Network benefits of energy efficient lighting

European energy directives have successfully promoted the substitution of more efficient compact fluorescent lights for traditional incandescent types; however, in the UK, these benefits have been largely annulled by an increased adoption of halogen spotlights. At the same time, the discourse surrounding residential `peak shaving´ to relieve network capacity has typically focused on the shifting of demand, particularly using `wet´ appliances such as washing machines and dishwashers which are considered to be flexible loads. The substitution of emerging light emitting diode (LED) technology for existing halogen fittings may have significant potential for peak shaving of a similar magnitude to that achievable with load shifting. This paper analyses the relative merits of the approaches to peak shaving through the synthesis of high resolution demand profiles on low voltage residential feeders. A residential demand model is augmented with recent UK lighting survey data and empirical power quality data measured from a range of lighting types. The substitution of lighting types is compared to the shifting of wet appliances in otherwise identical scenarios.