Recently, UK-based Energy Saving Trust (EST) has conducted a study which measured the performance of more than 4,250 LED light fittings installed at 35 sites in social housing.

At the 35 sites in the field trial, the report calculated that the LED fittings saved more than three million kilowatt hours each year when compared with the previous lighting. The technology is also much more energy efficient, using up to 90% less energy than incandescent bulbs.

“We like to test things in-situ in order to understand their real performance rather than rely on manufacturers’ claims,” explained James Russill, EST’s technical development manager.

The technology is only now approaching universal acceptance as a valid choice for businesses and home owners. It is predicted the technology could dominate the lighting market by 2015.

It’s considered that 2012 will be the year when the technology matures and the hidden revolution in lighting becomes public. The reach of LED lighting will extend beyond the specialists and early adopters and into the consumer mainstream.

James Russill said, “LEDs promise to be the way forward for the whole sector, to be honest. There are so many benefits: they can be smaller, brighter; it is one of those rare technologies where the trial has shown it performs better than the lighting systems it is replacing but, at the same time, using less energy.”