It’s not hard to imagine a world without modern lighting. Imagine bonfires, cook fires, and candles everywhere. Think of the safety nightmare. Think of the inconvenience. Most importantly, think of the prevailing darkness. That’s a world without modern lighting. The incandescent and fluorescent light bulbs changed the world we live in, but after all these years, these two stalwarts of modern lighting may be nearing obsolescence.

Fluorescents and incandescents both operate on the same basic principle: electric current passes through the lamp and causes a component of the lamp to light. In the case of a fluorescent lamp, electricity causes a gas inside the bulb to glow. In an incandescent bulb, electricity heats up a filament of metal enough to make it glow.

As we progress into the future, the power consumption of traditional fluorescents and incandescents have become an issue for many. No viable alternatives to fluorescents and incandescents have been found, until now. Enter the LED lamp. Light Emitting Diodes, or LEDs, are electronic devices that have been around for a very long time. They work by the same principle of fluorescents and incandescents; that is, an LED emits light when current passes through it. It’s pretty run-of-the-mill, until one considers the major differences between LED and fluorescent and incandescent lamps.

First, LED lamps last longer – way longer than traditional fluorescents and incandescents. The life of a regular LED for electronics use is estimated to be close to be 100 years. In an LED lamp where greater current is present and on-times are much, much longer, minimum lifetime is estimated to be about 30,000 hours, or about 3.5 years. Not bad, especially considering that traditional lamps need to be replaced more frequently.

Second, LED lamps are solid state. That means they do not rely on potentially harmful substances to generate light; in the case of the fluorescent lamp, the mercury contained inside is a considerable health and environmental hazard.

Third, and perhaps most importantly,LED lamps consume much less power than traditional lamps. When compared side by side with a similarly rated traditional lamp, an LED lamp will consume about half or even less electricity than the traditional lamp.

Current manufacturing techniques cause LED lamps to be more expensive than traditional lamps but that is expected to change in the future.