Lighting with LED

History of the Light-Emitting Diode (LED)

Most people think of LED’s as being a fairly new technology, when in fact LED’s were first discovered over 100 years ago. The Light-emitting diode (LED) was first discovered in 1907 by H.J. Round of Great Britain. However, it would be several decades before the first practical LED would be developed.

The first practical LED was developed in 1962 by Nick Holonyak, Jr. while he was working for General Electric Company. It would be the late 1960’s before LED’s first became available for commercial use, and were only available in the color red. These red LED’s only produced enough light to allow them to be used in applications such as indicator lights for items such as TV’s, radios, or appliances. Other colors of LED’s were developed in the early 1970’s but didn’t go into production until the 1990’s

LED Today

There are two basic types of LED being used today:

Indication: These LED’s are low wattage, typically less than 0.2 watts, and used primarily in applications such as indicator lights on electronics, signals, and signs.

Illumination: As the technology of LED’s was improved through the 1990’s white LED’s and high power LED’s, higher than 1 watt made LED illumination a possibility.

Advantages of LED’s

• Low power consumption compared to conventional lighting.
• LED’s produce no UV output which can damage fabric and artwork.
• Extremely long life.Today’s LED can last up to 50,000 hours.
• LED’s produce very little projected heat.Friendly to the enviorment.

Today’s LED has been developed to the point that it is now usable for lighting throughout your home. Below are examples of what you will find in LED’s for your home.

Pendants and spot scan be mounted on monorail
systems or hung individually on mono point canopies.

LED Tape Lighting can be used in various colors
to create dramatic effects.

LED under cabinet lights make an excellent
source for task lighting.

Decorative LED Rail Lights with adjustable
heads can be mounted on the wall or ceiling