1. Brightness
Brightness is the most important factor for users of LED lights. Brightness can be explained in two ways:
Brightness (L): The luminous flux of a light-emitting body per unit solid angle per unit area in a specific direction. Unit: Nits (cd/m²).
Luminous flux (φ): The total amount of light emitted by a light-emitting body per second. Unit: Lumens (lm), indicating the amount of light emitted; the more light emitted, the higher the lumen count.
LED lights are usually labeled with their luminous flux, which users can use to determine the brightness of the LED light. The higher the luminous flux, the brighter the light.
2. Wavelength
LEDs with consistent wavelengths have consistent colors. Manufacturers without LED spectrophotometers find it difficult to produce products with pure colors.
3. Color Temperature
Color temperature is a unit of measurement for the color of light, expressed in Kelvin (K). Yellow light is below 3300K, white light is above 5300K, and there is an intermediate color range of 3300K-5300K. 4. Leakage Current
LEDs are unidirectional light emitters. If there is reverse current, it's called leakage current. LEDs with high leakage current have short lifespans.
5. Anti-static Capability
LEDs with strong anti-static capabilities have long lifespans and are therefore more expensive. Many counterfeit and substandard products on the market perform poorly in this aspect, which is the fundamental reason for their significantly shortened expected lifespan.
The selection of LED lighting fixtures includes appearance, heat dissipation, light distribution, glare, and installation. Today, we won't discuss the parameters of the lighting fixtures, only the light source: Do you really know how to choose a good LED light source? The main parameters of a light source are: current, power, luminous flux, light decay, color temperature, and color rendering index. Today, we will focus on the last two, and briefly discuss the first four.
First, we often say, "I want a light of X watts." This habit continues the practice of traditional light sources, which only had a few fixed wattages, basically limiting selection to those wattages and not allowing for free adjustment. But with modern LEDs, a slight change in the driving current immediately changes the power! Are you still demanding high power? Beware! Driving the same LED light source with excessive current increases power but reduces luminous efficacy and increases light decay. See the diagram below:
Generally, redundancy equals waste, but for LED operating current, it's a saving. Reducing the drive current by 1/3 when it reaches the rated maximum allows a very limited sacrifice in luminous flux, yet the benefits are significant:
Significantly reduced light decay;
Greatly extended lifespan;
Significantly improved reliability;
Higher energy efficiency.
Therefore, a good LED light source should use approximately 70% of its maximum rated drive current.
In this case, designers should directly specify the luminous flux; the wattage should be determined by the manufacturer. This encourages manufacturers to prioritize efficiency and stability, rather than simply pushing the wattage of the light source at the expense of efficiency and lifespan.
The parameters mentioned above include: current, power, luminous flux, and light decay. They are closely related; pay attention to which one you truly need during use.
Light Color
In the era of traditional light sources, when discussing color temperature, people only cared about "yellow light" and "white light," paying little attention to color deviation. After all, traditional light sources only had a few color temperatures; choosing one generally didn't cause significant deviations. With the advent of LEDs, we've discovered that LED light colors come in all shapes and sizes. Even LEDs from the same batch can exhibit wildly varying colors, resulting in a chaotic mix of reds and greens.
Everyone says LEDs are good—energy-saving and environmentally friendly. But did you know? There are quite a few companies that have ruined the LED industry! Below is a real-life example of LED lighting from a well-known domestic brand in a large project, sent by a user. Look at their light distribution, color temperature consistency, and that subtle blue light…
Given this chaotic situation, a conscientious LED lighting manufacturer promised customers: "Our lighting fixtures have a color temperature deviation within ±150K!" Some design companies also specify in their product specifications: "LED color temperature deviation must be within ±150K."
The basis for this 150K standard is a conclusion drawn from traditional literature: "A color temperature deviation within ±150K is imperceptible to the human eye." They believe that specifying a color temperature "within ±150K" can prevent red-green color distortion. However, it's not that simple...
LED chips, drivers, housings, dimensions, luminous flux, illuminance per meter, rated power, actual power, power factor, color rendering index, color temperature, ambient temperature, and light decay.
Key parameters of LED chips:
Small power chips: Red/Yellow: 1.8-2.4V. Blue/Green/White: 3-3.6V. Rated current is 20mA for both.
