3 Things You Need to Know Before Converting to LEDs

You may have heard on the industry grapevine that businesses yet to embrace and convert to LED technology are already behind the game.  It’s no secret that, for some time now, LED bulbs and other products based on light emitting diode tech give forward-looking brands a serious competitive and productive edge.  After all, LED ticks just about every box any business that relies on light for its critical operations simply cannot ignore:

Longevity: LED bulbs last as much as 10 times longer than traditional incandescent and halogen bulbs.

Durability: Workplaces and shop floors are bustling places, and a LED bulb can take much more of a knock in harsh hot-cold environments.

Coolness: What business doesn’t want to be cool?  The typical LED bulb runs at just over 3 btus/hour (energy per unit time), compared to a whopping 80+ btus for traditional solutions.

Environmentally-friendly: Not a drop of toxic mercury is used to make LED bulbs, in stark contrast to the alternatives.

Efficient: Traditional bulbs are rated for their wattage, but the watts required to run a LED bulb is so low that a much higher focus is on the lumens (brightness) metric.

If you haven’t been tempted to make the switch until now, we hope you’re now preparing to move off the fence.  But if it’s the prospect of a difficult, time-consuming and confusing transition from traditional technologies to future-oriented LED that is holding you back, we’re here to help ease the pain of your organisation’s switch with X easy and actionable tips:

1. What do you need?

Unless you’re looking at highly specialised fixtures, making the switch from traditional to LED bulbs can actually be very straightforward.  Lighting industries like standardisation as much as possible, so it’s realistic to expect that your bulb and base can be switched out like-for-like.

2. How bright do you need it?

As outlined earlier, forget what you know about lighting and wattage – because wattage is almost irrelevant in the super energy-efficient world of LED.  Rather, you’ll be considering lumen levels to get the brightness you need.

3. Select your colour temperature

Colour temperature, previously the reserve only of the pedantic specialists of the traditional lighting technologies, is a big deal when it comes to LED bulbs.  Why’s that?  Because you can pretty much pick your colour temperature from across the entire colour spectrum.  To light up an operation requiring detail and accuracy, head to the cooler temperatures – say, 5000+ Kelvin and up.  For the more familiar incandescent glow, however, turn up that colour temperature to the 2000K range.

4. Factor in ‘heat sink’

While it’s a fact that LEDs run cooler – much cooler – than traditional lighting options, it’s crucial not to forget about something called ‘heat sink’.  Even if it’s running comparatively coolly, the heat sink qualities of your LED bulbs will pull heat away from the application, dissipating it for reliable operation and a long life.  This is particularly important if LEDs are fully housed or recessed.

LED bulbs: 50 times better for your business?

We should also mention that you should check if your LED bulbs are dimmable if you need them to be, and to browse products that can work in damper work conditions.  But apart from that, your switch to LED bulbs should be smooth sailing – delivering 80% energy savings, highly flexible light qualities, and longevity and durability that can be as much as 50 times superior to your existing solution.  Is your business ready to make the switch to LED bulbs?  Consult an expert if you need further guidance.