Photo by Rich Smith from Unsplash
Whether you are an LED module buyer for a big lighting company, a small business owner developing your own lighting fixtures, or a stay-at-home mom buying LED lights for your home, there are key features that you should know when buying LEDs.
As a small business based in Newbury Park, California (just shy of an hour outside of LA), World Class Illumination takes pride in delivering high-quality custom LED boards to create incredible LED lighting fixtures, from large-scale architectural lighting projects to home centered outdoor landscape lighting. LED lighting is the lighting of the future, and we are proud to be a part of this growing industry for the last 20+ years!
3 quick points about LED Lighting:
- They are much better for the environment.
- They have a long lasting lifespan/warranty.
- They can save on compounded electrical expenses year-after-year.
However, we have found that there is much less awareness on what actually makes a high-quality LED and how these factors can not only create 1) more bang for your buck but 2) a better lighting look and design for an overall difference in the aesthetics and construction of the light.
Our engineers at WCI want to ensure our customers, and all folks reading this, are well informed on 7 key criteria for a powerful LED product. Our goal is to ensure that LEDs and the LED industry advance in prioritizing high-quality over price and other factors that affect the overall product quality, as well as, consumers’ longterm trust and reliability in LED products.
Due to complexity of the engineering process and LED features, lighting companies may not even know they are sacrificing the most premium, long-lasting, and brightest LEDs available for their company’s lighting products! However, small tweaks can exponentially increase the LEDs life, warranty, functional capabilities, and overall look and aesthetic, resulting in less hassle, better products, and more customers as an end result.
Here are the Top 7 Most Important Qualities You Should Know about LED Modules in Your Lighting Products:
For the Most Suitable and Sustainable LED Lighting Fixtures for Your Large Scale Project or Home/ Commercial Use:
1) CRI
One of the most important aspects when choosing LED’s is the CRI, which stands for Color Rendering Index. It measures light on a scale of 1 to 100, 1 being the worst and 100 being the best. And what the Color rendering index measures is how it affects the appearance of color to the human eye. For example when you catch sunlight in a prism, a rainbow appears. The sunlight is a mix of all of these colors making the white light. The sunlight is the perfect example. The colors that we see outside, the green in the trees and grass, the blue from our rivers and oceans. These colors are so crisp and perfect. But when it comes to indoor lighting, it’s different.
In indoor lighting, some lights might have more red in them, or some might have more blue; therefore they affect the way we see colors in our home. That beautiful painting might look more dull inside then you thought it would, or the plants don’t seem so vibrant. The best way to a more lively, and comfortable home is to invest in lighting that has a high CRI. That way the colors that you chose to present in your home or in your lighting product are more vibrant and pleasing, making you happier overall. With that in mind you want to choose lights that have a score of at least 80, but the higher the better!
2) Color Temperature
Next is color temperature. LEDs come in a variety of color temperatures, from the softer yellow-ish color of most incandescent bulbs (2700K ) to more of bluish-white of a fluorescent shop light (6000K). In your home it is recommended to have the amount of 2700K or 3000K. The brightest LEDs may only be available in higher color temperatures. Color temperature is important because it can affect the mood of the room. More warmer colored lights towards the lesser end of the spectrum is recommended for households, to give them that warm cozy feel. Whereas lights towards the bigger end of the spectrum will be brighter and whiter – these are good for office spaces where productivity thrives. So depending on what kind of mood you are trying to elicit, it’s important to consider the color temperature of the lighting you are choosing. Below is a color temperature chart for more clear breakdown.