Outdoor Lights

In the operation of renovation and redecorating a room, choosing an appropriate
method of lighting is often a perfect final touch to the room’s overall aesthetic.
However, when deciding on a form of lighting for its appearance, this does not mean
that you have to compromise on practicality as Light Emitting Diode (LED) lighting
aren't just pleasing, but they also provide a greater life span than traditional forms of
lighting and the use of LED lighting may result in considerable energy savings.

Although LED lighting has become available since the 1960’s, it is only recently that
such lighting has become recognised as ‘the next generation of lighting’. This is an
accurate view of such lighting for a lot of reasons. The benefits of using LED outdoor
lights range from the fact that they are available in a considerable selection of colours
and have a life expectancy 4 times that for fluorescent lights and twenty times that of
halogen lights. LED outdoor lights are also not only suitable for interior usage, but
can also be used as garden lights (for which the long life span is a large advantage).

The next generation of lighting appears to keep developing further as recent advances
in LED technology also have resulted in much improved energy efficiency compared
to other styles of lighting, with energy savings of 60% compared to compact
fluorescent lights and a staggering 90% in contrast to halogen lighting.

The practical uses of LED outdoor lights are also several as such lighting can be
effectively used around the home, such as in the kitchen. LED kitchen lights can be
purchased in a number of forms to satisfy any possible need, from ‘button lights’
(available in white, blue and green), to strip lights and even self-adhesive, colour-
changing LED tape.

Natalie Eastaugh is the Internet Marketing Specialist for JDRWebsites.co.uk
If you wish to find out more on outdoor lights
as well as information about Downlights Direct, go to downlightsdirect.co.uk

www.downlightsdirect.co.uk

Choosing Suitable LED Lights

In the entire process of renovation and redecorating your home, choosing a suitable
method of lighting can be quite a perfect final touch for the room’s overall aesthetic.
However, when deciding on a form of lighting for its appearance, this does not mean
that you have to compromise on practicality as Light Emitting Diode (LED) lighting
aren't just great looking, they also provide a better life span than traditional forms
of lighting and also the utilization of LED lighting can result in considerable energy
savings.

Although LED lighting has been around since the 1960’s, it is just recently that such
lighting has become recognised as ‘the next generation of lighting’. Regarded as
accurate view of such lighting for many reasons. The benefits of using LED lights
range from the fact they can be found in a substantial number of colours and have a
life span 4 times that for fluorescent lights and twenty times those of halogen lights.
LED lights are also not only suitable for interior usage, but can also be used as garden
lights (for which the long life span is a substantial advantage).

Generation x of lighting seems to keep developing further as recent advances in LED
technology also have led to much improved energy efficiency when compared with
other forms of lighting, with energy savings of 60% when compared with compact
fluorescent lights along with a staggering 90% in contrast to halogen lighting.

The practical uses of LED lights are also several as such lighting can be effectively
used around the home, such as in the kitchen. LED kitchen lights can be found in
a number of forms to satisfy any possible need, from ‘button lights’ (obtainable in
white, blue and green), to strip lights as well as self-adhesive, colour-changing LED
tape.

www.downlightsdirect.co.uk

LED Lights

LED lights

In the entire process of renovation and redecorating your home, choosing the perfect
options for lighting is definitely a perfect final touch to the room’s overall aesthetic.
However, when deciding on a form of lighting for its appearance, this does not mean
that you have to compromise on practicality as Light Emitting Diode (LED) lighting
are not just great looking, but they also have a better life span than traditional forms
of lighting and also the usage of LED lighting may result in considerable energy
savings.

Although LED lighting has been around since the 1960’s, it is just in recent years that
such lighting has become recognised as ‘the next generation of lighting’. Regarded
as accurate view of such lighting for several reasons. The advantages of using LED
lights range from the realization they can be purchased in a substantial variety of
colours and have a life span 4 times that for fluorescent lights and twenty times those
of halogen lights. LED lights are also not only suitable for interior usage, but can also
be used as garden lights (for which the long life span is a substantial advantage).

Generation x of lighting seems to keep developing further as recent advances in LED
technology in addition have led to much improved energy efficiency in comparison
to other styles of lighting, with energy savings of 60% in comparison with compact
fluorescent lights and also a staggering 90% compared with halogen lighting.

