What is an LED? LED stands for Light Emitting Diode. No filaments heat up, as in traditional lights. Instead the light is created by a smart silicon semi-conductor which glows when electricity passes through.
We’ve heard they are very energy-efficient – is
this true?
Yes. LEDs require very little electricity to power them up. This is because they are extremely efficient. Their design converts approximately 90% of the electricity they consume into light. In a conventional light the figure is more like 10 – 15%, with the rest of the electricity effectively wasted in lost heat. Our Greenled downlighters, for example, draw less than 4 Watts of electricity to light up, compared to the 35 Watts drawn by a traditional halogen downlighter. That is a saving in electricity consumption of approximately 90%. This is particularly attractive when the cost of electricity is continually rising. All Greenled LED lights are highly energy-efficient.
So what’s so good about Greenled lights?
Our LEDs have many advantages over traditional lighting and low-energy lighting. As well as being highly energy-efficient, our lights
are suitable for retro-fit installation and new builds. This
means they can be used to replace existing lights (especially
inefficient halogens) and/or be installed into buildings designed for the future. Greenled lights are all thoroughly tested
before they are released onto the market. They are all CE approved,
ROHS compliant and all tested to meet minimum safety standards.
They can be truly relied upon for longevity and for performance.
That is why they carry guarantees – unlike much of the
competition.
What’s wrong with other low-energy lighting? The usual low-energy light technology on the market today is the Compact Fluorescent Light (CFLs). These tend to give off a cold bluey-white light. In effect they are the same technology as the neon fluorescent tubes often found in offices or kitchens, simply engineered to fit into smaller fittings (hence “compact”). CFL technology is energy-efficient, as it uses less electricity than traditional lighting. However, CFLs contain mercury, phosphor and other toxic materials in measurable quantities – they need these materials in order to function efficiently. They also tend to be made of glass and if they break they are a health hazard from both the glass shards and the mercury traces. This makes them risky to handle and expensive to dispose of. In fact as of 2007, consumers MUST employ the services of a properly registered disposal company whenever CFLs are removed. In addition CFL lights tend to flicker and usually take time to come on – causing health and safety issues. LEDs have none of these problems.
OK – that all sounds good. So how does the light compare? LEDs gained a reputation a few years ago for having a weak light output which was often blue in appearance. No longer. And certainly not from Greenled. We are at the forefront of this technology. There are many lights in our range which are a warm white, echoing the yellow candle light of a halogen lamp. LEDs are able to be coloured precisely – much more precisely than any other lights. There are two ways to achieve this: for a high powered single LED chip, a coloured phosphor is coated on the silicon chip. For a cluster LED, the cluster can include red, green and blue chips. These can be adjusted to match most colours but white light is our speciality.
Do your lights meet the specifications and recommendations? Our lights each come with a data sheet setting out their specifications. Minimum lux levels and light output requirements can all be met with our lights
How does Greenled determine the length of life? The lamps are tested by being overdriven electronically in order to replicate the same use over a long period. Most manufacturers aim for a 50,000 hour life period which is about 5.7 years if the lights are on all of the time. The length of life equates to the average length of time spent at full brightness. Our lights will actually last for much, much longer than 50,000 hours, but it is at that point that the light output begins to appear less than it was. It is accepted that the human eye will begin to notice a difference when the light output decreases to about 70% of its maximum brightness. Using tested mathematical formulae, our technical team calculates when that 70% point is in hours – and that is the average length of time we say our lights will last for.
Is this full period guaranteed? No. But we are one of the first companies to offer you a guarantee on all our light bulbs. We guarantee every light for at least two years and we are aiming to extend that further.
Why is no one else doing this type of lighting? Of course other companies do offer excellent LED based lighting. Many companies specialise in making LEDs for decorative lighting effects. Most of the large companies are working to develop a range of LED lighting, but they also make a lot of money selling halogen and CFL technology and it takes time for a large company to introduce new products. At Greenled our strength is that we have a wide range of tested, approved, working lights in stock and available for installation right now.
Do these lamps dim? In our range we have many products which are able to be dimmed. This usually requires a discussion with our technical teams in order to define how it integrates with your chosen dimming system. We are seeing low wattage GU10s which claim to dim but we do not consider them bright enough yet.
