Physics – 1.7.3 Energy resources | e-Consult

A modern electric light bulb (incandescent) is less efficient than an LED light bulb because it primarily produces light through heat. When an electric current passes through the filament, a significant amount of electrical energy is converted into thermal energy (heat) rather than light. This heat is then radiated away as infrared radiation, which is not visible light and represents a loss of energy. LEDs, on the other hand, use a different process (electroluminescence) where electrons directly emit photons of light when they recombine. This process converts a much larger proportion of the electrical energy into light, resulting in significantly less energy loss as heat and therefore higher efficiency. In summary, the incandescent bulb loses energy as heat, while the LED converts more electrical energy into useful light.