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An LED lighting problem that’s baffled scientists for decades has been solved. AND: Why flicker is back – and is worse then ever. PLUS: Lux launches a new event for the fall. Lux Today newscast for Tuesday 24 May 2016 is presented by Courtney Ferguson.
led flicker · LED lamps · led lighting · LED spots · lux magazine · Novel Energy Lighting
When should you use fire-rated downlights, and when you should, what one do you select from the dozens on the market? We bench test and rate the latest products from the major brands. Report by Lux technical editor Alan Tulla.
Did you know that different fire test standards can apply to downlights?
I didn’t, and what should have been just a single line mentioning the applicable standard turned into quite a lengthy investigation.
One simple way of fire-proofing any recessed luminaire is to fit a fire hood or tent over the top of it. You can buy hoods in various sizes for 30 minute, 60 minute and 90 minute fire ratings. They need to be fitted carefully though. You also need to check that, when fitted with a fire hood, the luminaire will not overheat in normal operation. You should be doing this anyway since many installations using recessed luminaires also have thermal insulation above in the void or there can be restricted ventilation.
However, this article is about recessed downlights where they form an intrinsic part of the fire resistance of the ceiling. There is a huge market for these products. Maybe the two commonest areas are: fitted to the ceiling of the top storey (e.g. beneath the loft or roof space) and kitchen areas on the ground floor where there is a false ceiling.
Before fitting fire-rated downlights, you should always what resistance (30 minutes, 60 minutes, 90 minutes) is required. The people most likely to know are the architect or building services engineer. If the ceiling is of a non-standard construction, check what fire test standard is applicable.
The Lighting Industry Association recommends that luminaires conform to BS 476-21. It also recommends conformance to BS EN ISO 140-3:1995 and 140-6:1998 which concerns the acoustic performance of the internal or separating floor.
The other relevant fire-test standard is EN 1365. This is a much more recent standard than BS 476. In fact, the test method and time/temperature curve is identical to BS 476 but there is a difference in how the thermocouple is used.
In a way, the term ‘fire-rated downlight’ is slightly misleading since the condition of the luminaire during and after the test is irrelevant. The intention of both test standards is to determine whether installing the luminaires compromises the integrity of the floor and ceiling construction.
Fire testing is, quite justifiably, expensive. Always ask to see a copy of the fire test certificate for the particular luminaire you are using.
Please remember that this article is a brief explanation of how the Fire Regulations (Part B) apply. The fire resistance of buildings is a specialist area of expertise and we recommend that you should always ask for advice from a competent person.
Aurora m10CX
Aurora has a huge range of fire rated downlights. One of the main features of its M Series is that it doesn’t have an external driver. Instead, there is an integrated circuit on board. This also removes the need for the electrolytic capacitor, which is usually considered to be the weakest component in an LED downlight.
The CX downlight has variable colour temperature from 2700K – 6400K and this can be altered remotely from a wall switch making it ideal for hospitality, retail, commercial and residential applications .
It’s good to see that it is also tested to BS EN ISO 140-3:1995 and 140-6:1998 Acoustics.
Fire test standard supplied: BS EN 1365-2
4 STARS ****
Collingwood H2 Pro 550
This is a comprehensively designed downlight. As well as being fire rated and mains dimmable, it is also IP65 so you can use it in bathrooms. The most recent version requires a depth of just 56mm above the ceiling.
Collingwood also claims (backed by independent lab testing) that flicker is less than 1 per cent. It has also been tested under the LIA Verified scheme.
There is also a choice of 11 bezels (six round, five square). A useful feature is that they can be fitted once the downlight is in place. This allows for finishing touches to the ceiling to be made without masking the light.
One extra, useful touch is that the 20-page leaflet has a large comparison chart showing all the options and combinations available.
Fire test standard supplied: BS EN 1365-2. Also LIA Verified scheme approved downlight.
4 STARS ****
Integral LED Fire rated downlight
This is a simple, compact and attractive downlight. Integral LED is a very technically competent company. It has its own labs in the UK and every product is fully tested. We have reviewed some of its other products and they consistently perform very well.
