LED's - What are they...
LEDs... What exactly are they you ask?
L.E.D. is the abbreviation of Light Emitting Diode. This basically means that it is an electronic device that lights up when electricity is passed through it. LED's are just tiny light bulbs that fit easily into an electrical circuit. But unlike ordinary incandescent bulbs (standard household light bulbs), they don't have a filament that will burn out, and they don't get especially hot.
LED lights seem to last forever!! Regular incandescent bulbs only last about a thousand hours, and fluorescent only about 10,000 hours.
LEDs last for up to 100,000 hours. That's more than eleven years, with continual use!
LEDs also use about a tenth the electricity of an incandescent bulb because they produce almost no heat. The red LED bulbs are as much as 90% efficient. Compare that with a standard incandescent light bulb, in which only about three percent of the energy used is transformed into light, while the remaining 97% becomes heat.
LED lights have been used more and more over the last few years, in decorations, in small flashlights and night lights, even in novelty ice cubes and license-plate holders. The most popular use for LED lights is illumination for specific things - how neat would it be to have LED lights in your fish tank?
LED earrings and body jewelry are common at raves. Still, the most common use for LED lights is in decoration. And why not? These pinpoints of light can be used in your hair, in tongue studs, on clothing. Magnetized LED lights will stick literally anywhere on your clothing. And many LED lights aren't limited to only one color but instead change strobe or change colors, depending on how they're designed.
Some common uses for LED's :
- They form the numbers on digital clocks
- Transmit information from remote controls
- Light up watches
- Tell you when your appliances are turned on.
- Collected together, they can form images on a jumbo television screen or illuminate a traffic light.
- Keychain LED flashlight
- Body Jewelry - In hair, earrings, tongue studs, and on clothing.
Some information gathered from http://choosetoprosper.com/led-lights.html |
