LED Light Bulbs

What is an LED light bulb?

LED lighting technology is solid-state lighting that uses light-emitting diodes (LEDs) as the light source, rather than electrical filaments (incandescent bulbs), mercury-vapor gas discharge (fluorescent lamps) or a gas such as the iodine or bromine in halogen lamps. LED light bulbs, due to their design, have many advantages over traditional light sources. They consume less energy and produce little heat or UV light, while emitting high-quality light at various color temperatures. LED bulbs also last far longer than incandescent, fluorescent and halogen bulbs, which greatly reduces maintenance costs (in addition to utility costs) since they hardly ever need to be changed. Because LED bulbs do not have filaments, they're also a lot more durable than other lights. Changing older bulbs to LED bulbs is an easy way to "go green."

Energy Efficient LED Bulbs in a Rainbow of Styles

Here at Bulb America, you'll find a huge selection of many styles of LED replacement bulbs for fluorescent, incandescent and halogen lights. LED light bulbs are extremely versatile for many uses - indoors, outdoors and in your vehicle. MR16 LED bulbs are directional with a cool beam, making them perfect for lighting artwork and heat sensitive objects such as food. A-line or A-shaped LED bulbs disperse their light at a wide angle, which means they're great for general room lighting and for use in hallways and in reading lamps. You'll also find LED candelabra bulbs, PAR16 and PAR20 LED flood lights, LED tube lights, automotive LED bulbs (12V), LED recessed lighting lamps, Bi-Pin LED bulbs, colored LED bulbs and LED strips, LED security flood lights and more. These LED lamps are offered with many bases such as GU10, GU5.3, E26, E27 and candelabra screw bases.

Why not all dimmers will work with LED bulbs?

Dimmers have minimum load requirements, if the LED load isn’t drawing enough current to keep the dimmer’s switching elements closed, this will case flickering, reduced dimming range, flashing when off, or not working at all.
Dimmers that are designed for LED usually have a lower minimum load requirement and typically require one or two fixtures. The LED minimum load rating for LED load dimmers is usually given in number of lamps and not Watts like in regular none LED dimmers.
Dimmers also have maximum load requirements to ensure the load does not exceed the three design limits.
Surpassing these limits can result in premature dimmer failure, flickering due to noise, as well as breaker tripping. One of the main reasons dimmers have maximum loads is because of the inrush current caused by LED drivers.
Because of this inrush current, an LED may be rated as 25W but the actual wattage initially going through the dimmer is much higher. This means that if an incandescent dimmer is rated at 600W, you can’t assume you can use twenty-four 25W LED fixtures. A good rule of thumb is to allow 100W for each LED fixture so in this case, the 600W dimmer can handle only six LED fixtures.
If you are meeting all of the electrical requirements of the dimmer and you are still having flicker issues, you can try adjusting the low-end trim (not available on all dimmers). Adjusting the low-end trim raises the minimum dimming level which will reduce the chance of flickering and drop-out. This will only solve the flickering issue if you are trying to dim the fixtures lower than the dimming control range of the driver.

MR16 LED Bulbs and LED Lighting Applications

The LED MR16 bulb is a highly popular LED bulb replacement, widely used in homes, museums, hotels, bars and restaurants. Lighting designers love them because they offer superior color rendering in a small package that can be placed where other lights cannot. The beam is focused and precise, so you'll often see them in display lighting, effect lighting and projection lighting. Improvements are always being made, such as Osram bulbs with energy saving dichroic reflectors. These bulbs filter out additional heat from the bulb for a cooler light and greater efficiency.

Use LED lighting for general illumination, accent lighting, task lighting, display lighting and other applications, and see tremendous savings in utility and replacement costs. They're a smart choice for homeowners and businesses. Join the LED lighting revolution!