How LED lights can help you feel better How LED lights can help you feel better

How LED lights can help you feel better

The latest LED lights help save money. And they have health benefits, too

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Lighting can help set the mood but a bulb isn’t just a bulb. Advancements in LED lighting and discount programs mean more people have more options about how to light their homes and feel good about it.

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Bryan Jungers

When did selecting a new lightbulb become a “healthy experience”? Things started changing during the past decade.

“I don’t think most consumers are familiar with the benefits of color tuning and impact this control feature may have on their health, mood and overall well-being,” said Bryan Jungers, lead analyst at E Source, whose mission is to advance the efficient use of energy. “In fairness, this is an area of study that wasn’t even widely accepted by lighting experts until only the last five to 10 years.”

In addition to health benefits, LEDs are more efficient, using less energy and resulting in lower energy bills.

Where are the best locations to make the switch to LEDs in your home?

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Kelvin color temperatures help you pick the right lighting for the room.

Since the capabilities of LED lighting range from cool brightness for chopping vegetables to warm and welcoming for movie watching, think about the kitchen, living room and office. Specialty LEDs (reflectors, globes, candelabras) can be used for specific locations, such as an entryway, which often requires multiple and hard-to-access bulbs. You can store your ladder if you use long-life dimmable LED bulbs in high ceilings.

Bathrooms are another great room for LED bulbs because you can tune the color. Since it’s one of the highest traffic areas in a home (at all times of the day and night), an LED offers intense illumination when you need it and a dimmable way to wake up if you’re not quite ready to face the mirror.

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Courtesy Lighting & Bulbs Unlimited in Charlotte, N.C.

Areas outside your home are also top spots for LEDs, such as garage, front door and security-based installations using flood and motion-sensor lighting.

“Outdoor and security lighting does certainly benefit from use of LEDs,” Jungers said. “In residential, most of that adoption has been in landscaping … solar-powered pathway lighting. The primary benefits from using LEDs for outdoor lighting include improved directionality (reduced lighting pollution in support of dark sky initiatives) and visibility. These features have made LEDs a good competitor for street lighting for years now, and more recently we're seeing that spread into the residential consumer market as well.”

Use LED lights and save

LED lighting is versatile and long-lasting, and since it’s energy efficient, it lowers power bills. LEDs also offer color variation with flexible dimming opportunities.

Duke Energy offers discounts on ENERGY STAR bulbs. Availability varies from state to state. There are two ways to buy discounted bulbs as a Duke Energy residential customer:

The Retail Lighting program is available at retail stores and offers instant discounts on a variety of bulbs in Duke Energy and Duke Energy Progress territories in North Carolina and South Carolina and Indiana. Just look for the Duke Energy special price stickers to identify the bulb as part of the program.

The Online Savings Store is another option. Duke Energy customers in North Carolina, South Carolina, Ohio and Kentucky can search and buy discounted bulbs on the company’s website. Bulbs will be delivered to your home. 

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