Among the most versatile and cool lights, the light-emitting diode or LED lights are new, tough, and seem to last forever. You can find them in mini-flashlights, in jewelry, penlights, and dozens of small applications. Larger bulbs are quite expensive because they are such a new technology, but the small bulbs give a significant amount of light, and in larger displays can light an area quite brightly.
LED lights seem to last forever. Regular incandescent bulbs only last about a thousand hours, and fluorescent about 10,000 hours. LEDs last for up to 100,000 hours. Thats more than eleven years, with continual use! LEDs also use about a tenth the electricity of an incandescent bulb because they produce almost no heat. The red LED bulbs are as much as 90% efficient. Compare that with a standard incandescent light bulb, in which only about three percent of the energy used is transformed into light, while the remaining 97% becomes heat.
LED lights have been used more and more over the last few years, in decorations, in small flashlights and night lights, even in novelty ice cubes and license-plate holders. The most popular use for LED lights is illumination for specific...