Can LED Lights Cause a Fire?
Can LED lights cause a fire
LED lights, unlike other lighting devices, use semiconductors, whereas incandescent bulbs use vacuum and filaments which produce heat, thereby producing light from the heat.
The use of semiconductors in LED lights, instead of heating devices like filaments, makes LED lights safer than incandescent bulbs or fluorescent bulbs. Incandescent bulbs and fluorescent bulbs are prone to fire hazards.
The LED lights are risk-free when it comes to fire hazards. They are not only fire- safe, but they are also beneficial in several ways. They are cost-efficient as they consume less electricity.
Therefore, they help you save a great deal of money on your power bills. They are also environmental- friendly, have a longer lifespan than CFL or incandescent bulbs and have zero- maintenance requirements.
Fire-safe LED lights
LED lights use a technology called solid-state lighting or SSL that helps them to illuminate light with the help of solid material, unlike vacuum or gas (used in CFL and incandescent bulbs).
This helps LED lights to produce way lesser heat than the incandescent or CFL bulbs, and lower heat means less probability of a fire hazard. The incandescent bulbs and CFL bulbs are high- heat-producing lighting devices and so, they are used as heating devices for small spaces.
LED lights are at a very lower rate of causing fire hazards when compared to the CFL and Incandescent bulbs. However, one must undertake a thorough checking of the circuits, in which the LED lights are going to be introduced so that there is no danger.
Cheap-priced LED lights may not be a good choice for you if you are thinking of converting from CFL or incandescent bulbs to LED lights. These low-priced LED lights may carry the same dangers as that of CFL or incandescent bulbs, in terms of being prone to hazards.
LED lights can only heat up to a certain degree; this heat is not strong enough to cause a fire break out at your place. The maximum extent that an LED light can get heated up is way lesser than the CFL or incandescent or halogen bulbs. LED lights can cause illumination with low temperature as well, as it uses Solid State Lighting or SSL.
The traditional lighting devices like CFL bulbs and incandescent bulbs use tungsten filament which needs more heat to produce the light. And these tungsten filaments are a great fire hazard when not used properly or not taken care of.
So, traditional lighting devices need a very high temperature for them to illuminate the light and thus, they are at a higher risk of creating a fire break out.
LED light’s structure that helps in preventing fire accidents
LED lights get heated only at a specific place and not in the whole electronic product itself. The heat produced by the electronic products is the main reason any electronic device may get affected.
The LED lights have a little part inbuilt inside their body, called a heat sink. This heat sink helps in drawing in all the heat to one single part of the bulbs or lights, thereby not heating the whole electronic device itself.
This is one of the main reasons why LED lights have a longer life span as the heat is contained. The bulb is being kept cool for the most part of the time when it is being used and doesn’t damage the whole device.
As the heat is not spread throughout the product, the LED light uses less energy for heat production and most of the energy is used for producing light. LED lights are 20% cooler than the traditional forms of lighting devices.
These traditional devices use almost 60% to 95% of the power for heating and thus have a very short life span. The use of increased power for heating is one main reason why they are a fire risk.
The advantage of using LED lights in place of traditional lighting devices
Traditional lighting devices like CFL bulbs or incandescent bulbs or halogen bulbs use most of the power directed to them to produce heat, instead of using it for producing light. On the contrary, LED lights use almost all of their power sources for emitting light.
Halogen tubes can produce a heat of almost 1200 degrees, which is a very dangerous limit! These can cause a serious fire breakout if left unchecked.
The heat produced by LED lights can only burn your fingers and give a blister. It is incapable of causing a fire that can damage property, unlike traditional light sources. Halogen lights have caused fires that cost a lot of money. Some of the incidents are fire breakouts in Windsor castle and another one in Arkansas College in the United States of America.
LED lights, with their heat sink, help in controlling the temperature of the product. They are used in small and enclosed spaces as they barely produce any heat, whereas incandescent bulbs produce so much heat that they are sometimes used as heating devices for reptile enclosures and poultry incubation. The incandescent bulbs can also cause a fire, but they are not as dangerous as the halogen bulbs.
The CFL bulbs, on the other hand, are the ones that produce way less heat as compared to other traditional lighting devices, but they do produce more heat than LED lights. They usually cause fire risks when they are at the end of their useful life. They cause way less fire damage than the other two traditional sources described above.
Preventive measures to avoid fire breakout because of lighting devices
An electronic lighting device emits light with the help of power. And this power is circulated to the lighting device with the help of an electric circuit. The electric circuit heavily depends on wires and cables. So, it is important to check the wiring before inserting a lighting device.
The lights should be placed in an exposed area rather than a closed object. It is advised not to place lights in light fixtures as they can lead to pent up heat and thus becoming a fire hazard. It is better to connect the bulbs with the resistor in series than in a parallel connection because connecting them in parallel connection might result in overloading.
Conclusion
LED lights are the best when compared to other sources of light as they are risk-free as regards to causing fires and are also highly beneficial in many ways discussed above.
