Thursday, November 8, 2012

LED: Energy Conserving Light Sources


LED lights have many advantages over other kinds of lighting, including compact fluorescent lights, or CFLs, an unsafe lighting technology. Here are eight reasons to love LEDs, or light-emitting diodes, adapted from material provided by Polar-Ray LED Lighting Solutions.

1. LEDs Have Been Around for Decades

ledPhilips
LED lighting is a proven technology that's been in widespread use since the 1960s. Traffic lights, electronic instruments and other devices have relied on LED lighting -- and if you're old enough to remember the first geeky calculator you bought in the 1970s, there's a chance it may have been lit with LED light.

2. LEDs Can Create a Warm, Soft Glow

ledsGeneral Electric/Polar-Ray
Some users associate LEDs with a harsh, cold, glaring light, but newer LEDs are capable of producing a warm, soft -- dare I say romantic? -- glow, just like the inefficient incandescent lights that are still widely used.

3. LEDs Are Ridiculously Energy-Efficient

LED lights use 75 to 80 percent less energy than older incandescent lights. And because lighting consumes a significant amount of household energy, the savings can add up fast.

4. LED Lights Will Save You Money

led lightsPolar-Ray
If you're more motivated by cash than by environmental concerns, here's your catnip: LEDs will save you money over both CFLs and regular incandescent lights. One study found that over the lifetime of an LED light (estimated at 50,000 hours), LEDs cost just $95 to operate -- CFLs, by comparison, cost $159 over the same period, and incandescents cost a whopping $652. These figures don't even include the hassles of buying and replacing lights. LEDs cost more up front, true -- you can expect to be at least $10 per bulb, depending on the type and the manufacturer -- but like most new technologies, that cost is dropping every year.

5. LEDs Might Outlast You

If you hate changing burned-out light bulbs, raise your hand -- or, on second thought, don't. LEDs are generally estimated to last at least 25,000 hours, and often up to 50,000 hours. Incandescents only last 1,200 hours, so you'd have to replace an incandescent light 42 times to get the light of a single, solid-state LED. CFLs, by comparison, usually last 10,000 hours, so you'd only have to change them 5 times to match one LED light. And speaking of changing light bulbs...

6. LEDs Contain No Toxic Mercury

light emitting diodes
I would be a big fan of CFLs if they didn't contain mercury, a toxin associated with birth defects, brain damage and other disorders. That's why CFLs can't be thrown in the trash -- and it's very tricky to clean up a broken CFL. LEDs' biggest advantage over CFLs is that they contain no mercury or other hazardous materials. None. Zip. Nada.

7. LED Lights Are Cool - Literally

Ever try to unscrew a hot light bulb? (Not twice, I'll bet.) Incandescent and halogen lights can be very hot, which leads to a number of safety issues. LEDs, on the other hand, are totally cool even after several hours of use -- they're even cooler than CFLs.
leds

8. LEDs Can Be Dimmed


LED lights can be dimmed, which is not always the case with CFLs. Additionally, LEDs come on instantly (again, better than CFLs) and don't flicker (ditto). Finally, their light output is constant over the lifetime of the lamp, fading only when the lamps are at the end of their very, very long life.
led

9. BUT - Not All LEDs Are manufacruerd Equal

Unfortunately, the Department of Energy and others have noted that there are some poor-quality LED manufacturers out there selling inferior products that grow dim, shift in color or begin to flicker after just 1,000 hours or so. (Note the two photos at left, after 100 hours and after 1,000 hours.) To protect yourself from these problems, look for Energy Star-qualified LED lights made by reputable manufacturers.

Green Hosting: Reduce Your Site's Carbon Foot Print


Many website owners prefer green hosting to reduce carbon footprints as well as to grab the attention of environmentally conscious consumers.
If you are planning to launch a web business, web hosting is an important thing that you will have to consider. There are various different kinds of web hosting solutions that you can think of. Green hosting has become very popular. When you are starting a new business, it is natural that you need to think of your target customers, because businesses that do not have effective customers cannot operate successfully and efficiently. As the name implies in this case, such a hosting solution can create a good impact on the environment. 

Reduce The Harmful Effects Of Web Hosting:

There are plenty of harmful effects of web hosting. If you want to reduce these harmful impacts, you can definitely avail the option of green hosting. Your server will have to offer your website constant support round the clock. This is turn, makes the server release lots of heat as well as consume electricity as well. Moreover, with the increased numbers of these servers, the power consumed by them also increased. As a result, larger numbers of people are effectively emphasizing on the need to go for green solutions regarding server hosting services.

Necessity Of Green Solutions

There are large numbers of companies that are offering the green solutions for web hosting. In fact, it has become a necessity today to go for such hosting solutions, and the best thing about it is that there is absolutely no problem in the availability of cheap green hosting companies. Therefore, if you want, you can always look for such options, by means of which the constant emissions from your server can be largely reduced. 

Importance of Green Hosting

As a site admin you need to know that it is better for you to have a green hosting company, by notifying your customers or site visitors that you care about the planet and that you are using green web hosting services. This will make you stand out from the crowd of other websites that are not environmental aware. In turn this will lead for more loyal visitors to your website. Especially if your site is about selling green products like solar panels or wind turbines of what ever; this will increase your green devotion and credibility.

How these green hosting services operate

These green hosting companies simply switched to green sources of electric energy. Some have switched to windmills others switched to more than one type of electricity generation. Also they are spreading paper usage awareness and getting green sources of papers, that are recycled and did not harm trees in the process. 

Latest Trends Of Hosting:

In fact, in the recent days, the latest trend of hosting is green, and therefore, there are large numbers of web owners that are increasingly looking for such solutions. If you carry out a thorough research on the internet, you will also be able to find cheap green hosting companies that will offer you environment friendly solutions for your website. Accordingly, you can be assured that the internet communication will be safe and effective not only for you, but also for your customers that are frequently visiting your website. Accordingly, you can also maximize your earnings potential due to increased visitors.
While you are on the search for cheap green hosting companies, the best solution for you is to check with Cheap Web Hosting Geeks. You will get affordable solutions for green hosting. Here is a good site for information about linux servers.

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