The safe way to efficient LED lighting technology

There is hardly a new building or newly developed outdoor area that is not equipped with efficient LED ltechnology today. When it comes to lighting retrofits, however, many companies are still lagging behind. Often one hears, “The lighting still works”. The amount of possible energy cost savings is still underestimated.

The LED specialist LEDAXO provides an overview of the considerations that need to be made to ensure that cost-saving effects, workplace requirements and safety-related aspects are all taken into account.

LED lighting offers a lot of advantages and energy saving potentials between 50 and 80%. Not to forget the possibility to reduce load peaks, which often have a significant impact on the energy cost calculation for companies. However, the best possible realization of the potential savings can only be achieved if a number of aspects are taken into account during planning and lamp selection, so that the most suitable solution can actually be found for the object in question.

The quality and condition of the built-in LED chips and power supply units, as well as effective heat dissipation, are decisive for the much-vaunted longevity of the LED lamps on offer. Since, in contrast to conventional lighting, heat dissipation in LEDs does not occur through light emission, the effective design of the aluminum heat sink, which is essential for powerful LED lamps, has a decisive influence on the expected service life.

As a rule of thumb, the larger the surface of the aluminum heat sink, the better the conditions for good heat dissipation. In the case of LED chips, there are chips from every manufacturer with very different characteristics that influence the service life and performance. A certain brand name alone does not give any information about the quality of a product. The luminous flux maintenance value (L70-L95) is a meaningful distinguishing feature. A value of L95, for example, represents a luminous flux reduction of only 5% over the course of the product’s service life. It is therefore always advisable to compare the technical data of different lamps that go beyond watts and lumens.

Important for almost every object is first of all a careful as-is survey. For this purpose, LEDAXO and its local partners are available to provide expert advice. In the case of an existing installation, the first step is to determine its type and condition. Then the requirements of the respective enterprise are taken up and defined in the comparison with the work place-legal regulations after DIN EN 12464-1 / -2 or work place regulations ASR A3.4. In addition, detailed aspects such as the possibilities of motion or daylight-dependent lighting control are discussed or, in the case of camera surveillance of a company site, the brightness requirements of the system manufacturer are taken into account.

On this basis, LEDAXO then prepares a lighting design. Here, different lamp alternatives and light distribution options are considered in order to determine the most sensible solution in terms of cost and energy efficiency. Here, the wide variety of available lamps, each with up to 12 different light distribution options, is a reliable basis for the best solution. The profitability calculation provided gives the respective company clear information about energy cost savings and payback period.