Summary of advantages compared to incandescent, halogen, fluorescent and neon lighting

The cost of lighting is not simply the up-front cost. LEDs have significant benefits over conventional lighting when these primary key areas are considered together: product costs, power consumption, energy consumption, labor/replacement costs, lifetime and light output.

• LED-based systems allow intelligent control and reaction to user input (via interfaces ranging from std. dimmers to DMX control) for numerous effects
  
• More light per watt and bright, vivid color generation (superior technology)
  
• Uses where voltage/safety, heat or size are concerns – low voltage, low heat and functional advantages; often more compact and a smaller footprint
  
• Quick startup & flicker free operation
  
• Reliability & shock resistance – up to 100,000 hours of life/less maintenance
  
• Do not contain mercury and other harmful elements
  
• Additional environmental/green-power advantages
  

• LEDs produce more light per watt than do incandescent bulbs; this is useful in battery powered or energy-saving devices.
• LEDs can emit light of an intended color without the use of color filters that traditional lighting methods require. This is more efficient and can lower initial costs
  
• The solid package of an LED can be designed to focus its light. Incandescent and fluorescent sources often require an external reflector to collect light and direct it in a usable manner.
  
• When used in applications where dimming is required, LEDs do not change their color tint as the current passing through them is lowered, unlike incandescent lamps, which turn yellow.
  
• LEDs are ideal for use in applications that are subject to frequent on-off cycling, unlike fluorescent lamps that burn out more quickly when cycled frequently, or HID lamps that require a long time before restarting.
  
• LEDs, being solid state components, are difficult to damage with external shock. Fluorescent and incandescent bulbs are easily broken if dropped on the ground.
  
• LEDs can have a relatively long useful life. One report estimates 50,000 hours of useful life (up to 100,000 hours color dependent), though time to complete failure may be longer. Fluorescent tubes typically are rated at about 30,000 hours, and incandescent light bulbs at 1,000-2,000 hours.
  
• LEDs mostly fail by dimming over time, rather than the abrupt burn-out of incandescent bulbs
  
• LEDs light up very quickly. A typical red indicator LED will achieve full brightness in microseconds; LEDs used in communications devices can have even faster response times.
  
• LEDs can be very small and are easily populated onto printed circuit boards.
  
• LEDs do not contain mercury while compact fluorescent lamps do.
  
  Source: wikipedia.org – LED link