When buying light bulbs now, in addition to considering the decoration and light design factors and buying traditional bulbs and halogen lamps, most people should want to buy energy-saving bulbs. When it comes to energy-saving and power-saving, you will see LED bulbs and power-saving bulbs when you arrive at the store, both of which feature "energy-saving and power-saving" features. To understand the difference between the two bulbs, we must first explain the principle.
Energy-saving bulb
Although the energy-saving bulb looks like a tungsten bulb, it is also suitable for the socket of a tungsten bulb, but the principle of the energy-saving bulb is actually similar to that of a fluorescent tube, so it is actually called "the fluorescent bulb with a built-in ballast." It reduces the size of the fluorescent tube and uses a spiral to match the ballast and starter to prevent the light from flickering. At present, most of the energy-saving bulbs are made into a spiral shape, and the illumination angle can reach 360 degrees.
LED bulb
LED is the abbreviation of "Light-Emitting Diode". It is a solid-state light-emitting element made of semiconductor materials that convert electrical energy into light. The principle is to use the combination of electrons and holes, and the excess energy is released in the form of light to achieve the effect of luminescence, which belongs to cold luminescence. However, although the LED bulb emits cold light, the surface of the bulb is not hot, but in order to convert electricity into light, a heat sink must be installed. But the life span of LED bulbs is much longer than other bulbs, which is his biggest feature.
As for the life of the energy-saving bulb, because its principle is the same as that of a fluorescent lamp, it will have the problem of light decay. After one year of use, it will become less and less bright, and it is prone to failure when encountering moisture. It is recommended not to install it in the bathroom or kitchen. Wait for places that are prone to humidity. As for the LED bulb, because it has a heat sink, it is not suitable for installation in a closed lampshade.
In the early days, the price of LED bulbs was relatively high, one may cost more than 500 yuan, so many people would choose energy-saving bulbs. However, in recent years, the price of LED bulbs has been considered approachable, around a hundred yuan, so relatively speaking, due to the lifespan of energy-saving bulbs, fewer people buy and the market is much smaller.
Of course, there is also the issue of the purchase cost. Assuming that the purchase cost of LED bulbs is several times higher than that of energy-saving bulbs, then of course there is still a need for discussion. However, there is no significant difference between the price of LED bulbs and the price of energy-saving bulbs, so there is no need to discuss them.
But there is another issue to be discussed is the service life.
In the past, LED bulbs claimed that the service life could reach tens of thousands of hours or even 100,000 hours, and the service life was extremely long. And because of the same principle as the fluorescent lamp, the energy-saving bulb will become less and less bright after one year of use. Generally speaking, the service life of a power-saving bulb is about 6000 hours to the top.
However, we also reported yesterday that the actual measurement conducted by the Consumer Protection Department and the Standards Inspection Bureau found that the LED bulbs currently on the market in China are not as long as we thought.
Liang Mingzhen, the consumer protection officer of the Consumer Protection Department of the Executive Yuan, pointed out that most of the LED bulb brands on the market are marked with a service life of 25,000 hours. They use 1/4 of the marked available hours for the hour test, which is 6000 hours. There are 9 groups of unqualified, which is equivalent to about 30% of the unqualified rate. Consumers have a high probability of buying products with a substandard lifespan on the market.
So, is it bad luck that the quality of the LED bulb that happened to be bought is bad? The consumer protection officer emphasized that in accordance with the testing regulations, they use 5 test products in each group. Among the 9 groups of unqualified products, 3 groups are 5 unqualified; another 2 groups are 4 units, and 3 groups are 3 units. Unqualified, only one group has only one unqualified.
The consumer protection officer also explained that the so-called "unqualified life" does not necessarily mean that the bulb is not bright. It refers to the luminous efficiency of the lamp after measuring 1/4 of the marked hour, compared with the luminous efficiency tested at the initial service life of 0. It can be attenuated by 30%, that is, the luminous efficiency must be maintained at 70%.
However, although the actual product life of LED bulbs may not be as long as we think, overall, LED bulbs are still the longest-lived bulbs at present, and the other two-thirds of the products have a life span of two to two or more than energy-saving bulbs. Quadruple.
There are two main reasons why LED bulbs have an unstable lifespan of one-third of the products, one is that the temperature is too high, and the other is that the environment is humid. However, because the test of the Consumer Protection Association must be done in a laboratory environment, we can rule out that the environment is humid. The problem should be the high temperature, which may be the poor heat dissipation design of these products.
Excessive temperature is the main reason for shortening the life of LED bulbs. The high temperature will affect the internal chip of the LED bulb and cause the LED bulb to overheat. The lower the temperature, the longer the life cycle of the LED bulb, the higher the efficiency and the stronger the brightness. If the LED bulb is installed in a closed luminaire, the lack of air circulation will cause the temperature to rise, which will prevent the LED bulb from dissipating immediately and cause light decay. Therefore, avoid installing the LED bulb in a closed and airtight luminaire, container, or space.
