LED market trend: more light for the buck

Büro Ö-quadrat and freedos IT have conducted a market analysis on LED lamps and updated the LED database for the "LED Navi" app, which helps households to find particularly efficient LED lamps. More than 4000 LED lamps were compared in the market analysis and the result is insightful.. 

The LED Navi was first released in 2015 and is regularly updated with the latest LED lamps on the market. With the LED Navi App, users can find suitable LED lamps (e.g. for replacing old incandescent and halogen lamps) in just a few steps. The App is available for iOS and Android and has won the Energiedepesche Innovations Award. 

The changes in the LED are taking place in a fast pace. Less than ten years ago, the efficiency of LED lamps was only slightly higher than that of compact fluorescent light bulbs. Today, the most efficient LED lamps are more than twice as efficient as compact fluorescent lamps. In the last few years LED lamps have become even more attractive with increasing efficiencies and falling prices. For example, between January 2015 and December 2018, the price of an average LED lamp with E27 thread dropped by more than 25 percent, while the efficiency increased by 7 percent. [1]

The analysis further showed that the energy efficiency of the LED lamps varies over a wide range. The light output varies between 20 and 150 Lumen per Watt (see figure). Most LEDs (about 80 percent) have an efficiency between 56 and 105 Lumen per Watt, while the most efficient LEDs had efficiencies above 120 Lumen per Watt. We note, however, that no measurements were performed in this analysis and the data were based on manufacturer specification.

Comparing with other lamps of equivalent brightness, the electricity consumption of LED lamps are around 50% lower than that of a compact fluorescent, 80% lower than halogen and 90% lower than incandescent light bulbs. The light quality of LEDs has improved considerably and they are now available in many different colour temperatures. The LED technology is therefore unbeaten in terms of environmental impacts, economics and comfort over the entire life cycle.

One remaining problem is that it is difficult for consumers to find an LED lamp which meets all requirements and has a high efficiency. This leads to a reluctance among consumers to buy the new technology or results in the purchase of inefficient LEDs. This is especially problematic as LEDs normally last much longer than other types of lamp

This may not sound significant but brings about a high ecological and economic costs. Assuming all households in Germany would use high-efficiency LEDs instead of the average LEDs, more than 3 billion euros could be saved throughout the lifetime of the lamps. Compared to the use of the so-called eco halogen lamps, the saving could even amount to 20 billion euros.

The full market analysis can be found here.