SSL Basics: Comparing LED and Conventional Lighting
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U.S. Department of Energy - Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy
Building Technologies Office SSL Basics
Comparing LED and Conventional Lighting
When comparing LED lighting performance to conventional lighting , buyers will
want to consider energy efficiency , operating life and lumen depreciation , light
output /distribution , color quality , color shift , dimmability , and expected
lifetime .
Energy efficiency. The final energy efficiency of any lighting system
depends on more than the efficacy of the light source itself . In the case
of LED lighting , driver efficiency , luminaire optical losses , and luminaire
thermal factors also determine luminaire efficacy , expressed as lumens
(amount of light output ) per watt of electricity used (lm/W ). For more
information , see Energy Efficiency of LEDs.
Life and lumen depreciation. All light sources diminish in output over
their operating life . In comparing the light output and energy efficiency of
different types of light sources and fixtures , it is important to consider
mean or end-of-life efficacy , and not initial efficacy . Lumen depreciation
is an essential consideration in evaluating the design life of LED lamps ,
which typically do not fail like some conventional light sources . Instead ,
design life ends at the point where light output is projected to drop
below useful levels . The most common lifetime specification is L70, which
represents the estimated operating hours before light output falls to 70
percent of initial levels .
Expected lifetime. It is impossible to directly measure the lifetime of an
SSL product that's expected to last for 50,000 hours or more, which works
out to nearly six years of continuous , 24/7 use . SSL technology is
changing so rapidly that any product is sure to be superseded by several
generations of newer models before that much time has passed . This
means that product lifetime has to be extrapolated rather than directly
tested . Furthermore, an LED luminaire is a complex system in which many
other components also come into play, such as the driver, electrical
connections , fixture housing , and optics . Problems with these other
elements may sometimes lead to catastrophic failure , or may instead
accelerate lumen depreciation , and should be taken into consideration by
manufacturers when describing product life . Researchers are working to
gain a better understanding of all failure mechanisms that come into play
with an LED luminaire . Meanwhile , a DOE-industry working group has
published a report, LED Luminaire Lifetime : Recommendations for Testing
and Reporting , that details the issues and offers specific guidance for
accurate reporting of lifetime .
Light output and distribution. LEDs are inherently directional sources
and offer better optical control than traditional energy-efficient sources
like fluorescent and metal halide lamps . With fewer total lumens , LED
luminaires can produce high light levels on nearby surfaces (e.g., task
lighting ) or low light levels on more distant surfaces (e.g., pole -mounted
parking lot luminaires ). To maximize energy efficiency and lighting
quality , it is important to evaluate each luminaire against the specific
light level and uniformity requirements of each application . For more
information , see Establishing LED Equivalency .
Color quality. The two most common measurements that provide useful
guidance on LED color quality are correlated color temperature (CCT),
which measures relative color appearance of white light from lower
(warm/yellow ) to higher (cool/blue ) values on the Kelvin (K) scale ; and
color rendering index (CRI), which provides a comparison of how colors are
rendered by LEDs relative to a reference light source (either incandescent
or daylight ). While these two color quality measures have been used for
many years in describing conventional lighting , they only get you in the
general ballpark for selecting and matching lamp colors . Two LED light
sources with identical CCTs can render colors very differently due to
differences in the spectra . And CRI value can be poor at predicting the
quality of the appearance of saturated red objects , and doesn 't
correspond well to human perception of color quality . As a supplement to
CRI, a lamp's R9 value describes how closely it renders a saturated red
color sample , relative to the reference illuminant . And another value , D ,
uv
quantifies the distance between the chromaticity of a given light source
and a blackbody radiator of equal CCT . A number of new color-rendering
metrics have been proposed in recent years, but none have been widely
adopted as of yet. For more information , see LED Color Characteristics .
Color shift. For some applications , such as retail lighting , an excessive
shift in color over time could mean the end of a luminaire 's useful life .
Standards are under development for color shift ; in the interim , products
should be segmented into one of three categories lamp replacement ,
standard -grade luminaire , or specification -grade luminaire with color
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SSL Basics: Comparing LED and Conventional Lighting
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shift treated differently for each category . For more information , see LED
Color Characteristics .
Dimmability. LEDs are in theory fully dimmable , but they are not
compatible with all dimmer controls designed for incandescent lamps . As
LED lighting becomes more common for household applications , fully
integrated LED dimming controls may become a reality in new
construction . In the meantime , LED products will need to be designed to
use dimmers that were made for incandescent products . Some LED light
fixture manufacturers publish lists of specific dimmer products tested and
approved for use with their fixtures .
See the discussion of Standards for more details on industry efforts to improve
how SSL product performance is measured and reported.
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Content Last Updated: 04/01/2013
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