Do LEDs really save energy?
December 2, 2009
Apparently, until the release of this study, the answer was unclear. Basically, because no one knew if the production of LED lamps required more energy than needed for standard incandescent bulbs. While it’s widely known that LEDs use a fraction of the energy of incandescent bulbs to produce light, it was unknown whether the energy used in the production and transportation of LEDs would cancel out the savings.
The NYTimes covered the release of this report by German lighting company Osram, providing evidence that LED bulbs do indeed save energy.
How much energy do they save?
“The study results show that over the entire life of the bulb — from manufacturing to disposal — the energy used for incandescent bulbs is almost five times that used for compact fluorescents and LED lamps.”
To learn more about the energy life cycle study results, check out the Executive Summary (pdf).
-posted by Eileen Horn, climateandenergy.org
