LED Product Specifications - How to Read & Make Sense

When you select an LED lighting product, it’s always best to look at its associated specification sheet before buying. There are many attributes and ratings that will tell you if it suits your needs. There are a lot of things to consider, and we’ll break them down for you in this article.

The lumens of the fixture (responsible for brightness in the room), the CRI (how good is the lighting concept representing colors), color temperature (how is the ambiance in the room), and lumen per watt (efficiency of the system) are important specifications to pay attention to.

These Criteria are Responsible for Good Lighting Quality and Energy-Efficient Solutions

1. Type: The product’s name is an important detail for purchasing a fixture. It tells you what type of fixture it is and what kind of applications it is used for. For example, flood lights are not the same as high bay lights.
2. Wattage: Defines the energy consumption of the fixture, which is important for achieving light levels. This will be reflected in your energy bill.
3. CRI: Important characteristic in areas where colors must be truly represented. For applications where people are involved, a CRI lower than 70 is not recommended. 70 CRI is fine normally, higher CRI is recommended for retail spaces. The highest possible value for CRI is 100 which equals natural sunlight.
4. Lumens: These describe the brightness of a light. The higher the number of lumens, the brighter the fixture will illuminate the space.
5. Lumens per Watt: Efficiency of the lighting system. The higher the lumens/watt, the lower the lighting bills.
6. Lumen Maintenance: This will tell you how quickly LEDs will lose their brightness compared to new products. Manufacturers usually describe the amount of time it will take when most of the LEDs reach 70% and less of the initial lumen output.
7. Color Temperature: Also known as CCT or Correlated Color Temperature, this describes the mood or ambiance in a room. It’s expressed in Kelvin and the typical range for lighting is 2700K-6000K. Lower values are associated with warm (or yellow) light which is good for ambiance. Higher values are associated with cool (or white) light which is good for task lighting. A color temperature above 6000K is not recommended for most spaces.
8. Beam Angle: Also known as beam spread, this describes how light is radiated outward from a fixture. A narrow beam angle is more focused and effectively illuminates at a longer distance. Conversely, a wide beam angle is more spread out and effectively illuminates at a shorter distance. LED lights usually have beam angles that range from 120° to 180°.
9. Life Hours: This defines the expected lifetime of an LED product. LEDs last 50,000 hours up to 100,000 hrs.
10. Replaces: This provides helpful information for replacing conventional light sources, usually by comparing wattage. For example, a 150-watt LED replaces a 400-watt metal halide lamp.
11. Working Voltage: High-quality LED products have an integrated LED driver and typically offer self-switching drivers in 100-277V and 277-480V ranges.
12. Frequency: Detail the emitted voltage frequency. Typically, 60 Hz for North American Markets
13. Power Factor: Describes the efficiency of a ballast. Look for 0.9 or higher.
14. Operating Temperature: The light source operates properly under a range of temperatures according to the manufacturer’s datasheet. Temperatures outside of this range will cause the light source to fail or work improperly (e.g., light loss).
15. IP Rating: This is the protection rating of an enclosure for electrical equipment such as light fixtures against liquids and solid objects. IP stands for ingress protection and indicates the types of conditions that the light can withstand represented by two digits. Each digit explains the protection level of a fixture. The first digit represents a protection level against solids (0-6). The second digit represents a protection level against liquids (0-8). For example, a fixture with an IP65 rating means that it is fully protected against dust (6) and against water jets from any angle (5).
16. IK Rating: A fixtures impact rating, from IK01 to IK10. IK10 is the strongest level of protection.
17. Dimmable: If a fixture or lamp is dimmable, you can change its brightness level. This can be adjusted manually or with smart controls.
18. Dimensions: This describes the fixture’s size, typically expressed by height, width, and length. In some cases, diameter is used.
19. Net Weight: The fixture’s weight, important for the mounting construction, e.g., ceiling strength needs to be considered
20. Housing: The housing is the surrounding enclosure of a light source and/or ballast. It can describe the size and material of the enclosure as well as its IP rating (see above).
21. Mounting: Describes the possible mounting options for a fixture. This includes pendant mounting (hung by a cord or stem), surface mounting, or hook mounting.
22. Warranty: This describes how long after purchasing a product it is ensured to work properly.