Survey shows LED tubes are still minority

The folks at Software Advice’s Construction blog recently asked their readers and industry professionals whether LED fluorescent tubes were ready for prime time. The blog wanted to find out whether LEDs were on their way to become the standard replacement for fluorescent tubes. Three questions were asked:

1. Have you used, or are you using LED tubes instead of fluorescent tubes?
2. Do you think LED tubes are ready for commercial use? Why or why not?
3. Do you think LED tubes will become a standard replacement for fluorescents, eventually outnumbering fluorescent lights? Why or why not?

To put it in a nutshell, the survey found that LEDS account for a minority of lighting systems as most building owners, electrical contractors and other industry professionals use other types of lighting.

What is a “LED fluorescent tube”?

According to the guys at the Construction blog, the term is a misnomer. “LED lights and fluorescent lights are completely different technologies. LEDs are very small bulbs illuminated by movement of electrons in a diode. Fluorescent bulbs use electrodes and a gas combination of argon and mercury to produce light. So the name “LED fluorescent tube” really refers to an LED tube that reminds us of traditional fluorescent tubes”. They also tell us that “LED lights should not be confused with compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulbs. CFLs use the same technology as fluorescent tubes to produce light, but on a smaller scale. They are a replacement for the incandescent bulbs commonly found in most home light fixtures”.

LED bulbs are more environmentally friendly than fluorescent tubes, which contain health-threatening mercury and phosphor. LED bulbs last longer, are free of toxic elements like mercury and require much less power than fluorescent power. Of course nothing is perfect in this world. The setbacks related to LED bulbs are that they are not as bright and cost more to buy.

Construction blog has kindly given us permission to reproduce the graphs showing the results of the survey (please click on the image to see an enlarged version of each graph).

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• New Rules for Incandescent Light Bulbs from 2011; New Light Bulb Packaging System