This unit is IP65 and solidly constructed with a cast aluminium heat sink. The chip-on-board LED is set up higher in the downlight than many of its competitors thus reducing any chance of glare. It also has a loop-in, loop-out driver making it easier to install.
As well as fire resistance, it is also tested for sound insulation and air tightness BS EN 13141.
Fire test standard supplied: BS 476-21 and 140-6:1998 Acoustics and others.
4 STARS ****
JCC FG LED
The FG LED series is available in three outputs from 380 lm to 850 lm. Colour temperature can be either 3000K or 4000K. The most powerful is the IP65 FG LED 10. This has a 60 degree beam as standard. This wider angle makes it suitable for kitchens where you want more general lighting.
The downlight is constructed as a perforated steel can with the finned heat sink inside. The driver is attached to the top of the can thus giving extra height to the downlight. This creates a much larger air pocket and JCC say that this means you can lay insulation directly over the fitting.
Fire test standard supplied: BS 476-21
4 STARS ****
Lumanor
This is a plain, budget-range cast aluminium IP65 downlight. It is only available in 10W and 2700K or 4500K. Five interchangeable bezels are available. The driver is remote and fitted with a short inter-connecting lead.
The fire test certificate supplied contained the barest minimum of information.
Fire test standard supplied: BS 476-21
2 STARS **
Lumaxled
Again, a plain, budget-range cast aluminium IP65 downlight. It is a 9W unit and available in 3000K and 4000K. The colour rendering index is claimed to be greater than 85. The driver is remote and fitted with a short interconnecting lead.
Unusually, the downlight is tested to BS 476-23 which has different requirements from Part 21.
Fire test standard supplied: BS 476-23.
2 STARS **
Nexus Luceco Atom
This is taller than most other downlights at 110mm. This is partly due to the bracket over the top which keeps any insulation clear of the heat sink and cable exit. It is rated at 5.2W and available in 2700K and 4000K versions. There is a 38 degree beam and the downlight is rated at IP65. Three bezels are available.
It has integrated circuitry so no separate driver is required.
Fire test standard supplied: BS 476-21
3 STARS ***
PAL All-In-One
This comes packaged with four bezels so there is no need to decide which you want before you buy. Another unusual feature is that driver has a slider switch so you can change the colour temperature from 3000K to 4000K or 6000K. Of course, you have to do this before inserting it in the ceiling but it does mean that you could change the colour temperature in the future. The beam is 40 degrees.
One bonus of this product is that it is LIA Lab verified.
Fire test standard supplied: BS 476-21
3 STARS ***
LED Group Robus Triumph Activate
The 8W Triumph Activate downlight has an integrated driver thus eliminating the electrolytic capacitor. It has a decent lens and reflector system giving a clean 38 degree beam. A 60-degree version is also available.
The general construction and wiring is very solid. It’s sometimes the little things that count, such as the firmly fixed plastic-coated spring clips that don’t fall out and the solid Swift cable connectors. These, together with the comprehensive installation instructions, data sheets and sales literature, give one a feeling of confidence.
Fire test standard supplied: BS 476-20 and BS 476-21
4 STARS ****
Scolmore Inceptor Max LED4500
There is a whole range of different products under the Scolmore group banner. Click wiring accessories may be the most well-known brand. Lighting products are branded Ovia.
In essence, this is an IP65, 8W with a 35 degree beam available in 2700K and 4000K with three bezel finishes. The company also makes a tiltable version.
A feature that sets this unit apart is that the driver is attached to the downlight body by a flexible strap. In the standard position, the driver is directly above the downlight and requires a recessed depth of 95mm. Unclipping the driver and flipping it over means that a depth of only 61mm is needed. You then need about 250mm (in any single direction) to accommodate the driver and Click Flow connector.
