LEDs – All You Need To Know

The Benefits of LED Lighting

If you would like to save money and improve the environment, then choosing LEDs is the obvious solution. LED lighting is easy to install and you can start to enjoy the financial savings straightaway. The financial outlay of converting to LEDs was very high but fortunately as technology has moved forward, costs have come down and have therefore made LED lighting a much more cost-effective solution.

Over the past fifteen to twenty years the power, colour binning and luminosity of LEDs has developed beyond recognition. As a result, the outstanding qualities of LEDs can now provide exciting solutions in an ever-increasing range of lighting applications.

The benefits of using LEDs are many:

Low power consumption compared with conventional lighting – you can save up to 85% on energy costs when compared to filament or halogen lamps
No ultra-violet output – the UV component of conventional lighting can cause damage to fabrics, delicate objects and food
Long lamp life – typically 50,000 hours without any noticeable deterioration in performance
LEDs do not produce any forward heat – this is ideal when illuminating delicate items
Ecologically friendly – no toxic gases and no glass or filaments to break
Flexibility of use – LEDs are much smaller than conventional light sources, therefore allowing for imaginative lighting designs

We believe quality is key and we therefore only supply the best LED lighting available – it is worth investing in good quality LEDs as they will last for many years, saving you money and time.

What are IP Ratings?

One thing to consider when purchasing LEDs is the IP rating.

This classifies the degrees of protection provided against the intrusion of water in electrical enclosures. The IP Code aims to give more detailed information than just simple terms such as “waterproof”. The IP Code (or International Protection Rating, also sometimes referred to as Ingress Protection Rating) consists of the letters IP followed by two digits and an optional letter.

IP Number	Protection From	Uses
IP20	Not protected from liquids	General indoor lighting where no water or condensation is present
IP54	Protected from water spray from any direction	Kitchen environments where there is a potential for condensation, but not water
IP65	Protected from low pressure water jets from any direction	Internal and external use where the LEDs can potentially get wet but not be submereged
IP67	Protected from immersion between 15 cms and 1m in depth	Internal and external use where the LEDs might be submerged
IP68	Protected from long term immersion up to a specified pressure	Internal and external use where being fully waterproof is required

What Are Lumens?

Lumens measure the total amount of visible light from a light source. The higher the lumen rating the “brighter” the lamp will appear.

How many lumens will you need? This will depend on a number of things including the size and shape of the room, the height of the ceilings, the colour scheme, the beam angle of the light fittings and your needs as the user.

Please contact us for help with this if required.

Kelvin Scale

A lot of people think that LED lighting produces a cold light, but there are many different colour temperatures available. The colour temperature is measured in units called Kelvin (K). A low colour temperature creates a “yellowish” warm light, while a high colour temperature creates a cool, almost blue light.

White LEDs are now available from 2000 – 10,000 Kelvin but the most popular levels are 2700 – 3000 warm white, 4000 – 4500 natural white and cool white 6000 – 6500.

Technology now allows us to create colour temperatures from 2000 – 10,000 Kelvin which can be produced on special order in for linear form.

Products

LED Light Fittings

We sell the latest LED light fittings which are not always available on the high street.

We have a full range of LED light fittings suitable for use in every room. These can be used as uplighters, downlights, wall washes etc. The main manufacturers of quality high output LED chips are Cree, Bridgelux and Luxeon. All of our light fittings use either Cree or Bridgelux LED chips.

Visit our online shop to see the range of LED light fittings we have available.

LED Extrusion Lighting

Whether you want to put recessed lighting under kitchen cabinets, illuminate some shelving or install some step lighting, we have a full range of aluminium extrusion for LED lighting.

Our high quality LED extrusion lighting will give you new, innovative effective energy-efficient lighting for your house, office, hotel or restaurant. We use various types of LED strip which are housed in a various styles of extrusions with a variety of covers to suit every requirement.

Bespoke Service for Pre-Made LED Bars – LiteBuilder

We provide a bespoke service to make installation easier and faster for you. We will pre-cut your extrusion and pre-solder the LEDs with the correct wiring option and supply this as a complete kit of parts ready for installation.

This is available via our online shop – if you have any questions, please contact us.