Is an LED a bulb?

An LED is obviously not the same as a standard incandescent or fluorescent light. The biggest visual difference is that LEDs don’t use traditional glass bulbs to house their lighting elements. This is possible because LEDs produce light in a very different way. Also, lighting options such as 12V LED lights produce little heat when activated, unlike incandescent lighting, and their components are physically smaller. So LEDs have no need for the large glass “bulb” that gives light bulbs their name. In fact, an LED light is technically referred to as an LED lamp. However, although LED lights do not usually use bulbs in the traditional sense, there are LED bulb-replacement options that fit in standard screw in light bulb housings.

Many LED lighting options feature housings that make them easy to install in places where light bulbs would typically be used, as well as in other locations where installing a large, fragile light bulb would be difficult, such as inside a kitchen pantry or under a bookshelf. LED lighting sources can be safely installed in tight spaces, along the inside of cabinets, or even inside fountains with waterproof LEDs, and there will be very little risk of damage or injury, because they don’t have a glass bulb.