We’re here to help you solve that problem. Making sure that your lighting choice checks all the right boxes is part of what makes your house special and unique to you. Compliment your home with the perfect choice of lighting fixture by following our easy to use guide on how to size a fixture for your room.

Saving energy is a laudable goal. By using less electricity and other energy around your home, you reduce your contribution to environmental degradation and climate change. On the other hand, easy and reliable access to electricity is in large part responsible for the high standard of living that most Americans enjoy. Read on to learn more about the intersection between comfort and energy consumption, and how you can cut back while still participating in modern 21st century life.

Energy Consumption and GDP Go Hand-in-Hand

When it comes to residential households, cheap power allows us to run the electrical work that lends so much convenience and comfort to our day-to-day lives – refrigerators, air conditioners, lights, computers, televisions and much more. On a societal scale, access to fossil fuels and the energy potential stored within is what has made possible so many technological and logistical advances in the first place. However, as the years advance, the science is becoming ever more clear – excessive carbon emissions are causing the planet's climate to change, often in destructive and unpredictable ways.

Of course, no one wants to go back to the days of pushing a plow behind a donkey and churning butter by hand, either. The big question, and one that may become existential, is whether we can decouple our energy consumption from our standard of living. Historically, consumption and GDP have risen together in lock-step. Can the United States and other developed countries figure out how to break the chain?

Decouple Lifestyle from Consumption

A recent report by the Energy Collective tells us that “reductions in energy intensity is arguably our most important tool to achieve a sustainable energy future.” What does it mean? That we can get the same or more production out of less energy usage. In some ways, we've already made progress – between 2007 and 2013, energy consumption dropped 4.5 percent in the United States, while the Net Domestic Product continued to rise.

That's all well and good for the country, but what about your household? The same principles apply – for a more sustainable future, look for ways to get the same results with less energy use. That means switching to efficient appliances, like Energy Star certified equipment. It means replacing old incandescent light bulbs with modern LED models. And look for little changes that can make a big difference, like adjusting your thermostat a few notches up or down to reduce the load on your HVAC equipment.

Make a Difference in Your House

You can do your part to cut down on your energy use while still enjoying the amenities of modern life by making targeted efficiency investments and simple behavioral changes. If you need tips on how to reduce your energy bills without reverting to stone age-style living, or need any other electrical work, contact a reputable electrician today.

AC driven LEDs are rare but popular in certain applications. Designers focus on LEDs because of their advantages like direct, brilliant light, strong color saturation, slim measurements, dynamic lighting scenes and in total all the design possibilities that are thinkable. The only restrictions are made by the heat that needs to be dissipated by surface, natural or forced ventilation and the driver’s measurements. The driver is mostly not slim at all. That is why AC driven LEDs can be a smart consideration.

Conventional LEDs, Modules and Light Engines are driven by DC (direct current) power supplies. The LED characteristics are highly dependent on these components as they control the inrush current, convert the alternate current down to DC voltage and stabilize the current the LEDs are driven with. The efficiency of the system is dependent on the driver too as the power factor is one part in the total sum. Most conventional DC power supplies support LED systems with power factors (PFC) of 0.9 and higher.

The lifetime of LED lighting systems is defined by electronic devises. The LED can last up to 100,000h but if the driver needs a replacement after 50,000h the system is only half worth the maintenance. Without any driver at all the problem is solved completely. Power supplies need space, no matter how small, the driver is mostly bigger than the LED modules and electronic component’s wiring needs space too. Without this item there are not restrictions in design any more than heat dissipation. Designers can release their full creativity.

AC driven LEDs are of advantage concerning design and lifetime options. The more complex the circuit, the higher the possibility of system failure and electrical noise. On the other side, the efficiency of AC driven LED modules is not that high like DC driven ones. The performance achieves 110 lm/W these days which is good compared to other light sources but behind DC driven LEDs with up to 140 lm/W and more. AC driven LEDs are a thinkable substitute in applications like bulb lights, downlights, ceiling lights and industrial lighting systems.