Difference Between LED Solutions

1. General benefits of high quality LED street lights
2. Be aware of poor quality, lower lumen imitations

1.  GENERAL BENEFITS OF HIGH QUALITY LED STREET LIGHTS

 

LED technology has developed dramatically over the last few years. The production of LED lighting luminaire is an extremely difficult process that    requires a combination of advanced production lines, top quality materials and high-precision manufacturing processes. Not many companies in the world meet the qualitative standards in the production of LED lamps. Because LED technology is in an exceptional increase, there are a lot of inexperienced producers of LED street lights which are low cost but with very poor quality on the market. Poor quality LED street lights can be worse than other types of existing energy-saving lamps on the market, while high-quality LED street lights exceeding other types of street lighting in all technical parameters.

 

There are currently less than 100 experienced manufacturers of LED street lights in the world, of which less than 10 are able to produce high-quality LED street lamp with the highest quality standards. Those manufacturers are optimally exploiting full benefits of LED technology and Aerolite LSL® LED street lights belong among them.

 

Benefits of LED street lighting listed below are related to those high quality LED street lights:

 

Less energy consumption
LED street lights use 40-80% less electricity and have at least 5 times the life expectancy than regular High Pressure Sodium (HPS) fixtures.

 

Higher efficiency due to directional light
LED street lights with a lower lumen output can replace conventional lamps with a higher output. For example, a 30W LED street light can often replace an 80W High Pressure Sodium lamp. The reason for this is directionality. LED street lamps are very directional and the light output is much more even then by other street lamps. Also there is little or no hot spot under the LED lamp. The light emitted from the LED lamp is spread throughout the entire area it covers. This means that a lower amount of light is needed to properly illuminate the area.

 

Long life – more than 60.000 hours
LED street lights last much longer than conventional lamps (3 to 8 times longer). This result in less expense in replacing the lights themselves but also the labour to replace the lamp is needed less often. This provides a great cost savings by itself.
Also the loss of brightness or lumen depreciation is slower over the life of an LED lamp than that of the sodium or other lamp. So not only does the LED have a longer life span than the conventional lamp, but it stays brighter longer than other lamps.

 

Free of harmful mercury
No mercury or other hazardous chemical and gasses in the bulbs.

 

Reducing carbon footprint
The carbon footprint of LED street lights is smaller than other lights due to lower energy usage.

 

Dark Sky friendly
Because of the directional light, light goes where it is meant to go. So there is no / little light which is wasted illuminating the night sky. This is a considerable plus especially if the local community has a Dark Sky Initiative.

 

Natural light spectrum
LED street lamps with colour temperature 3.500-4.200 K are rendering more natural light than the yellow of sodium lamps or green of flourescent streetlights. Also no UV or IR radiation is emitted from the LED street lamps.

 

Lower environmental impact when used up
Spent LED lamps can be tossed without any special handling or disposal requirement. Other light often have hazardous materials such as lead and mercury which require special handling and waste management procedures which have both economic and environmental costs.

 

Easily controllable
Light is easily controllable with advanced systems. Can be turned on and off instantly and can be dimmed for added energy savings at dawn and dusk.

 

2.  BE AWARE OF POOR QUALITY, LOWER LUMEN IMITATIONS

  

   While choosing the right LED solution, you have to be aware:

A)   that LED technology has progressed rapidly in the past few years

B)   that notall LEDs are created equal

C)   that some manufacturers are offering extremely low cost options, which are inferior and of poor quality

 

Problems of that kind of lights can be easily recognized by:

Unpleasant pale blue shine of light (5.000 K and more)
Consequences:

  •  unnatural colours
  •  the colour of human skin under such light is gray, purple (like a skin of a dead man)
  •  disturbing for eyes and consequently reduced traffic safety

 

Light heating is poorly solved. Most of them solve the problem with cooling ribs and open casing.
Consequences:

  •  accumulating of dirt (dust, leaves, etc.) on the cooling ribs, which means more maintenance costs
  •  disruption or malfunction of the electronics and consequently reduced life expectancy

 

Poor quality of optical-electronic part of the luminaire, because low quality LED diodes and converter is used, which is essential to control electronics. Also the manufacturing process is not sufficiently controlled.
Consequences:

  •  uneven distribution of light beam
  •  light is not properly directed but dissipated and shining where it shouldn´t
  •  poorer light efficiency
  •  fierce glare disturbing passersby

 

Poor quality housing and not sufficiently qualitative joints of electronics with the housing.
Consequences:

  •  malfunctioning due to moisture intrusion