About LEDs (Light Emitting Diodes)
LEDs (Light Emitting Diodes) are semiconductors that convert electrical power into light. From their beginnings, as indicator lights for electronics, LEDs have advanced into the future of lighting. Key to this ascension is their energy efficiency, long life and the lack of toxic Mercury and heavy metals found in fluorescent lights.Why LED Lighting?
There are many reasons to choose or change to LED technology as your lighting source.- Energy Efficiency – The ALT Series (Advanced Low-Power Troffer) offered by SLI uses a minimum of 30% less electricity than a standard two tube fluorescent fixture, translating into lower utility costs.
- Effectiveness – LED technology produce more lumens (measure of brightness) per watt (energy) than incandescent or fluorescent lighting technology. Simply stated, LED lighting will provide more light for less energy.
- Life Span – LED bulb have an average runtime of 60,000 hours before the diode begins to dim and have actually continued in operation up to 100,000 hours. When compared to 10,000 to 20,000 hours for fluorescent lights. This translates to a 500% longer bulb life span, reducing replacement and maintenance costs.
- Environmentally Friendly – LEDs are 100% recyclable. This is in stark contrast to Mercury-filled fluorescent tubes, which have been designated by the US Environmental Protection Agency as Hazardous Waste. Proper disposal of fluorescent tubes in inconvenient and expensive.
- Durability - LEDs are made of plastic and contain no filaments or fragile glass. This helps extend the lifespan of the bulb and reduces work hazards.
- Reduced Heat - LEDs, unlike incandescent and fluorescent bulbs, produce less heat, thus extending illumination lifespan and reducing cooling costs.
- No UV – No ultraviolet light is emitted by LED lighting. This reduces stress and damage to the eyes in the work environment
The Hidden Truth of Fluorescent Lights
There are many major factors that are looked at when comparing lights of any kind. Lumen output, power consumption, and color temperature. These three aspects are the illumination (lumens output), power consumption (the wattage need to fire the light to illuminate) and color temperature (how the color of the light affects the environment it is placed into operation. Two of these factors, (lumen output and power consumption), are misconstrued on fluorescent light bulb packages.First, when comparing lights many of us use lumen as the standard of measurement. This being said we know that our average 60 watt incandescent bulb emits around 730 lumens. While the average 35 watt fluorescent bulb emits roughly 2,400 lumens. What many lighting experts and manufacturers will not tell you is we do not actually see all these lumen coming out of our fixtures because both these bulbs are round, emitting light (lumens) in 360°. Many lumens are lost because they are emitted towards the fixture (as seen in red). This means when you place two 2,400 lumen fluorescent tubes in a fixture you are not seeing many of the 4,800 lumen being put out by the bulbs. The desired effect by fluorescent light fixture manufacturers is the light will be reflected off the upper surface of the fixture and bounce down towards its intended target.
Secondly, we look at how much electricity is consumed to make the fixture illuminate. Many average fluorescent light fixtures are using two T12 or T8 fluorescent light tubes. Each T12 is generally labeled as consuming 35 watts, which means the fixture usage should use a total of 70 watts. However, this is not the case. Every fluorescent light fixture consumes more than the bulb rated wattage in use. This is because the ballast must alter the electricity for the bulbs and thus creates hidden energy losses / consumption. The byproduct of this energy inefficiency is generally in the form of heat and increased electrical costs.
How Commercial LED Light Fixtures Differ
Fluorescents and incandescent bulb technology differ from LED lighting because every lumen that is produced by our lighting systems can be seen. Our engineers have carefully placed every LED within our fixtures to provide the maximum illumination and beam spread to provide optimal light distribution. The simple advantage of SLI’s LED lighting fixtures- when our fixtures indicate 4,320 lumens that is exactly what you are seeing being provided. Furthermore our fixtures consume the indicated voltage to illuminate at the indicated lumen output.