If only consumers were as willing as businesses to invest in decent LED lighting

The builder of this new residential development in northwest London has installed five thousand LED lamps from Megaman.

The lamps are in the same format as the traditional halogen lamps that have become ubiquitous in living room and kitchen ceilings up and down the land. But because they're LEDs, they use far less energy, generate less heat and last much longer – these ones are expected to keep going for up to 50,000 hours.

The development at 243 Ealing Road – a joint venture between construction firm Hill and Network Living – includes seven blocks of new apartments overlooking the Grand Union Canal. It’s a key part of the regeneration of the Alperton area, which also includes plans for shops, green spaces and business premises.

Installer RB Emerson used around 5,000 Megaman Professional LED GU10 lamps in the development, in non-dimmable 4W and dimmable 6W versions. Both options provide warm white light, with a beam angle of 35°.

The lamps have been installed in the living rooms, dining rooms, hallways, kitchens, bedrooms and bathrooms of the private apartments at 243 Ealing Road, and in the kitchens and bathrooms of the shared ownership properties.

It's an example of the great results you can get from LEDs in the residential market. Unfortunately, consumers are still reluctant to buy LED lamps for their homes because they're significantly more expensive than the less efficient alternatives, and too many people have had bad experiences with poor quality LED lamps that are too dim, have poor colour rendering or die after a short time.

But business users are embracing good quality LED lamps on a huge scale, with hospitality brands including All Bar One, O'Neills, Radisson Blu and Spirit Pubs all embarking on big LED lamp rollouts.

Europe has already phased out some types of halogen lamps to reduce the amount of energy used for lighting, and is moving towards banning more. LED manufacturers like Megaman have supported this policy, but the wider lighting industry lobbied successfully for the halogen phase-out to be delayed, arguing that consumers weren't yet ready to make the switch.

Visit Novel Energy Lighting to order your Megaman LED lamps, or explore our range of other top names brands. LED lighting is now cheaper than you think!