There are many myths and misconceptions about LED bulbs, lets clarify things: Wattage & brightness:
Wattage is often confused with brightness. With traditional lightbulbs we relied on wattage to indicate brightness.
However, with LEDs wattage does not measure brightness, but it does measure power consumption. LED bulbs emit the same amount of light as traditional light bulbs but at a lower wattage. When selecting LED bulbs look at light output, which is measured in lumens (lm). It’s indicated on the packaging. For your convenience, the equivalent wattage of traditional bulbs is also shown because many consumers are still familiar with this, but you need to disregard it in terms of the brightness of the product. As a guideline a 35W conventional will have an output of 280-300 lumens and a 50W will be 380-400 lumens.
Light colour:
The first LED bulbs on the market produced a very blue daylight. Many people think that’s still the case. Kelvins (K) are used to measure light colour. Scientific tests have proven how the colour of light can impact upon energy levels and productivity. For example, to relax at home you would choose a warm light in rooms in your house such as your bedroom. A warm white light, however, may not work in your kitchen or bathroom as these rooms usually have white fittings such as sinks or cabinets which would look more yellow in warm light so we would recommend a white (3000K) or cool white (4000K) light for those areas.
LED technology has evolved significantly. Today, most LED lights are available in a variety of white colours – everything from very warm white (2000K) through to daylight (6500k). You can choose a LED light that shines with the familiar warm glow of a traditional lightbulb - or go for one that mimics natural light. Below are some illustrations to assist you in choosing the correct colour temperature.
For further information on choosing the right LEDs for your application please give The LED Specialist a call on 01189393218 or visit www.theledspecialist.co.uk
Light quality:
Low quality LEDs have been flooding the market. Many of these LEDs start to noticeably fade after a year. There will be a recognisable colour shift from initially appearing to be performing well compared to the recognised brands below, but the deterioration will rapidly occur in a short space of time.
Most of the well renowned LED brands such as Philips (Now Signify), Integral, Osram (Now Ledvance), Crompton, Megaman, Segula, Bell, Calex, Sylvania and TCP were designed to provide a consistent quality of light over time. They will keep shining almost as brightly as they did when new for most of their lifetime. Most LEDs from the brands above will last for 15,000 to, in some cases 50,000 hours - that’s about 30 years based on the average usage of 2.7 hrs/ day.
Many of the brands mentioned above include the CRI (Colour Rendering Index) rating in their product specifications. On a scale of 0-100. Natural outdoor light has a CRI of 100 and is used as the standard of comparison for any other light source. As a rule of thumb... the higher the CRI the better the colours will appear to their true colour, as illustrated below. The reason this is relevant is the impact it has on the human eye, colours and shapes will appear more vivid and closer to their true colour the higher the CRI. This is extremely important in applications where anything is on display. For example an art gallery will want to showcase their products in the best light so a CRI of 90+ will make all the difference here, they are commonly featured in retails shops too.
Poor CRI Adequate CRI Excellent CRI
Energy efficient cost saving:
The first LED bulbs cost considerably more than conventional traditional bulbs.
But, today, they are closer in price. They use less energy and last longer thus showing a long term saving. Many LED bulbs last up to 15,000 or 20,000 hours, which is 15 years when used 2.7 hours per day on average. If a bulb is on for three-and-a-half hours per day, it will last for 15 years. Most branded LED bulbs consume about 80% less energy than conventional bulbs. So, you can soon enjoy significant savings on your energy bill and for the lifetime of the product.
Lighting is decorative:
As the LED technology has evolved many lighting designers have been crying out for LED filaments to be available. Their prayers have been answered as the filament LED range is rapidly growing. Many brands are now producing LED filaments, variations including dimmable, a variety of shapes, a variety of caps/ fitments and also now a variety of colours with most being very warm or warm white but now there are cool white options too. There are also variations in the style of the filament which ranges vastly from the original vertical filament style which was in the first release by many manufacturers.
Walking down many restaurant clad streets you will notice that
a lot of them have adopted filament LEDs in their shop windows
to create a warm glow and relaxed ambiance. Lighting is no longer a choice made out of purpose but in fact it has become an integral part of interior design as the right lighting product and right light can dramatically influence the feel and popularity of the application it is being installed into.
There are now filaments LEDs being released in many smart lighting options which is expanded upon below.
Smart lighting evolves:
The most familiar smart lighting products are likely to be the Philips HUE which has been a front runner in the LED Smart Lighting market. This is a popular system and now products such as the Osram Smart range are now compatible with the HUE hub (gateway).
The technology has now evolved to the next level which means that the hub/ gateway is no longer required and the products work directly through your WIFI connection. The Smart range is rapidly expanding with many products enabling you to create a smart home such as controlling your heating and lighting. There are now products which can turn a conventional light fitting into a smart app- controlled option with the use of a smart switch. A very useful addition to many smart product ranges is the smart WIFI plug. The days of having to stretch around the back of your Christmas tree to turn it on/off are now over with the smart WIFI plug. This enable you to turn on any product plugged in the smart switch into an app-controlled product.
Another useful addition to the range are the smart sensors which are now available such as the moisture sensor. This is ideal for a landlord that rents out a property known to have issues with a leak etc, the water sensor can alert the landlord as to when an issue arises so that it doesn’t go undetected.
The lighting range is also growing with colour changing (red, green, blue colour spectrum) or tunable white (warm white to cool white) LEDs available in GU10, MR16, ES (E27) or SES (E14).
LED Tubes:
Previously many installers may have been put off LED tubes due to the misconception that re-wiring may be required. The latest LED tube ranges from recognised manufacturers are designed to be “plug and play”.
The range includes switch start tubes and also high frequency tubes. The latest addition to many manufacturers ranges is the new Universal LED T8 brings simplicity to your lighting project. You can forget about the driver technology. Thanks to a unique design, the Universal T8 directly fits into luminaries operating either on Electro Magnetic ballasts, HF Electronic ballasts or mains power connections. Perfectly safe, reliable and easy to install, the Universal T8 is the ideal alternative to standard fluorescent tubes to save energy and reduce investment.
There are also a variety of outputs available if you do require a higher lumen output from your LED tube.
Warm Dimming:
This means that as the LED dims, the colour of the light will scale to become warmer. From their initial release LEDs only dimmed in the output of light level and the colour of the light would not change.
The products that feature the warm dimming functionality offer a new experience for dimmable LEDs. The gradual dimming feature enables light levels to dim to warm tones of traditional bulbs. Unlike standard LEDs, these warm dimming bulbs offer a dimmable warm glow in a familiar shape that lets you go from everyday functional lighting, to inviting, to cozy.
Many of the recognised manufacturers will market this functionality differently with different terms including “dim to warm”, “warm glow”, “dim tone”, “warm dim”.
Why the prices differ:
Some of the products may look very similar, even to the point where it is hard to determine the difference. When looking at the cost of LEDs across the board the way to differentiate between entry level ranges and the premium ranges is to look at some key specifications:
- Lifetime
- Guarantee
- Colour Rendering
- Dimmable functionality