Do you have any memories of being a young child on a long road trip with your parents and driving? Do you ever wonder “Are there still?” It’s a critical question in the current lighting industry regarding the use LED technology. However, depending on whether you’re talking about the commercial and residential segments, there is a completely different answer. You need to see a company that sells high quality aluminum posts and commercial lighting applications, manufactured in the USA, of course at the MGM Transformer Company

I’ve heard many lighting designers tell me that LED products are being used in their commercial projects. Designers have come to trust in LED products’ quality and performance, although not for all applications.

In the commercial space, LEDs have become more affordable and provide energy efficiency that is required for LEED certification. We appear to be close to the tipping mark in that market, if not quite there yet.

Concerning the residential market, however we are still quite a ways from reaching the destination. The product is growing in number on the shelves. However, I do not feel the units are being sold at an exciting rate. The proportion of the overall bulb market sales dollars coming from LED replacement lamp sales may be much higher than it used to, but you can see the retail pricing. It doesn’t need a lot of sales for LED units to impact the overall business. The number of LEDs sold is a good indicator of how fast adoption is taking hold. This theory seems to be validated every time I walk down the aisles at Lowe’s, Home Depot, or Lowe’s.

So where is the problem? However, the main problem facing the homeowner is still pricing. For example, let’s say a home is priced at $.10 per hour and has an average household use of 2hrs per day. The annual energy consumption of a 60W incandescent light bulb would be $4.38. Ok, so homeowners can buy LED bulbs and save $3.50 annually on energy. You will break even after 6 to 9 years. For the average person, this is quite a long amount of time. Many people will not know how to do this calculation and may buy LED lighting just because they believe that savings will occur faster. Some people will choose to buy LED because they think it’s the best technology and that it’s good for the planet. But, in order to reach the mass consumer markets quickly, it’s all about the cost.