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.

In just a little more than a decade, LED lighting systems have moved from a not-quite-yet-there technology to one that essentially owns the market, especially in commercial applications. With efficacy ratings that now surpass those of once-dominant fluorescent fixtures, LEDs also can operate for years before needing replacement, versus months for fluorescent tubes.

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.

Tube lamps have been a go-to for decades and, while the latest LED fixtures often incorporate integrated lighting elements – in other words, no separate lamps – millions of troffer fixtures initially designed for fluorescent technology are still in service around the globe.