LED Lighting Could Slash Risks Of ‘Winter Blackouts’

You know how it is – its winter and the world and his wife have the electricity on full whack to keep their homes light, bright and warm, and all of a sudden your 600 x 600 LED panel goes out and you’re left in darkness. It’s called a ‘winter blackout’ and can happen during times of peak usage during those colder months.

However, as more people adopt LED lighting into their homes and businesses, the risk of these blackouts should go down, according to new research released by Greenpeace. As lighting makes up 29 per cent of energy consumption during peak times, a complete switch to LED lighting would halve that figure, according to their study.

It could also give the UK an opportunity to reduce its dependence on fossil fuels, according to Greenpeace UK’s chief scientist Doug Parr: “[A wholesale change to LED lighting] would also lead to permanent reduction in peak demand, thus decreasing the amount required to upgrade or replace the UK’s ageing gas, coal and nuclear power plants,” he said.

While, of course, LED lighting is more energy efficient and therefore better for the environment, Greenpeace also argue that there is a sound economic reason for the government to prioritise the switchover to LED.

Their research finds that while it may cost £1.7 billion to upgrade all UK homes to LED bulbs, not only will it directly save the householder money on their energy bills, it will also save the government £65 million in capacity market payments.