By Jacob Holmes, Lighting Consultant, Raylinc Lighting
Check its rated lifetime, including the B value. Check that real test data and certifications sit behind the datasheet. And check whether the brand is one you’ve actually heard of.
When someone says they’ve found an equivalent at a quarter of the price, Jacob Holmes starts with these:
There are plenty of the second kind. “There’s so many of them,” Jacob says.
“All the data can be rubbish,” Jacob says. He describes how easily it can happen. An engineer asks for IP65. The alternative’s datasheet says IP20. The supplier edits the number and sends the same datasheet back, same image and all.
The answer is to check the data behind the datasheet: the test reports that prove the claims.
The B value. “They might just put the lifetime, but they don’t put the B value,” Jacob says.
An L value states how much of its original light output an LED keeps over its rated life. L80 means 80 per cent. The B value states how many fittings may fall short of that. B10 means up to 10 per cent of fittings may. A lifetime with no B value tells you much less than it seems to.
Specifiers can write a strong technical brief. “It needs to have X, Y and Z,” Jacob says, which makes it harder for inferior products to get over the line. That means asking for compliance marks, IES photometric files and NATA accredited testing.
Some sectors already hold the line. Defence and healthcare projects tend to stay hard spec, because nobody wants the risk of something inferior going in. Those specifications survive far more often.
Swaps usually come from a builder or contractor needing to save money. Jacob has seen jobs break ground, hit bad soil or asbestos, and end up with a $2 million variation. “It’s normally lighting that gets chopped off,” he says.
The L value is the share of original light output an LED keeps over its rated life, such as L80. The B value is the share of fittings that may fall below it, such as B10.
Not on its own. Ask for the test reports and certifications behind it, and check the lifetime includes a B value.
Defence and healthcare projects tend to hold their specifications, because the risk of an inferior product is too high.
Jacob Holmes is a lighting consultant at Raylinc Lighting, working with engineers, architects and builders on commercial fit outs.
Contact the Raylinc team for test data and photometric files on any fitting we supply.