‘Expect a revolution in lighting’
Posted: Thursday, December 13, 2007 12:46 PM
By Stephanie Himango, NBC News Producer
MIAMI – My dad recently asked me, "What stories are you working on right now?"
"Well, one story is about LEDs . . ." I started to say.
"Oh! Light-emitting diodes!"
I smiled and looked at him sideways. "Yeeesss. How do you know about LEDs?"
He told me about some of the common uses he was aware of, including use in medical instrumentation, VCRs and traffic lights. Turns out, most of us have had exposure to LEDs whether we've been aware of them or not.
NBC News/ Stephanie Himango
White LED lights illuminate the trees of New York City's Rockefeller Center.
LED lighting technology has seen significant advances this year, and has made dramatic inroads in the area of holiday lighting in particular. More advances are necessary – and are on the way – before LEDs are truly integrated for mainstream use, in the way we think about regular incandescent and fluorescent light bulbs.
LEDs are small, but their potential is big.
Not just holiday lights
According to the Department of Energy, lighting accounts for about one-fifth of the electricity we use as a nation annually. That is, holiday and general illumination lighting combined account for 21.5 percent of all electricity used in America each year.
LED technology presents potential cost-saving and energy-saving. Consider this: LED lights use roughly 90 percent less energy than incandescent lights.
Assistant Secretary of Energy Andy Karsner says with respect to LED holiday lights, "When you buy them once, you'll probably be buying them for the rest of your life. You won't have to replace them; they won't short out; they don't overheat; they'll last for 40 years or longer."
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NBC News/ Stephanie Himango
LED globes light up Washington Street in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The city is a leader in incorporating LED technology into the city's infrastructure.
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In fact, Karsner says that if each American household changed just their holiday lighting from regular incandescents to LED bulbs, the country would save at least $160 million collectively this year alone.
And that's just the beginning.
The Department of Energy forecasts that at today's electric rates we could save $10 billion annually if every American were to purchase LED lights instead of standard incandescents for regular at-home lighting.
It is conceivable.
Karsner says they expect to see LED lights penetrate the marketplace well beyond holiday lights in the coming year. "We're seeing them not only in the automotive industry, in stoplights, in civic applications, but this year they'll be marked up with the Energy Star brand, and you'll see them appearing on store shelves to replace even incandescents and compact fluorescents."
The changes are significant, says Karsner, "We expect a revolution in lighting in this country…within 20 years."
See more about LED lights on NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams on Thursday evening.
