The Market Penetration of LED Lighting

The U.S. Department of Energy has published an annual report evaluating the market penetration of LED lighting within the country and across a variety of industries. The most updated report, “Adoption of Light-Emitting Diodes in Common Lighting Applications,” was released in July 2015.

In the report, the DOE looked at the LED adoption within 10 lighting applications, separated by indoor and outdoor applications. When it comes to indoor lighting penetration, the following applications accounted for the following installation percentages:

A-Type: 2.4 percent
Decorative: 1.5 percent
Directional: 5.8 percent
Linear Fixture: 1.3 percent
Low/High Bay: 2.2 percent
Small direction: 21.8 percent

Combined, indoor applications accounted for 2.8 percent LED installation in 2014. If all six applications were installed, the user would see an energy saving of 112 trillion British Thermal Units (tBTU).

led1 — *Source: U.S. Department of Energy*

There were fewer applications for the outdoor category, but their importance cannot be understated. These outdoor applications, and the percentage of adoption, are:

Area/roadway: 12.7 percent
Building exterior: 11.5 percent
Parking garage: 5 percent
Parking lot: 9.7 percent

In all, penetration throughout 2014 equated to just over 10 percent. If all four outdoor applications were adopted, there would be an energy savings of 24.6 tBTU. The report also stated that by the end of 2014, about 215 million LED unit installations across the country had been completed, for a total energy savings of 143 tBTU.

Since 2012, use of LED lighting in all applications has increased. Even with these high numbers, the DOE pointed out adoption is still in the beginning stages. For example, direction lighting applications experienced early success but have since slowed, despite having nearly doubled in growth from 2012 to 2014.

The past year experienced a large increase in both energy and cost savings. The DOE stated that savings in 2014 from LEDs equated to 143 tBTU, which is about $1.4 billion. Those figures are double 2012’s figures.

Financial Savings

The DOE estimates there are roughly 7 billion lighting fixtures in the U.S. If all applications were to switch to LED lighting, that would represent 4,896 tBTU and a cost savings of $49 billion.

LED lighting adoption is still making gains and will continue to do so for the considerable future. That being said, there is still some ground to be covered. However, homeowners and governments realize the benefit, both in energy and cost savings, that LED lights provide. Just recently, LEDs Magazine reported that Chicago will convert much of its outdoor lighting to LED sources.

By switching to LED lighting, large cities and homeowners will benefit from saving money and experiencing an increase in energy efficiency.

The Market Penetration of LED Lighting

Financial Savings

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