The practical uses of LED lights are also several as such lighting can be effectively
used around the home, such as in the kitchen. LED kitchen lights can be purchased in
a variety of forms to meet any possible need, from ‘button lights’ (obtainable in white,
blue and green), to strip lights and even self-adhesive, colour-changing LED tape.

www.downlightsdirect.co.uk

LED lights

LED lights

LED lights or ‘light-emitting diodes’ are very small incandescent light sources, like miniature light

bulbs, and they have much lower energy consumption than normal bulbs. They are also very robust

and durable, have a very long lifetime, are faster at switching than regular bulbs and are more

reliable. Modern LEDs can be very powerful, even powerful enough for room lighting and they

require precise current and heat controls. However, because LED’s are so small, in room lighting they

tend to come as groups of LED’s inside a ‘bulb.’ It is powerful, modern and energy efficient lighting.

These LED lights are now often used in downlights.

An LED Downlight is a light fixture that is installed into a hollowed out opening in the ceiling of a

room. When the Downlight is installed it looks as though it is just light shining down from holes in

the ceiling. This is a popular feature in modern buildings because it is subtle and doesn’t hang down

invasively into the room like a regular light bulb. Low energy LED downlights can potentially save 80

to 90% of energy and decrease the cost of electricity bills whilst having up to between twenty and

fifty times more longevity than a regular halogen bulb. Power LEDs provide a crisp, bright, white

light and unlike other energy saving bulbs (like CFL’s) they don’t take time to warm up in order to get bright.

There are multiple online companies that sell LED lights, and demand has increased over the past

few years and with the developments in technology. LED downlights are popular largely due to how

environmentally friendly and low-cost they are and as such, websites that sell downlights sometimes

have an ‘energy calculator’ so that customers can calculate the amount of money they will save on

energy bills as a result of choosing to buy LED lights.

Check our site www.downlightsdirect.co.uk for more information, and to purchase your low energy LED downlights today!

The Beauty of Kitchen Lights

The Beauty of Kitchen Lights

 It is well known that when redecorating or renovating a kitchen, an appropriate choice of lighting can be a perfect finishing touch to the overall aesthetic of the room. However, choosing attractive kitchen lights does not mean that you have to compromise on their practicality as there are lights available for all purposes, such as overhead lights, under- and in-cabinet as well as in-drawer lighting. Each of these types of kitchen lights are available in a variety of forms such as linear fluorescent tubes, compact fluorescent lights and Light Emitting Diode (LED) lighting.

 The use of linear fluorescent kitchen lights, whether in the forms of strips for underneath cabinets or as a fluorescent utensil rack, has several advantages such as having an excellent colour rendering, being available in a wide range of lengths and wattages and being cost efficient. Compact fluorescent lights are also great value for money, being cheaper than LED lighting, and the fact that they are longer lasting means that long-term maintenance costs are reduced.

 LED lighting has been rightly described as ‘the next generation of lighting’ for several reasons. The advantages of using LED lights include the fact that they are available in a wide range of colours and have a life expectancy four times that for fluorescent lights and twenty times that of halogen lights (making them also suitable for use as garden lights if required). Recent advances in LED technology has also resulted in improved energy efficiency when compared to other types of lighting, with energy savings of 60% compared to compact fluorescent lights and a staggering 90% compared with halogen lighting.

 LED kitchen lights are available in a variety of forms to meet any possible need, from ‘button lights’ (available in white, blue and green), to strip lights and even self-adhesive, colour-changing LED tape.

http://www.downlightsdirect.co.uk/kitchen-lights/cat_21.html

Lighting Terminologies Explained

There are many different terminologies and abbreviations used to describe light sources. This article explains the most important ones used on Downlights Direct. 

CCT and CRICorrelated colour temperature (CCT) measures the colour appearance of the light itself and “colour rendering index” (CRI) measures the colour of the object it is illuminating. Both are helpful tools to use when choosing and comparing light sources but both have their limitations.

