The typical or coventional old models of bulbs were made of incandescent globes which use a tungsten filament enclosed in an air-tight clear glass case filled with an inert gas. An electrical current would heat the filament until it glows while the inert gas protects the filament from oxidation. This process is estimated to use around 5% of the electrical energy to produce light and the rest is converted to heat.

The modern day LED bulbs work by a completely different principle. These bulbs are made from a cluster assembly of small solid state light emitting semiconductors that work by the principle of electroluminescence. Even though these diodes were originally small in size and produce a weak intensity of light, they have been improved to be brighter. The grouping design is also made to resemble the shape of the incandescent lamp and the connector is made to fit outlets that were designed for the incandescent lamp. These bulbs are advertised to use only a third to a tenth of the amount of energy other kinds of lamps will use to produce the same amount of light.