Electric Co-op Today

FORT MYERS, Fla.—What happened to the days when the biggest lighting question was whether to buy a 60-watt bulb or a 100-watt? At NET 2012 here, the answer was: Those days are gone forever. Today, one of the hottest topics is LEDs.

An expert warned that when it comes to LEDs, new doesn't necessarily mean great. (Photo By: Michael W. Kahn)

“LED is coming in like gangbusters,” Jim Herritage, head of Energy Auditors, told the Jan. 31 session. “But with LED, look before you leap. Just because it’s new does not mean it’s great.”

When it comes to LEDs, the device really is no greater than the sum of its parts. And that means there is a lot for co-ops to consider before recommending an LED to members.

“An LED luminaire is not just the LED itself,” Herritage said. “You’ve got the LED with either an epoxy or silicone encapsulant. You’ve got the phosphors that are used to improve the color rendering index and the durability of the phosphors in the LED capsule.”

But wait, there’s more.

“You’ve got the power supply, the optics array that does what you need to do with the light, the heat sink—and heat sinks really do make a tremendous difference.”

Herritage said any co-op looking at LEDs should make sure the bulb does what it claims to do. That’s in a document known as an IES LM-79 report, which uses standards developed by the Illuminating Engineering Society.

“It talks to you about the wattage, the color rendering index and a number of other critical measures and the performance,” Herritage said. “You don’t want to have any members buying LEDs before they’ve had a chance to review the LM-79.”

Herritage also recommends buying LEDs only from “a reputable manufacturer.” That suggestion got a thumbs-up from another panelist at the session.

“There are a lot of folks out there selling LEDs of all sorts,” said Rob Kirkpatrick, COO of Service Concepts. “LEDs can range the full spectrum in terms of quality.”

Kirkpatrick suggests going with “a highly reliable, dependable” firm, either a name brand or a company whose quality and technology the co-op is familiar with.

And you can expect lighting technology to keep evolving.

“Lighting is changing very rapidly,” said Alan Shedd, Touchstone Energy’s® director, residential and commercial energy programs. “The demand for energy-efficient lighting products is growing at over 11 percent annually.”

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Tags: LED, LED Lighting, NET Conference, R&D, Touchstone Energy