Energy efficiency is all the rage with good reason. Energy-efficient lighting choices lower utility bills and lessen the burden on nonrenewable energy sources, which account for 89 percent of energy production in the U.S. (see References 4). LEDs, the most efficient lights on the market, are starting to appear alongside incandescent and compact fluorescent bulbs in hardware and home-goods stores. They are, however, a mystery to many, as their inner workings are quite a bit different from standard bulbs.

How They Work

Connecting a diode to an electrical current excites the electrons within the diode, making them release photons, which we see as light. The color of the light is a direct result of the energy gap in the semiconductor of the diode. This means that LEDs produce a spectrum of colors easily and brightly while using very little electricity to do so.