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Do the MR16s need new LED drivers or will they work with existing transformers? They may well work with your existing transformers, but we will only guarantee the performance if we supply the LED driver. LEDs work best when combined with an LED driver.
Will they fit existing holes? A specification sheet is available for each product which defines the dimensions of the lamp and the fittings. These are designed specifically to fit the existing standard downlight fitting dimensions. So, Yes.
Will they fit existing fittings? In the main YES. All of Greenled’s mains downlighter bulbs have GU10 or ES27 screw fittings which fit standard fittings. Our MR16 (or GU5.3) low voltage bulbs also fit standard fittings. In order to accommodate considerably more complex electronics as well as the heat sink, some GU10 LED lamps will be a little longer than the standard halogen dichroic lamp. The energy saving is so great that if the lamp does not simply retrofit, we would suggest changing the fitting and installing a fitting with flying GU10 lead
Does a particular LED wattage equate to a particular halogen light output? DEFINITELY NOT. The LED lamp performance is a function of several specific technologies. One 3 Watt lamp performance will be quite different to the next. Our own view is that we strongly doubt that any retrofittable downlight LED lamp using more than 7 Watts will have a heat sink which is effective enough to dissipate the heat effectively. As such the light output will decline and the lamp will not achieve the lifetime promised. Tread very carefully, especially if your main criteria is based on initial price.
Does Greenled have fittings for spots or downlights? Yes we can supply them but at this point we do not have them as part of our standard offer. Please call and we can suggest some options.
Does a multichip cluster work better than a single high powered LED chip lamp? As a rule the cluster approach does not require to be driven as hard as single high performance chips. Thus the heatsink requirement will be less. However the multipoint light source does not suit everybody.
Does Greenled offer Bayonet BC fittings? In a few of our lamps this is an option, but the UK and Australia are the only countries in the world with BC fittings and most manufacturers will concentrate on the rest of world which uses Edison Screw ES fittings. BC fittings will gradually be phased out.
Why do the lamps have metal collars? This is a necessary feature of an LED light which is designed to last for a very long time. They pull the heat away from the LEDs allowing them to work effectively in a cool environment. The challenge will be in keeping these elegant, effective and in proportion as we drive slightly more Watts to replicate higher performing tungsten lamps. In reality the aluminium collar makes little difference when the lamp is in situ because most bulbs are behind shades or in the ceiling.
Will Greenled lights accommodate the spikes and surges in the UK electricity grid? YES. But that will definitely not be the case with most other LEDs. At Greenled our technologists have worked very hard to incorporate sophisticated circuitry into many of our products which cuts out the light, until the surge regulates itself.
So what savings can we expect with your lights? Lighting can be expensive. Possibly more so than is obvious at first glance. Often people focus solely on the initial costs of the bulbs themselves, but it is the continuing cost of electricity to run them when they’re on, coupled with the costs of maintenance, of making sure the bulbs are all working and that there are enough in stock which adds considerably to the overall lighting costs. With Greenled you do not need to worry about that any longer. Our lights are designed to save you money. If you have, say, 25 downlights running at 35 Watts each = 875 Watts. Let’s say they run for, say, an average of 10 hours per day every day = 3650 hours per year. That is 875 x 3650 of energy = 3193750 Watts per yr = 3193.75 kWh. Using a commercial average electricity cost of 12p / kWh = £ 383.25. By using Greenled downlights instead, your 25 x 3.7 Watt LEDs will now consume 92 W, which, over 3650 hrs = 337.63 kWh. At 12p / kWh that is only £ 40.52. Immediately you have made a saving of some 90% (£ 343 per year or £ 13.72 per light). The average cost of electricity may well rise further, in which case the saving will rise accordingly. And this is just the energy saving - it does not include air-con or maintenance savings. And because LEDs last for 50,000 hours, you do not need to contemplate changing them again for many years.
Do these lights flicker? NO – LEDs do not flicker to the human eye.
Is this technology actually good for you? LEDs produce no ultra-violet light nor any infra-red rays. This makes their effect on both the human eye and on soft furnishings or artwork materials much less harmful than the heat/light emitted by traditional incandescent or halogen dichroic lighting. Our Spectralux LEDs are specially designed for use where optical sensitivity is a concern – they are as close to natural daylight as any manufactured lamp can reach.
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