How LED Lights Are Revolutionizing Our Homes, Neighborhoods And Roads

We are in the midst of a lighting revolution.

The past decade has seen LED light usage soar in the U.S. as traditional incandescent bulbs went into the trash bin.

In 2010, incandescents were 68% of the bulbs installed in U.S. homes. By 2016, that number had declined to 6%.

That change has shaken up the industry in a good way. Mark Rea, professor at the Lighting Research Center at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, tells Here & Now’s Jeremy Hobson that the benefits of LED lights “really make it kind of a slam dunk for a transformation in the way light sources are sold.”

He says those benefits include how many lumens per watt LED lights provide, long-lasting capabilities, ease of control, their glow and the ability to have multiple color options.