Fire test standard supplied: BS 476-21
3 STARS ***
UK Led Lighting Nico
This is a simple, budget-range, cast aluminium, 7W or 9W, IP65 downlight. It is available in 2700K, 3000K, 4000K and 5000K. Six interchangeable bezels are available. Beam width is 36 or 55 degrees. The driver is remote and fitted with a short interconnecting lead. It is just 63mm high but, like all other downlights, you need to follow the installation instructions carefully to ensure it doesn’t overheat.
Comprehensive fire test data was supplied for this unit.
Test standard supplied: BS 476-21
3 STARS ***
Visit us today to explore Fire-Rated downlights for your next project: www.novelenergylighting.com
ansell · aurora · fire rated downlight · fire rated spot · LED downlights · led fire rated · lux magazine · Novel Energy Lighting · robus · spot lights
4
National Health Service in the UK Is spending £1m on lights for patients
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Apple tackles issue of blue light in its devices PLUS: Dubai fire blamed on lighting installation and why the National Health Service in the UK Is spending £1m on lights for patients. Lux Today 2 February with Courtney Ferguson.
www.novelenergylighting.com
apple led · courtney ferguson · dubai fire · lux magazine · nhs led lighting · nhs lighting · Novel Energy Lighting
13
Its not just cost savings driving John Lewis to go all-LED, its quality of light
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LUX Reports: Department store chain John Lewis is on its way to installing more than 100,000 LED lights across its estate.
After working with LEDs for four years, the retailer says it has moved from looking at the cost savings of LED to the other benefits, such as quality of light.
It will now use LEDs for all new stores, and gradually replace traditional lighting in existing buildings. By the end of this year it expects to have installed 110,000 LED fittings, using Philips light sources, and by GE – in its John Lewis and Waitrose stores.
We’ve reached a place where LED outperforms traditional lighting at every level, so it’s about what’s next”
Tony Jacob, John Lewis
‘At first it was about ensuring that LED could perform to the same level as traditional lighting,’ said Tony Jacob, head of construction, engineering and environment for John Lewis . ‘But now we’ve reached a place where LED outperforms traditional lighting at every level, so it’s about what’s next. What are the opportunities and possibilities for LED that traditional lighting could never offer us? That is what’s exciting.’
When the company started looking closely at its carbon footprint in 2010, lighting in Waitrose stores accounted for around 25 per cent of each branch’s electricity costs, so upgrading to LED was an obvious step to take.
At first, the focus was on the financial and environmental benefits of LED. But it soon became clear that quality of the light was a big concern – and that saving energy could mean compromising on the customer experience.
LEDs needed to be able to provide the same quality of light as the metal halide lamps which have traditionally dominated retail. It’s taken time for John Lewis to strike that balance, and make sure that the management, the engineering teams and the store design teams are all happy.
Like many retailers, John Lewis first used LEDs in its fridges and freezers, because LEDs work so well in the cold. In 2012 it did its first front-of-house LED trial in a new Waitrose store in Bracknell, and for its next new store in Stratford-upon-Avon, used LED lighting for all the front-of-house areas, achieving a two-year payback.
By 2013 it was decided that LED lighting should become standard for all Waitrose stores. John Lewis stores were a different matter, as each store is designed to be different, and store layouts change by season, so new types of light fittings had to be developed before taking the LED plunge.
In 2013 John Lewis opened a new store in Ipswich – the first outlet to be all-LED not just in the public areas but also in the warehouse, storage and service areas as well, resulting in big energy reductions and costs savings.
At the John Lewis York store that opened in 2014, the store design team had chosen much darker flooring and wall coverings, which pushed the LED technology to its limits. ‘York is still a great space, customers love it, but as engineers and designers we learnt a lot about the capability of LED when used with darker materials,’ said Toby Marlow, engineering manager for John Lewis. ‘However, the technology has already moved on and if we were doing York today we’d use a different specification. ‘In a relatively short space of the time the LED product has improved massively. The light is crisper, the technology is more reliable and the capital costs are now lower than traditional lighting on a like-for-like basis.’
