LED Lights for Your Walkway

Artificial lighting has come a long way since candles and torch sconces. Classic filament light bulbs became commonplace in the late 19th century and throughout the 20th, but new technology for artificial lighting has arrived. Induction and LED lights have become widespread in many parts of the world, and these energy efficient developments can go a long way toward bulb life and saving energy. Induction lighting and LED have their differences, and fixtures using them can be used in different ways, for different reasons.

LED Versus Induction

Induction lighting dates back to Nikola Tesla’s models in the 1890s, and it often has 60 or 70 lumens per watt. According to Bulb America, these bulbs contain mercury in a glass-filled bulb, and when electricity excites it, it gives off UV light, which is converted to visible light by the bulb’s phosphor coating. The presence of mercury means that these bulbs must be disposed of safely, and their UV light might damage sensitive materials. Still, these bulbs emit light broadly, and can be useful in lighting large, open areas. These bulbs don’t use electrodes or filaments, allowing them to last up to 100,000 hours, comparing favorably to older models of light bulbs.

LED lights do not uses toxic gases or metals. Instead, according to Energy Star, a Light Emitting Diode, LED, produce light when an electrical current passes through a microchip and illuminates small light sources call LEDs. These lights can be used nearly anywhere, even outside decoration or guide lights in a stainless steel LED bollard. LED lights last longer than most incandescent bulbs, are harmless (no mercury), and can provide up to 60 to 70 lumens per watt. They are also energy-efficient wherever they are used, using only 15% of the energy that a halogen bulb would need. The U.S. Department of Energy believes that with widespread usage of LED lights, American energy usage could be cut in half. After all, lighting is a big business; about 22% of all generated electricity in the United States goes toward lighting, and in commercial buildings, it accounts for 85% of the building’s energy usage. In today’s battle of induction vs LED, it can be argued that LED is the future of energy efficiency for the widespread “going green” initiative.

LED lights are useful both indoors and outdoors. A stainless steel LED bollard is a rod-like platform that provides outdoor light, and could be used in parking garages, too. A stainless steel LED bollard procession could act as guide lights along pathways outdoors at night, where regular lighting would be energy-inefficient to use, such as traditional bulbs. What is more, a stainless steel LED bollard can do its job for a long time, seeing as an LED light does not have a filament that burns out or gases that leak (similar advantages as induction bulbs), so an LED can last up to 50,000 hours while being energy-efficient the whole time, and therefore saving on energy costs.

These lights can also be decorative for an outdoor garden, lighting a pathway or illuminating a garden our outdoor art exhibits and other displays. They should be relatively easy to install in most soil or onto concrete and asphalt surfaces. They can also act as safety guides in areas where such a thing is needed, like when there is a nearby pool of water. A stainless steel LED bollard can make any outdoor landscaping or safety system complete with its effective lighting any time of the year.