
LED Lighting is better everywhere
Given that fluorescent lighting still doesn’t provide a full colour spectrum, research has gone into making LED lighting have that wonderful full colour spectrum incandescent bulbs have (and that fluorescent bulbs continue to lack). The lack of the full spectrum makes people more tired at night if they work under fluorescent lighting, and makes the colours of various items appear different compared to what they would be in daylight. Actually, for LED bulbs, it is even better, since the emitted spectrum can be controlled by the coating placed on the LED “bulb.” For example, mosquitoes are attracted to certain sections of the UV spectrum. The coatings used in LED street lamps and in home bulbs do not emit on those wavelengths, so mosquitoes will be attracted to your neighbours still using incandescent or fluorescent lighting (or more natural sources of light like fires).
I went to Japan in December, so mosquitoes were not an issue. However, the other huge advantage of LEDs are their low energy usage, even compared to fluorescent lamps. The entire lighting of my apartment only requires 6W IN TOTAL. I did not buy the LED lighting for my apartment within Taiwan, but there are some not-quite-as-efficient LED “bulbs” available at DIY home improvement centres in Taiwan. Japan has some of the most efficient LED lighting if you buy from a place like Yodobashi Camera, but you will pay for it.
Governments can simply print the money needed to pay, and they want to support local industry, so there was a lot of beautiful holiday illumination displays around Tokyo. If you are making Christmas lights and holiday lighting, there is only one way to go when money is no object.
Of course, if money is an object, or you are trying to project environmental shrewdness, you could reuse PET bottles like the display at Shinjuku Station’s New South Exit.
For personal use, LED is cheaper in the long run even with high bulb prices because of the better energy efficiency. When LED lamps in bar shapes become available (as is often used in lighting panels placed in ceilings), a complete conversion will be available. I can’t wait.
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