In honor of Earth Day, yesterday, I would like to share my research on LED lighting, the most efficient way to illuminate space. Right now, LED’s are relatively expensive, though; but hopefully that will change in the near future, when demand and manufacturing increases. Basically, LED lighting can be broken down to these pros & cons:
PROS:

• very efficient use of energy, which means:
  –doesnt give off heat –> no burns, no unwanted heat
  –less wattage –> save money
  –last longer –> rarely need to change lamps
• easily dimmable
• directional light (can also be con, see below)
• can be made to give off any color
• LEDs do not give off nfrared nor UV light, which damage objects such as paintings and textiles

CONS:

• expensive
• hard to find, especially for regular indoor lighting
• not easy to make — need a driver for use with AC power, plus considerations about R, max current, etc
  –expensive to make for retrofitting into standard bulb sockets
  –should really be utilized in a different manner than the current standard
  –> more electrical work to convert to LEDs
  –> this is why LEDs typically only used for outdoor or accent lighting

for more general information on LEDs, check out these pages:

• toolbase.org - great breakdown on LEDs and their current benefits
• gizmology.net - more technical info on LEDs, lots of details

For LED manufacturers:
[Note: for retrofitting into standard incandescent bulb …, look for ‘retrofit’, ’standard’, ‘Edison-type’, or ’screw-in’. Also keep in mind the COLOR of light you wish to have. For indoor lighting, I would suggest ‘warm white’.]

• LEDtronics - excellent supplier, with all types of LEDs. includes an “incandescent to LED” converter
• HollySolar - page with their ‘retrofit bulbs’
• lc-LED - this page has their ‘replacement LEDs’ for halogens, standard incandescents, and more
• theLEDlight - offers various types of LED lights for the home and more

For those wanting to tinker with making their own LED lighting from scratch:

• theLEDlight - great starter page on technical details about LED circuitry
• taskLED - supplier of LED drivers
• allelectronics - link to their ultra-bright Cree LED light
• Cree - manufacturer of ultra-bright LEDs — link to their new high-output XLamp LED
• Arrow - supplier of all types of LEDs, this page searches their catalog