High power chips: 1 watt: 3-3.6V, 350mA.
1. LEDs are versatile, used in lighting, indicator lights, decoration, etc.
2. LED lights use direct current (DC). The voltage of each LED varies; for example, white, green, and blue LEDs typically operate at 3-3.5V. A normal brightness of 20mm is sufficient. If you're using 9V to light one, the required resistor is calculated as {(9 - LED voltage) / 0.02A (mA to ampere)}. The same applies to 12V.
3. Red light voltage: 1.8-2.1V, wavelength 610-620 nm; Green light voltage: 3.0-3.5V, wavelength 520-530 nm; Blue light voltage: 3.0-3.5V, wavelength 460-470 nm; White light voltage: 3.0-3.5V, no wavelength.
While some factories, power plants, and other enterprises may not have used industrial LED lighting, the term "LED" is likely unfamiliar to most. The advent of LED lighting will inevitably lead to the obsolescence of incandescent and energy-saving lamps—a natural consequence of technological progress.
LED lights differ significantly in performance from traditional lights, especially those used in industrial lighting. So how can users choose good, suitable LED lights for industrial lighting? Below is a brief introduction to several parameters of LED lights for industrial lighting.
1. Brightness
Brightness is the most important factor for users. Brightness can be explained in two ways:
Brightness (L): The luminous flux of a light-emitting body per unit solid angle per unit area in a specific direction. Unit: Nits (cd/m²).
Luminous Flux (φ): The total amount of light emitted by a light-emitting body per second. Unit: Lumens (lm). It indicates the amount of light emitted; the more light emitted, the higher the lumen count.
LED lights are usually labeled with their luminous flux. Users can determine the brightness of an LED light based on the luminous flux. The higher the luminous flux, the brighter the light.
2. Wavelength
LEDs with consistent wavelengths have consistent colors. Manufacturers without LED spectrophotometers find it difficult to produce products with pure colors.
3. Color Temperature
Color temperature is a unit of measurement for the color of light, expressed in Kelvin (K). Yellow light is below 3300K, white light is above 5300K, and there's an intermediate color temperature between 3300K and 5300K. Users can choose the appropriate color temperature based on the lighting environment and the needs of the personnel.
4. Leakage Current
LEDs are unidirectional light emitters. If there is reverse current, it's called leakage current. LEDs with high leakage current have short lifespans.
5. Antistatic Capability
LEDs with strong antistatic capabilities have longer lifespans and are therefore more expensive. Many counterfeit and inferior products on the market perform poorly in this aspect, which is the fundamental reason why their expected lifespan is significantly shortened.
6. Lifespan
Lifespan is a key factor in different quality levels, determined by light decay. Low light decay results in a long lifespan. Truly high-quality LEDs have achieved almost no light decay, which is the industry's top level, unmatched by most LED manufacturers.
7. Design
Each product has a different design, and different designs are suitable for different applications. The reliability design of LED lights includes factors such as electrical safety, fire safety, environmental safety, mechanical safety, health safety, and safe operating time.
8. Protection Rating
IP is an abbreviation for Ingress Protection. The IP rating refers to the level of protection against the intrusion of foreign objects into the enclosure of electrical equipment, such as explosion-proof electrical equipment and waterproof/dustproof electrical equipment. It originates from the International Electrotechnical Commission standard IEC 60529.
Protection ratings are usually expressed as IP followed by two numbers. The numbers specify the level of protection. The first number indicates the range of protection against dust, or the degree to which people are protected from harm in a sealed environment. It represents the level of protection against the intrusion of solid foreign objects, with the highest level being 6. The second number indicates the degree of waterproofing. It represents the level of protection against water ingress, with the highest level being 8.
Of course, there are more parameters for LED lights than just these. For example, flicker, heat dissipation, and luminous efficacy are also relevant parameters for evaluating the quality of LED lights.
Users need to understand that choosing LED lights cannot be done simply by looking at wattage, unlike choosing incandescent bulbs. Wattage no longer accurately reflects the brightness of an LED light; a low-wattage LED with high luminous efficacy may be brighter than a high-wattage LED. This is the nature of the LED era; only by using parameters that are suitable for the LED can one select high-quality LED lights for industrial lighting.