Buying a PAR LED Light Bulb? Five Things You Should Know

PAR light bulbs can consume a large portion of the energy used to light a home or office. They are often found in track lighting, recessed can lights, and home security lights, or sometimes they're used as spotlights to highlight a piece of art or an outdoor feature.. Most of these applications use high wattage bulbs running for many hours a day, thus making them prime candidates for replacement with energy efficient PAR LED bulbs. Depending on the application, a PAR LED bulb will typically last five to ten times as long as a halogen or incandescent PAR bulb while reducing energy consumption by eighty percent or more. PAR LED bulbs can vary widely in size, light output, color temperature, beam angle, and quality. Here are five things to consider before you make your purchase:

1. Size of the PAR bulb: Even if you've thrown away the packaging and/or your bulb is not clearly marked you can still easily determine what size PAR bulb you're trying to replace. The two numbers immediately following the PAR designation are a measurement of the bulbs diameter in eighths of an inch. For example, a PAR38 bulb will have a diameter of 4.75 inches (38/8 = 4.75). Here are some common PAR bulbs and their diameters:

PAR16 LED Bulb: 2"

PAR20 LED Bulb: 2.5"

PAR30 LED Bulb: 3.75"

PAR38 LED Bulb: 4.75"

2. Beam angle: Do you know the beam angle of the bulb you are replacing? The beam angle of a bulb is measured as the angle between the two directions opposed to each other where the luminous intensity is 50% of the maximum luminous intensity. In simpler terms, the beam angle gives one a sense of how wide the beam spreads out when emitted from the bulb and can range from a narrow spotlight to a very wide floodlight. A PAR LED spotlight will typically have a beam angle of twenty degrees or less while a PAR LED floodlight can range from the low twenty degree range all the way to one hundred degrees or more. It's almost a guarantee that you'll be dissatisfied with your purchase if, for example, you mistakenly buy a PAR LED spotlight when replacing a halogen PAR floodlight. Note: it can be difficult to find the beam angle on the bulb or packaging, but a quick search for the bulb model number on the manufacturer's website will usually lead to this information.

3. Wattage: The good news is that most LED PAR light bulbs will consume much less power than the incandescent or halogen bulb you are replacing. In some cases the energy savings can be up to 80% or more! Unfortunately, through the long use of incandescent and halogen bulbs, we've been conditioned to associate brightness (light output) with a particular wattage. For instance, we think of a 75 watt bulb as being brighter than a 60 watt bulb. Although this may hold true for those types of bulbs it doesn't apply to the world of LED lighting.  Wattage is really a measure of the amount of power a bulb requires and not a measure of actual light output.  Therefore, it's best to look at the wattage difference between the bulb you're replacing and the new LED bulb you're purchasing solely to determine the energy savings you can expect to receive.  You will still find that most LED bulbs come with a reference as to what wattage of standard bulb they are capable of replacing, but be aware that many manufacturers and unscrupulous retailers overstate these claims by a wide margin. This leads us to take a closer look at the light output of a PAR bulb as measured in lumens.

4. Lumens: Lumens are a true measure of light output and will help a potential buyer of PAR LED light bulbs to more accurately calculate which particular bulb they'll need to buy in order to get an equivalent amount of light. The scientific explanation of how lumens are measured is beyond the scope of this article, but the amount of light being output by a bulb, as well as the amount of light actually hitting the surface you are trying to light (measured as lux) are important considerations when purchasing a PAR LED bulb. Again, this information can be difficult to find on packaging but is typically available on manufacturer's websites. If spending time trying to track down comparative lumen output data doesn't sound like a lot fun you'll need to make sure and purchase your LED bulbs through a reputable source that does in-house testing and provides comparison numbers you can trust.

5. Lifespan: Another factor to consider is the lifespan of a PAR LED bulb versus that of an incandescent or halogen bulb. Halogen PAR light bulbs have an average lifespan of five thousand hours while, depending on the make and manufacturer, the lifespan of LED PAR bulbs range from fifteen thousand to fifty thousand hours. Also, the lifespan of an LED bulb is not calculated on the time to failure, but on the time it will take the light output of the bulb to depreciate to 70% of the original brightness. This is certainly something to consider when looking at the price of the LED bulbs which tend to be several times more expensive than halogen bulbs. You may end up going through the expense and trouble of replacing five or ten halogen bulbs when one PAR LED bulb would still be going strong. The extended lifespan and cost of an LED bulb should also lead you to consider the importance of buying from a reputable source and investigating what type of product warranty is provided.

LED lighting continues to make rapid advancements in the areas of brightness, efficacy and color output, and as LED bulb prices continue to drop more consumers are enjoying the benefits of this energy saving and eco-friendly technology in their homes or businesses. Educating yourself about the type of PAR bulbs you currently have and doing a little homework on what LED PAR replacement bulbs are available will go a long way towards helping you make a great purchase.