CCT(Correlated Colour Temperature)
The measurement of colour is expressed in Kelvin (k). The lower the Kelvin rating the “warmer” or more orange the light will appear. The higher the rating the “cooler” or more blue the light will appear.  Standard halogen bulbs are 2700K which is classed as extra warm white, CFL (compact fluorescent lamps) lamps and LED (light emitted diode) lamps are now available in 3000K warm white which would give the same appearance as halogen. CFL and LED are also available in 4000K cool white and 6500K daylight each one is a bright as each other and is simply a matter of opinion is. Here are the most popular colour temperatures for lighting:

Extra warm white 2700K (colour of a standard halogen GU10)Warm white 3000K White 3500K (colour of fluorescents used in warehouses)Cool white or natural white 4000K Daylight 6500K

CRI (Colour Rendering Index)
CRI stands for Colour Rendering Index; it is measured from 0 to 100 with 100 being the highest.  Without trying to be too Scientific, CRI is a rating system that describes how a light source affects the colour appearance of objects. It is a way of judging how a light source accurately reproduces the correct shade of colour of an object in comparison to how it would look in natural daylight conditions. For example; in a butchers, meat viewed under a light source with a low level of CRI would make it appear stale and brown whilst meat viewed under a light source with a high level of CRI would make it appear fresher by accenting the red. Cheaper, older generation LED lamps have a very low CRI level and do not  reproduce colours accurately. The latest generation of high power LED lamps or LED downlights have a CRI of 82 making the colour of an object appear more natural and accurate.

WattageWatts (W) is an International standard unit of power. Wattage is used to measure the power being used by an electrical device, in this case a light source. The higher the wattage of a lamp, the more electricity it uses and the more expensive it costs to run. Wattage used to be used an easy way of comparing the brightness of lamps but with the arrival of low energy lamps this is no longer the case. Low energy lamps use fewer watts to achieve the same level of brightness. For example an 11W compact fluorescent lamp would be as bright as a 60W incandescent lamp with energy savings of 82%.

The lamps below are as bright as each other but each one uses a different amounts of wattage.
Incandescent 60W	42W Halogen Energy Saver	11W Compact Fluorescent

 Voltage
The majority of lamps are powered directly from the mains supply which in the UK is 230v AC (alternating current). Low voltage halogens such as MR16 dichroics or G4 capsule lamps have a 12V supply voltage and require a low voltage transformer to power them. Using low voltage transformers instead of mains GU10s does provide some energy saving benefits but the savings are marginal especially when compared to the 90% energy savings available from LED lighting. The main advantage of using low voltage transformers is the increase in life expectancy of the lamps. Transformers can help to protect lamps from voltage surges and spikes whilst mains voltage GU10s are left totally unprotected. This is one of the main reasons why mains voltage GU10s seem to need replacing all of the time. However, mains voltage GU10 halogens are still the number one choice as they are cheaper especially when larger quantities of downlights are needed. A new device is available called VPHASE which is fitted above the consumer unit and gives a constant 220V supply. This device lowers energy costs by around 20% and extends the life expectancy of lamps anywhere in the house.

As with low voltage halogens, most LEDs are low voltage and require their own LED driver to power them. LED drivers are different to low voltage transformers as they provide a constant DC (direct current) supply. LEDs should be used with the manufacturers recommended driver to avoid shortening the life expectancy. The latest range of power LED downlights come with a built in LED driver to make ordering easier.

Life Expectancy
The table below compares the life expectancies between various light sources. As lighting technology advances, the latest generation of LED downlights now lasts for 75,000 hours, 75 times longer than incandescent. As the majority of people don’t leave their lights on for every minute of the day, the days before changing section is based on 6 hours per day use. This shows how long each light source will actually last for in years.

Lamp	Wattage	Average Life	Expectancy (6hrs a day use)
Incandescent	60W light bulb	1,000 Hours	166 Days
Halogen GLS Replacement	42W GLS Shape	2,000 Hours	333 Days
Halogen Standard	50W GU10	2,000 Hours	333 Days
Halogen Long Life	50W GU10	4,000 Hours	666 Days
Compact Fluorescent	11W Kosnic GU10	8,000 Hours	1,333 Days (3.8 years)
Compact Fluorescent	11W Megaman GU10	15,000 Hours	2,500 Days (6.8 years)
Power LED Bulb	4W or 5W Kosnic	30,000 Hours	5,000 Days (13.6 years)
Dimmable Power LED	7W Philips Master	40,000 Hours	6,640 Days (18.2 years)
LED Downlight	3x3W EvoLED	75,000 Hours	12,500 Days (30 years)

Lumen & Luminous Flux
A unit of luminous flux is known as a lumen or lm. One lumen is defined as the luminous flux of light produced by a light source that emits one candela (cd) of luminous intensity over a solid angle of one steradian. It is very important to check the lumen output of a bulb especially when comparing LED bulbs. With many variations of LED bulbs currently available that claim to provide the equivalent light output to a 50W halogen, 5W or 7W power LEDs should be about 300lm. Some manufactures will not provide this information as their lumen is very low and will only concentrate on the low wattage.

