LED LIGHTING

LED lights are the latest technology in energy efficient lighting. LED stands for ‘Light Emitting Diode’, a semiconductor device that converts electricity into light.

LED lights are super energy efficient, using approximately 85% less energy than halogen or incandescent lighting – meaning significant savings on your power bills. LED lights also have a much longer lifespan than other types of lighting - see the table below.

Lighting technology                                                        Estimated lifespan*

LED                                                                                                                   25,000-50,000 hours

CFL                                                                                                                    8,000-15,000 hours

Halogen                                                                                                              1,000-5,000 hours

Incandescent                                                                                                      1,000 hours

CONVENTIONAL LIGHTING

Conventional lighting is made up of stationary lights that can be moved, but only via manual means of adjusting, or focusing the fixture with a yoke.

CONSIDERATIONS WHEN COMPARING LED AND CONVENTIONAL LIGHTING

When comparing LED lighting performance to conventional lighting, buyers will want to consider energy efficiency, operating life and lumen depreciation, light output/distribution, color quality, color shift, dimmability, and expected lifetime.

ENERGY EFFICIENCY

The final energy efficiency of any lighting system depends on more than the efficacy of the light source itself. In the case of LED lighting, driver efficiency, luminarie optical losses, and luminaire thermal factors also determine luminaire efficacy, expressed as lumens (amount of light output) per watt of electricity used (lm/W). For more information, see Energy Efficiency of LEDs.

LIFE AND LUMEN DEPRECIATION

All light sources diminish in output over their operating life. In comparing the light output and energy efficiency of different types of light sources and fixtures, it is important to consider mean or end-of-life efficacy, and not initial efficacy. Lumen depreciation is an essential consideration in evaluating the design life of LED lamps, which typically do not fail like some conventional light sources. Instead, design life ends at the point where light output is projected to drop below useful levels. The most common lifetime specification is L70, which represents the estimated operating hours before light output falls to 70 percent of initial levels. For more information, see Lifetime and Reliability.