What the CFL is LED?

CFL stands for Compact Fluorescent Light. It is a lighting technology that has been around for perhaps 30 years in the form of fluorescent lighting tubes for offices and in the past 15 years it has been used to create small light bulbs to replace energy hungry incandescent light bulbs. CFLs contain roughly 2.5mg of mercury, which is harmful to the environment if disposed of improperly, however this amount of mercury is less than the mercury emitted by coal fired power plants if they have to power an incandescent bulb instead (based on the main source of electricity in your country). CFLs are most suitable for environments requiring volume omni-directional lighting for long periods of uninterrupted use (living rooms, hallways).

CFLs typically have a lifetime of 10,000 hours and use approximately 75% less electricity than incandescents use to produce the same amount of light.

LED stands for Light Emitting Diode. This technology has until recently been used primarily for Christmas tree lighting and other colourful decorative lighting (outdoor architectural and indoor mood) but is now moving into the mainstream lighting world for offices, shops, industry and homes. LED lighting is devoid of hazardous substances (lead, mercury) like CFLs and consumes less energy than CFLs. LEDs are most suitable for directional lighting uses.

LEDs are generally speaking more efficient than halogens, incandescent, fluorescent and high pressure sodium lighting technologies.