Marlow said of the Philips Crisp White technology used in the luminaires: ‘We’ve done our test of the Crisp White LED and we believe that delivers 14 per cent more white light than existing LEDs while being about 11 per cent cheaper to install and reducing energy consumption by 15 per cent.’
‘Lighting makes a big difference to the ambience of a store,’ said Ken MacDonald, duty manager at Waitrose Ipswich, ‘There are very few areas that are shady and the customer offer is enhanced. We’ve had very good feedback, with people saying the store looks absolutely fantastic.’
The company will be installing LED lighting in its new stores in Birmingham, followed by Horsham and Basingstoke. The rollout in existing stores will begin with Southampton and continue with the flagship Oxford Street branch.
Tim Harrison, director of store formats for John Lewis, said: ‘We have been really pleased with results of LED lighting and that’s why we are putting our faith in it when it comes to Birmingham.’
Visit novelenergylighting.com for your retail lighting LED retrofit requirements, or call for expert advice: 0208-540-8287, sales@novelenergylighting.com
john lewis led · led lighting · led retail lighting · led spotlights · lux magazine · Novel Energy Lighting · retail lighting · store lighting
30
Why one London hospital is investing more than GBP1 million in lighting
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Alexandra Hammond is responsible for the environmental impact of Guy’s and St Thomas’ Hospital – and lighting is a significant part of that
Lux met Alexandra Hammond, associate director of sustainability from Essentia, at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, London. Here’s her view on lighting.
The hospital cares about its impact on the environment and society
I work for Essentia, which is part of Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust. I’ve worked for Guy’s and St Thomas’ for the past six years as head of sustainability. That role continues, and we are also able to offer our expertise to other public sector organisations. I look at everything to do with environmental and social impact for the hospital. And lighting is a big part of our energy strategy.
Upgrades are a challenge – but also an opportunity
I would say the biggest challenge we face is upgrading in areas that are quite sensitive, for example patient areas. Also making sure that we don’t get in the way. The exciting thing is that there are lots of opportunities, so if we can improve lighting in patient areas, that can only improve the healing process.
We are investing upwards of a million pounds in lighting at Guy’s and St Thomas'”
Our budget can accommodate change
We have a pretty comprehensive lighting upgrade programme across our two main acute care sites. We are investing upwards of £1 million ($1.5 million) in lighting at those hospitals. What we’ve done is to have an audit on their current lighting, and identified savings opportunities for a like-for-like change. But when we tender for the work – which we’ll be doing shortly – the idea is that we’ll be looking at everything, including biodynamic lighting.
We obviously have to see how we can work within the budget, but the wonderful thing about Guy’s and St Thomas’ is that it’s an organisation that thinks beyond direct paybacks.
Interestingly, the lighting project that we’re doing is part of a big energy-saving project that the trust is undertaking, so it’s about a £12 million ($17.8 million) overall investment in energy efficiency, and lighting comprises about a £1 million of that. What we’ve done is present the business case to the trust with a certain level of guaranteed savings. We’re doing an energy performance contract, so we have a partner that underwrites the savings. If it works within that budget and we get the savings back in, then they’re happy.
We want our patients to have control
I would love to do something creative in our patient areas, particularly on the care wards. We have a lot of patients that are in our wards for a significant amount of time, and lighting can be such an amazing healing factor. Conversely, the wrong lighting can be quite difficult for people, so it’s important that we get it right.
It gets exciting and interesting when you start to see how patients interact with light and how they can control it themselves and improve their stay while in hospital.
Lighting can be such an amazing healing factor for patients on our hospital wards”
LEDs are our default choice now
We do all our own internal maintenance, and we are very strapped for resources. We have an in-house engineering team and they’ve got lots to do. We’re a quite complex, variously aged estate, so the more that we can remove from them maintaining the basics, the better. If we can put in lighting that’s going to stand the test of time, that’s so helpful for us and gives us resources to do other projects.
The guidance we have is: ‘If not LED, justify why not.’ In some areas, we’ve upgraded to T5 so the payback is quite slow. But for the most part, we are moving to LED where we can.
