LED lighting is the choice today over HID lighting because of the advantages LED has over HID. HID is considered by most today to be obsolete technology
Energy Efficient – LEDs are more much efficient than HID and can be 50 to 80% more efficient than HID. This can mean significant savings on your power bill.
Lifetime – HID lamps have a much shorter lifetime than LEDs. HID lamps are rated in average rated life, which means after a certain number of burn hours, half of the lamps have burned out. A typical average life rating for HID lamps is between 10,000 and 24,000 hours. LEDs are rated in average useful life. That typically means when 30% of the light has depreciated, however the LEDs are still burning. We refer to this as L70 which can be as high as 300,000 hours.
Instant On – HID lamps require a warm-up period before getting to full brightness. This can take several minutes. LEDs are instant on to full brightness, no warm-up needed.
Restrike Time – If there is a power interruption, HID lamps require a cool-down period from approximately 4 to 20 minutes before they will restrike and come back on. LEDs instantly restrike, no cool down needed.
Vibration – HID lamps have an arc tube that can break and/or burn out prematurely due to vibration. LEDs are rugged and resistant to this type environment. An application example would be a parking deck.
Lamp Lumen Depreciation – The depreciation of light output (lumens) from HID lamps falls off quickly compared to LEDs. For instance, for a 20,000-lumen metal halide 400W lamp, the light output depreciates as much as 35% during the first 6,000 hours of operation. During this same burn time, LEDs have lost little if any light output.
Hazardous Waste – HID lamps contain mercury which must be disposed of properly. LEDs have no mercury.
Delivered Light Percentage – Up to 40% of the lumens from an HID lamp can be trapped in the fixture and never reach the task area such as a street or parking lot. LEDs use a different system and deliver 100% of their lumens out of the fixture which results in more usable light at the task.
Color Shift – HID metal halide lamps shift in color as the lamp ages. What begins as white light often shifts to a tint of pink or green. LEDs maintain their color consistency and have minimal shift over their entire life.
Dimming – LEDs can be dimmed easily and dimming will increase LED system life. HID dimming is not done often because it is difficult, limited and expensive.
