Electrical Industry Articles and Stories

As someone who’s tracked LED lighting since its early days as a commercially available technology, my own experience with the products has evolved. I live in an older house with overhead lighting only in the kitchen and bathrooms, so this has mostly meant experimenting with LED bulbs (or “lamps,” in lighting designer lingo) in the 14 or 15 table fixtures scattered around my home.

It truly amazes me how LEDs have transformed the lighting industry in just a decade. In 2012, manufacturers introduced the first bulbs to match the output of a standard 60W incandescent. They weren’t dimmable and could cost $25 or more. Fast forward to 2023, and LEDs now dominate the lighting market, and inexpensive replacement lamps can cost less than $5 and last 10-20 years.

Look up in most U.S. kitchens and you’ll likely see recessed downlights shining back at you. These fixtures have been the go-to option for decades – not just in kitchens, but throughout the house – for providing area lighting that doesn’t interrupt a ceiling’s clean lines

I’ll make no bones about it. LEDs are the light of my life. Okay, maybe that’s going just a bit far … but not much. If you want to find an incandescent or fluorescent lamp in my house, you’re going to have to look hard. I think I may have a few C7s left to replace. But only because they’re hard to get to.

One of my favorite topics to talk or write about is LED lighting and lighting accessories. I’m a big fan of those little light-emitting diodes. Even in the early days, when prices were high and options pretty much non-existent, the technology intrigued me.