LED is increasingly used in a variety of lighting applications because it offers many benefits, including:

• Long life — LEDs can provide 50,000 hours or more of life, which can reduce maintenance costs.  In comparison, an incandescent light bulb lasts approximately 1,000 hours.
• Energy savings — The best commercial white LED lighting systems provide more than twice the luminous efficacy (lumens per watt) of incandescent lighting.  Colored LEDs are especially advantageous for colored lighting applications because filters are not needed.
• Better quality light output — LEDs have minimum ultraviolet and infrared radiation. 
• Intrinsically safe — LED systems are low voltage and are generally cool to the the touch. 
• Smaller flexible light fixtures — The small size of LEDs makes them useful for lighting tight spaces. 
• Durable — LEDs have no filament to break and can withstand vibrations.

LED lighting systems have already proved to be very effective in indicator applications where brightness, visibility and long-life are important, such as in exit signs and traffic signals.  New uses for LEDs in the general illumination market include small-area lighting, such as task and under-shelf fixtures, decorative lighting, and pathway and step marking. As white LEDs become more powerful and effective, LEDs will be used in more general illumination applications, perhaps with entire walls and ceilings becoming the lighting system.