What homeowners should know about LEDs

Maintaining a home’s value requires a combination of maintenance and updating. Some updates can be cost-prohibitive for the average homeowner until consumers adopt new technology and prices drop. Light-emitting diodes, more commonly known as LEDs, are one of those technologies -- prices have dropped 83 percent in the last four years, according to a recent Consumer Reports article.
And the technology has many benefits (along with a few drawbacks): They’re mercury-free, unlike compact fluorescents, which need special recycling. They’re more energy efficient. They use about 80 percent less energy than an incandescent bulb and 5 percent less than a fluorescent bulb. However, energy efficiency isn’t the only savings. LEDs are designed to last about 20 years or 10,000 hours of use. This means if you put one in your toddler’s room now, you won’t have to change the light bulb until after she graduates and you’ve repurposed the room.