Lumen Per Watt (lm/W)
This is the amount of light output per watt of electricity. This term is generally used to describe the efficiacy or efficiency of a light source. Lumen per watt is calculated by taking the overall lumens from a light source and dividing it by the wattage. For example; a 5W power LED lamp has 330 lumens and 66lm/W (330 divided by 5 equals 66). To comply with Part L of the Building regulations, light sources should be above 40lm/W.

Lux
Lux known as lx is a unit of illuminance and luminous emittance. 1lx is the same as 1 lumen per square metre. The difference between lux and lumen is that lux takes into account the area over which the luminous flux is spread. A flux of 1,000 lumens, concentrated into an area of one square metre, lights up that square metre with an illuminance of 1,000 lux. The same 1,000 lumens, spread out over ten square metres produces a dimmer illuminance of 100 lux.

Candela
Candela is identified as cd, this is the luminous intensity of a light source in a given direction with a radius of 1 metre. Candela is used as a common way of measuring and comparing light as perceived by the human eye. At a distance of 1 metre, 1 candela or 1cd has the same luminous intensity as an ordinary household wax candle. A 100W incandescent light bulb is approximately 120cd, 120 times brighter than a candle at 1 metre distance. A candle emits light in every direction; if some of the light emissions are blocked then the remaining emissions are still 1cd.

Lamps used in downlights such as halogen bulbs need to use the light more effectively as the light is only shining in one direction. If the light shone in all directions like a wax candle or GLS (general lighting service) light bulb then most of the light would be wasted. Because halogen reflector bulbs emit light in one direction it makes them the perfect choice for use in downlights. Halogen bulbs not only shine the light downwards but are available in choice of beam angles. Using the images below, I have compared a wax candle to two different types of halogen; the halogens are both 50W, the first has a 25 degree beam angle and the second has a 50 degree beam angle:

Up to a distance of 1 metre the candle emits 1cd of light in every direction. The 50W halogen with a 25 degree beam angle emits 1100cd of light at 1 metre, spreading the light over 430mm. The 50W halogen with a 50 degree beam angle emits 500cd of light at 1 metre, spreading the light over a larger area of 930mm. At distances greater than 1 metre, light is measured in lumens per square metre known as lux or lx. 1lx is the same as 1 lumen per square metre. At a distance of 2 metres the 25 degree halogen is reduced to 275 lx. The 50 degree halogen is 125 lx.

How many downlights should I install ? Or how many downlights do I need ?

This is a difficult question as their are many factors that need to taken into consideration:

What type of room are they are being fitted in ? Lighting standards state that different rooms require different lux levels. For example Kitchens should be between 150-300 lux, living rooms should be between 100-300 lux,  bathrooms should be about 150 lux and living rooms should be

Personal choice, how bright do you actually want it to be ?

Will the downlights be dimmable ? If they are dimmable then you can have plenty of bright downlights as they can be easily dimmed to your  your mood / room function.

• What type of lamps are being fitted in the downlights ? Most low energy lamps such as LED and CFL are not dimmable.
• Beam angle of chosen light source? Lamps have different beam angles. Beam angles describe how the light is spread out. For example a 50W halogen lamp could have a narrow beam angle of 25 degrees or a 50W halogen lamp could have a very wide beam angle of 50 degrees. Both are 50W but the light would be used differently and impact on how many downlights would be needed particularly in a larger room.

As a general guide line, based on using 50W halogen downlights, the downlights should be fitted between 500mm and 600mm away from the wall. For kitchens they should be fitted the same distance away from the cupboards or you will be illuminating the top of the cupboards and wasting light. The downlights should then be separated by gaps of 900mm to 1200mm. Approximately one downlight per square metre.
For example, a kitchen with a working area of 9 metres square ( 3 x 3 metres )  ie not including cupboards etc would have 9x 50W downlights and provide an adequate lighting ambience. 

What I would recommend is choosing the lamp / downlight that you like. Ordering one on a sale or return basis, wiring it in to a plug with enough cable to hold it up to your ceiling. This will give you the best idea of the brightness and beam angle.