Installing LED Lights Cost

How Much Do LED Lights Cost to Install?

LED lighting is highly power efficient and therefore offers a sustainable lighting solution with low energy costs, maintenance and reduced carbon footprint. Overall lighting quality is improved too with instant full brightness and dimming capability.

LED lighting is fully compatible with existing wiring and the lamps can easily be retrofitted and replaced. However, it's not always as easy as swapping an existing bulb for an LED lamp. Many popular LED lighting solutions will require some DIY work, or more likely a decent electrician to fit.

This article aims to highlight the advantages of LED lighting, while also providing up to date pricing information and tips for DIY installations or hiring a tradesman.

What type of LED lights are available?

Popular LED products include LED fluorescent tubes, bay lights, floodlights, spotlights, striplights & panel lights. LED strip lights are the most popular by far and allow you to create colour schemes and a minimalistic design that until recently would have cost thousands of pounds!

LED strip lights can come in two main forms, essentially single colour strips and those that can change their shades to fit your mood. The colour changing LED strip-lights are known as "RGB" lights (Red, Green & Blue) and are obviously more expensive than the fixed coloured LED lights.

Colour changing LED have been used in hospitality venues for years, but now you can have them in your living room and change the colour scheme using a remote control!

What about perfomance?

The performance of LED light fittings depends on the quality of the LED itself and the installation. Choosing trusted brand names such as Osram, Nichia and Lumileds are the best way to ensure you get decent products which will be long lasting; but how well that LED light source is incorporated into the housing is crucial as even the best components can fail if they are badly mounted or implemented.

It is also important to realise that LED operation is highly sensitive to temperature, higher temperatures will mean shorter lifespan. So be careful you do not mount many LED lights too close together as the amount of heat generated collectively could seriously shorten their lifespan.

While LED lighting isn’t brand new any more and no longer offers the same "WOW" factor, the technology really is booming for the home user and is becoming more affordable.

60%

Materials
£150

40%

Tradesmen
£100

0%

Waste Removal
£0

Benefits of LED Lights

LED lighting comes with a number of clear benefits and few — if any — downsides. Here are the key perks:

• LED bulbs use up to 90% less energy than their traditional incandescent equivalent.
• They last much longer — up to 50,000 hours of use.
• LED bulbs fully illuminate almost instantaneously.
• Many LED lights are dimmable to suit your mood or the time of day.
• LED bulbs emit far less heat than traditional bulbs.

FAQs

What is an LED?

An LED (aka Light Emitting Diode) is an energy efficient lighting component that offers you the most sustainable alternative to traditional lighting. The light is produced using a semiconductor and a process called electroluminescence. This process is much more efficient than traditional incandescent lighting and has a much longer lifespan along with cooler operating temperatures.

What are the benefits of LED lighting?

LED lighting is extremely energy efficient and uses up to 90% less electricity than traditional lighting. At the same time, LED lighting has a huge operating life span of up to 50,000 hours. So using LED lighting means reductions in CO2 emissions and a smaller carbon footprint (plus of course big reductions in your energy bills). The light from LEDs is almost instant too, no more waiting for fluorescent tubes to light up!

Are LED lights brighter?

Not always. The actual light output depends on the wattage and how many lumens it produces. LEDs do produce many more lumens per watt than traditional incandescent bulbs, so just looking at the wattage alone, LEDs are indeed brighter.

What are the environmental benefits of LED lighting?

Around 22% of the total electricity produced in the UK is for lighting. So by switching to LED lighting the total UK electrical consumption could be significantly reduced. By reducing the total energy usage in the UK, we can reduce the volume of harmful chemicals that are currently released into the atmosphere and help to fight climate change.

Are LEDs blue light?

The early LED lighting did have a blue tint to it, but the technology has been constantly developing and modern LEDs offer a brilliant whiter light.

What is an Integrated LED?

Integrated LED lighting has the LEDs actually built into the fixture so you cannot use a standard bulb as there is no socket. Retrofit LED options essentially just means using an LED bulb in a standard light socket. So a retrofit LED upgrade could be as simple as buying and LED bulb, removing the existing bulb, then screwing the LED unit into the socket. In an integrated LED fitting the thermal management and the light source are both integral to the actual fitting design, so there is less likelihood of overheating.

What are drivers?

Drivers perform the same function as transformers with regular halogen lights. They are integral to retrofit LEDs, but need to be fitted for integrated LED lighting. Depending on the light fittings output, you may require one driver per fitting or can sometimes share drivers with smaller lights. Drivers need to be within 10m or so of the last light fitting, so they can be discreet and hidden from you, but you need to check specific installation instructions from the manufacturers. It's always best to get expert advice on compatibility between LED fittings and drivers.

Sources

https://www.energy.gov/energysaver/lighting-choices-save-you-money
https://www.simplelighting.co.uk/5ft-22w-led-tube-6000k/
https://www.lightsupplier.co.uk/blogs/lighting/how-to-install-led-strip-lights