Why LED Lights Love Cold Weather!
Added by Marissa. Posted on December 15, 2015
If you’ve heard of LED lights, you may have heard phrases such as, “Cool to the touch”, “Extremely long lifetime”, or “LEDs love cold weather.” All of these phrases describe the great attributes LEDs have to offer; they also describe why LEDs love and work well in cold weather. Unlike outdoor incandescent bulbs that take time to warm up and turn on, outdoor LED lights thrive in cool environments. Here’s why!
THE FAILINGS OF OUTDOOR INCANDESCENT LIGHTS
To understand why LEDs work so well outside, we must first take a look at the pitfalls in incandescent bulbs. Incandescent bulbs work when an electric current is sent down a filament, which is usually made of thin, tungsten metal. Yet the filament must be heated to glow and emit light. This is why incandescent bulbs are so hot to the touch. The filament must maintain the heat to keep emitting light. The mass majority of energy incandescent lights use simply goes into creating heat, leaving only 5 to 10 percent of the energy to be converted into actual light.
Here is where the problem begins for outdoor incandescent bulbs. While these bulbs may work well in the warmer months of spring and summer, as the temperature drops so does their efficiency. As you can imagine, when temperatures drop below freezing in the winter months, it takes longer for incandescent bulbs to heat up, therefore taking them longer to emit light.
OUTDOOR LED LIGHTS FOR THE WIN!
Where incandescent lights do well in warmer environments, LEDs excel in both warm and cold weather. Outdoor LED lights work well in winter weather due to their unique heat sink design. The diodes in LED bulbs do become hot, but the heat is redirected to the heat sink. The heat is pulled way from the diode because, while the diode may be warm, LEDs do not require heat to turn on and stay on. In fact, 90 percent of the energy LEDs use creates light, leaving only 10 percent that creates heat.
SITLER’S HAS OUTDOOR LED SUPPLIES FOR YOU!
To learn more about outdoor LED lights, whether you want to illuminate your outdoor business sign or install floodlights, contact one of our lighting consultants today at (319)-519-0039 or send us an email!
Posted in LED Lighting Basics, LED Outdoor Lighting