We want our patients to be involved
My proudest moment will be giving our patients the control to make sure that, whether they’re in their own room or whether they’re in a ward, they have the ability to control lighting to give them the best experience possible. And that it actually works, because if the light switch is on and it’s right above the bed and it’s shining right in their eyes, that’s not going to do anyone any good.
The other thing is that we really ought to involve our patients in the process. We want to do some trials and get people to say: ‘I like this, I don’t like this.’ We’ve got the funding, which is the big thing, and we’re tendering for lighting in the next couple of months. My job is to make sure it doesn’t become a like-for-like switch-out, which it could. In some areas it will. That’s the sensible thing to do in some areas, but in others we need to be more creative.
One of the things I really am pleased about is that we’ve introduced photocell-controlled lighting almost across the board. We’ve eliminated the areas where we have lights on and bright sunshine at the same time.
I’d like to see more transparency and standards
One thing that would be really helpful with LEDs is more transparency in the way they’re manufactured and the quality. There’s still an element of having to go to the right supplier, the right manufacturer, the right… and that, I think, adds a premium to the likes of Philips.
But I also think that manufacturers could really help standardise. When we build a new ward, there’s a standard set-up for a hospital bed. It’s the number of plugs around the bed. It’s where the table goes, it’s where the lighting goes to a certain extent. It’s where the patient entertainment system is, and it’s a kind of standard thing, so we don’t recreate it every single time we do a new ward. It would be really good if there were a sort of standard set of principles that we could apply to patient areas. That would help us reduce the design costs, and to just get things done.
Novel Energy Lighting has supplied LED lighting for several NHS trust lighting upgrades. We have the expertise to work with hospital specifiers, survey buildings, and deliver quality LED goods with 5 year warranties. Call us today to discuss: Tel: 0208-540-8287
hospital lighting · LED lamps · led lighting · led tubes · lux magazine · nhs led · nhs lighting · Novel Energy Lighting
LUX Magazine reported five ways LED technology can attract customers into stores and boost sales.
Effective lighting has always been a key component of store design. Abercrombie & Fitch might have made its stores stand out by turning down the lights to create a nightclub vibe, but LED technology now gives retailers a wealth of opportunities to both boost sales and cut electricity bills.
Thanks to the unprecedented level of flexibility and control offered by LED lighting, retailers can use it to show off their products more attractively, tailor store ambience to the season and ensure customers look their best.
When planning a lighting scheme for a retail store, designers will be looking to strike a balance between creating depth and drama while ensuring lighting is still practical.
While it is true that LED lighting requires more upfront investment than older technologies, the hefty savings on energy consumption mean that this cost is soon recouped – even before factoring in any extra sales. LED lighting cuts down the electricity devoured by halogen lamps by at least a factor of five and because it needs far less frequent replacement will also save on future maintenance costs. Add what will become a far more pleasant working environment for retail staff to those green credentials, plus the potential for boosting sales, and the case for LED lighting is crystal clear. Here are five tips for lighting up retail sales while boosting those green credentials:
- Harness the directionality of LED lamps – LED chips are, by their nature, directional, and this can add stopping power to window displays. LED-based accent lighting brings out rich textures and adds depth to high-quality materials and surfaces.The flexibility of the technology means that colours and hues can be tailored to fashions or seasons. To avoid turning your all-important shop window into an expensive mirror, make sure to apply higher lighting levels to the display and to minimise the use of dark rear walls.
- Make customers look their best – The fitting room experience is absolutely critical to customers. Making the customer look their best is going to enhance the likelihood of a sale – so it’s out with harsh, blue-tinged fluorescent lamps and hot traditional spotlights, and in with adaptable LED lighting.Tailor that light for the potential purchase: use soft, warm, even red tones in the lingerie department but imitate bright daylight for shoppers looking to buy outdoor clothes or sportswear. Efficiency is another obvious advantage. Less heat from spotlights makes customers more comfortable in the store.
