons and is negatively charged the p-type material has electron deficient holes and is positively charged applying an electrical current to the diode pushes the atoms in both materials towards the junction area electrons move from the n-type material to the p-type material and release energy in the form of photons or light in addition to the diode a chip led bulbs consist of a driver that regulates the input current a heat sink that draws heat away from the chip a socket or base and a lens usually made of durable plastic led bulbs are cooler because they do not rely on heat to produce light they can reach temperatures of around 150 degrees fahrenheit or 65 degrees celsius leds are more energy efficient because 40 percent of the energy used generates light the remaining 60 of the energy used generates heat the heat generated from incandescent bulbs can be useful in certain instances heat lamps are commonly found in restaurants to keep food warm they can also provide heat and warmth to eggs and pet animals like chicks fish and snakes they were used in easy baked ovens to cook small cakes wax warmers also use a small incandescent bulb and of course lava lamps paraffin wax is heated by an incandescent bulb it becomes less dense and rises to the top of the mineral oil it then cools down becomes heavier and sinks over the past 20 years leds have replaced almost every other type of light bulb they are used for tv backlighting and in smartphones solid state leds are resistant to shock and vibration so they are used for flashlights headlights and construction work lights they are also very versatile and can mimic neon lights edison bulbs incandescent lights cfls and more now let's compare the properties of incandescent and led light bulbs incandescent bulbs have a shorter lifespan of a thousand five hundred hours after which the tungsten element burns out led bulbs have a longer lifespan of thirty thousand hours that being said the market is flooded with cheap leds that do not last as long as they claim they will some leds that i bought off amazon didn't last for more than four months despite claims of a 30-year lifespan related to this is the concept of planned obsolescence incandescent fixtures in the past had a separate base and bulb when the bulb burned out you could easily replace it and continue using the fixture nowadays ultra thin recessed led lights like this one are fully integrated if it stops working you cannot simply replace a bulb you'd have to turn off your breaker disconnect the junction box and replace the entire fixture these sort of lights are cheap but not future proof before we move on i'd like to talk about the sponsor of this portion of the video installation for us they are the largest u.s online retailer for insulation products they ship nationwide with over 800 locations in their huge distribution network insulation for us is cheaper than big box retailers and they offer a sixty dollar flat shipping fee on eighty percent of all their products brands such as owens corning rockwell hunter panels our max kingspan handyform spray foam bubble wrap and more are available online to purchase today and to be delivered directly to your job site use promo code belinda 5 to receive an additional 5 discount of your next order with installationforus.com back to comparing these two lights incandescent bulbs work on both alternating current and direct current led bulbs have an inbuilt circuitry that converts ac to dc they will not work with dc current incandescent bulbs are cheaper but they are almost impossible to find anymore led bulbs are more expensive but you will save a lot of money over the lifetime of the bulb for example 100 watt incandescent bulb running for a full year would use 876 kilowatt hours of energy which would cost 130 dollars in electricity an equivalent 16 watt led bulb would use only 140 kilowatt hours of energy and would cost just 21 a year incandescent bulbs don't have any electronics so they can be used inside ovens or hoods leds cannot withstand high temperatures so they should never be used in ovens they can melt release toxic fumes and cause health problems incandescent bulbs can take a while to warm up to their full brightness most led bulbs are instant on meaning they will reach full brightness as soon as they are turned on however some cheap leds are sensitive to current a very small change will cause the light to flicker like these reading lights have got off amazon it is better to buy quality lights from reputable brands like cree or ge they use eutectic soldering technology on the led chips that eliminates flickering all incandescent bulbs are dimmable they can range from a hundred percent all the way down to zero percent not all led bulbs are dimmable if you try to cut off a portion of the electricity you will strain the driver within your leds and decrease its lifespan you should always make sure to get a compatible switch for dimmable leds buzzing or humming is another common problem of led lighting it is mainly due to the vibration of the electronic components inside the bulb this usually occurs when trying to dim an incompatible led bulb incandescent bulbs are the purest artificial light source their spectrum is almost identical to daylight the measurement of how colors look when lit by a bulb is called color rendering index or cri incandescent bulbs have a cri close to 100 or daylight led bulbs can vary drastically from 80 to 98.
let's take a look at the lighting inside my new samsung fridge this piece of ham looks quite unappetizing because of the cool white light and lower cri of the bulbs it looks completely different under a warmer incandescent bulb on a more fun note certain leds use red green and blue lights to create a range of colors you can switch them using a tiny microcontroller in the bulb and control them with an app if you want yellow the bulb turns on red and green for cyan it turns on green and blue for white it turns them all on incandescent lights are omni-directional meaning they produce light in 360 degrees this can be inefficient for certain fixtures like boob lights because half the light needs to be reflected and redirected leds on the other hand are one directional so no light is wasted let's end this comparison by talking about blue light issues there is a lot of ongoing research into the side effects of using leds they emit more blue light than incandescent bulbs which are more on the red end of the spectrum blue light can cause a disruption in your circadian rhythm and negatively affect your ability to fall asleep they can also trigger migraines cause eye fatigue nausea and even vision loss in some extreme cases so in conclusion good quality led bulbs are more efficient than incandescent bulbs they can last longer they're cheaper in the long run and very versatile but we must be aware of color temperatures and how blue light can affect our mood and health let me know if we should discuss warm versus cool light in another video don't forget to hit that subscribe button notification bell and the like button too i'll link my patreon page in the description if you can support me really appreciate it a big thank you to everyone already supporting me thanks for watching see ya
