LED Lighting Evolution

The LED evolution has grown significantly over the last few years with many new companies coming to the market, however there are some serious considerations that should be made when making a significant investment.

Unlike tungsten and fluorescent technology that were produced by 4 major players namely Philips, GE, Osram and Sylvania, within the LED sector, pretty much anyone can make an LED fitting.

The problem arises when you compare the efficieny of the luminaire – It’s like most things in life, you only get what you pay for!

Firstly if we take a 600 by 600 luminaire you can pick these up quite cheaply on Google but you have to look to the technical specification to see what your getting:

What’s the lumen output of the fitting compared to the wattage of the fitting.

All too often I see new luminaries installed but the actual light level is far below that of what was desired.

What should you be looking for when purchasing LED Lighting?

LUX Level

It’s important to understand the light level that will be achieved at the working plain level. The light level is measured in LUX and there are different levels recommended by CIBSE for different applications depending on the task. More difficult tasks require much higher light levels.

UGR Rating

There is also the glare rating which is called the UGR rating. In an office space, the UGR rating should be below 19 to ensure your staff have a good working environment and do not suffer from headaches and eye straining.

CRI

We also have the CRI which stands for colour rendering index – This is the amount of the light spectrum emitted from the luminaire.

The Sun

CRI – Natural Daylight

The sun has a CRI value of 100 and has all the full light spectrum emitted – This means that in natural sunlight, the colours are true.

CRI – LED Lighting

With LED lighting you want to ensure that the luminaire has a higher CRI value than 80, If you want to truly reflect the natural colours of your fabrics and carpets to show through there true colour.

Often you might buy something in a shop with good high level CRI lighting but when you get it home it’s not the same and this is because retailers spend a lot of money ensuring the lighting levels are correct.

Guarantee

Lastly when your purchasing LED watch out for the guarantee as some manufactures guarantee the LED lamp for 5 years, When in reality the small print will say max 4000 burn hours per year, which is hardly a 5 year Guarantee.

If you’re looking for quality LED lighting then contact Powercor.

We can offer all the answers on the above and design your lighting so it will stand the test of time and keep your employees safe – You’ll also get a warranty worth the paper it’s written on.