Butler Lighting

I thought I would take this post in a little bit different direction and give an indoor lighting technique some attention that it deserves, but has been lacking - LED Lighting.

This partially comes from my personal background as a musician and from the technical aspect of the stage.  Often overlooked, lighting can make or break a band’s concert, and just as in home lighting, certain trends come about and take the stage lighting scene by storm.  The most recent addition to the stage lighting expert’s utility belt is that of LED lighting.  This is due to the numerous advantages over the conventional lighting schemes (and most, if not all of these advantages transfer to your home lighting scheme as well!).

First, and financially foremost, is the fact that LED lights use drastically less energy than conventional lighting fixtures.  (see graph)

Incandescent vs CFL vs LED Savings

This sheet shows the drastic cost savings that come along with the change to LED lighting systems.  The numbers in this sheet assume you change all the lights in your home, but even a few changes can produce a difference in your energy bill over time.
Another great benefit of LED Lights is their long life-span.  Most LED bulbs last from 50,000 to 120,000 hours, and unlike common bulbs, LED lights do not “burn out”, but instead they dim once their life-span is done; this means a LED bulb could last for thousands of hours past its expected lifetime.

Lastly, LED lighting fixtures produce almost no heat.  This is convenient on many different levels - you are able to place lighting fixtures where you could not place conventional lights, you are able to cover them with thin sheets of cloth to add different lighting elements, and it will reduce your home temperature as well.