Owl Lighting Design

LEDs – The Fall Guys of Lighting Design

Part One

It pays to be discerning when choosing new light fittings. Leading Hampshire lighting designer Sally Stephenson introduces the subject and gives 5 reasons to use better quality LED’s.
The recent phasing out of the old inefficient incandescent bulbs has paved the way for a new wave of high quality LED’s with increased colour warmth, design and dimming ability. However, this new technology and superior fittings come at a price and leading lighting designer Sally Stephenson takes a look at why they’re worth spending more on… and buying wisely.

More Reliable

1. More reliable. It’s a well-known fact that LEDs give increased power and use less energy than their counterparts which waste over 95% and continually need replacing. A good quality LED lamp will last for over 50,000 hours and give off more power. Don’t skimp on the driver though – cheap ones are often the weak link and are much less reliable than the others.

2. That warm familiar glow. This is the most important quality in high end LEDs. Many people are hesitant to convert to LEDs having experienced the old style clinical white beam and frustrating time-delay of ‘green’ lighting. Superior LEDs can now replicate the warmer glow of traditional filament bulbs to give colour which is accurate and most importantly, consistent. Inferior lamps may be called warm white on the box but it still may not necessarily be warm enough. Good colour stability is essential to avoid those strange colour hues!

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3. No flickering! Although fittings with main dimming may be more cost effective, it’s worth remembering that they may not be compatible with many dimmers. 0-10V/Dali dimming will need an extra control wire but produces a much smoother and greater range of dimming capacity.

4. Variety of angles. Cheaper LEDs often offer a standard wide 60° beam which can result in a dull and uniform flat light. Better fittings offer a variety of beam angles to enable a more tailored solution to a space.

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5. No glare. Premium downlight LEDs lamps are tucked inside the ceiling which considerably improves the look of the fitting. However more importantly, this allows a baffle or lens to be fitted which reduces glare and gives greater control over the direction of the light and the final effect.

As this is a complex subject we will return to it in detail regularly in the coming months. Please do contact us if you would like to know more or for help with your lighting design.
You can find us at www.owl-lighting.co.uk

To be continued…