- Add sparkle to displays – You want to direct shoppers’ attention to high-quality products inside glass cabinets, or on racks and shelves. Exploit the flexibility offered by LED lighting to illuminate leather goods with warm white tones, but switch to a cooler white for suits or jeans. For cabinets containing jewellery, add sparkle by using multiple point sources of light from directional LED lamps.
- Bring out true colours – Some of the most vibrant colours in nature are to be found in fresh food. Bring out the true colours of natural produce with illumination provided by a lighting system with a high colour rendering index (CRI), particularly using lamps that deliver excellent R9 values for red.Verbatim’s VxRGB phosphor technology, which has been designed with retail applications in mind, uses a unique combination of red, green and blue phosphors to a violet, rather than a blue, LED chip, the colour perception of objects under VxRGB illumination appear more vibrant compared to conventional LED or halogen lamps which may have a higher CRI value. It makes whites whiter; it brings out natural skin tones and improves contrast. In particular, reds, pinks and violets appear more vivid and navy blues are especially vibrant and easy to discern from black.
- Refrigerator lighting – The chilled and frozen foods aisle of the supermarket is where LED lighting can really come into its own. Not only does the lack of waste heat produced by the LED chips mean that less chilling is required compared to fluorescent lamps, but the physics behind LED chips means that they actually work more effectively – and last longer – in a cooler environment. LED lighting also produces no ultraviolet light and this fact means there is considerably less spoilage of fresh foods in comparison to fluorescent lighting.
Novel Energy Lighting sells LED lighting to retail outlets, hotels and other large clients. Products are carefully selected for their quality and durability, so we focus on delivering trusted LED brands such as Philips, Megaman, Osram, and Heathfield A variety of lamps and fittings is on offer for fitting out new stores, or retrofitting existing ones. Popular products include LED AR111 lamps, GX53 lamps, tracking lighting, and LED ceiling panels. Most are dimmable, and can be controlled via DALI, DMX, or standard dimmers. We are happy to work with customer on lighting plans, and provide energy efficient finance to cover the upfront investment.
LED · led lighting · LED lights · LED technology · lux magazine
20
London Goes LED in Biggest Ever Streetlight Upgrade
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Over 35,000 London streetlights are to go LED in a massive ‘invest to save’ project.
Transport for London is to spend close to £11 million installing a central management system and upgrading 35,000 lights to LED by 2016.
Further upgrades will be made over the next 10 years, with most of London’s streetlights to be LED by 2023, as part of a £4 billion investment in the capital’s roads.
Mayor of London Boris Johnson said the project would bring lighting on the London’s roads ‘up to 21st century standards’.
Havard Engineering and CU Phosco – both winners at this year’s Lux Awards – will benefit from the work, with Havard winning a multimillion pound contract for the controls and CU Phosco picked as a preferred supplier for the post-top luminaires.
The controls system will be aligned with traffic flow and road usage, and will reduce maintenance costs by keeping track of light failures.
The programme aims to reduce carbon emissions by around 9,700 tonnes a year, delivering annual savings estimated at £1.85 million. Johnson said: ‘With tens of thousands of lights marking the way on our road network it makes complete sense to focus energy and resources on bringing them up to 21st century standards’.
‘This is the largest investment to modernise street lighting on major roads in our capital’s history and will not only cut carbon emissions and save money but it will also lead to even better and safer roads for Londoners’.
Please visit our main site to discover our range of street lighting products and other amenity lighting for projects. http://www.novelenergylighting.com/led-downlights/led-street-lights.html
Shuttla
carbon reduction · energy efficiency · LED · led lighting · led streetlight · london energy reduction · london lighting · lux magazine · Novel Energy Lighting · streetlights
LED lighting saved £430 million worth of electricity in the US last year, according to a study by the US Department of Energy. Focusing on the most common lighting applications, the DoE estimated that 49 million LED lamps and luminaires were installed last year, saving about 71 trillion units.
©Lux Magazine, July-13
Shuttla
www.novelenergylighting.com
DOE · electricity savings · LED · led bulbs · LED lamps · lux magazine · Novel Energy Lighting
