Facility Managers Need to Know If LED Lights Are Right for Their Facility

Light emitting diode (LED) illumination is being hailed as the next revolution in lighting. But facility managers should take a close look at specific products to determine if they are appropriate for specific needs. Guidance is available from Department of Energy (DOE) and professional lighting organizations, but as with most emerging technologies, it’s worthwhile to test before you invest.

LEDs are a form of solid-state lighting (SSL) that produces light through an electronic process that does not involve mercury, filaments or gases. LEDs may emit monochromatic (i.e., single color) light, or mixtures of colors, including white light. Some units can quickly change the balance of those colors, producing spectacular results. This capability alone has attracted great attention from sign, exhibit and entertainment lighting manufacturers and practitioners.

As LED exit signs became popular and economical in the 1990s, they were accepted by the facility management community. Many facility managers are now looking at the myriad choices of LED lighting being promoted by lamp suppliers, fixture manufacturers and many new startup companies.

Facility managers, lighting designers and contractors have been attracted by LEDs’ unique characteristics: extremely long lifetime (100,000 hours is often mentioned), no disposal issues (LEDs contain no mercury), very low heat in their light output (excellent for exhibiting art, artifacts and products), no color shift (as occurs with some HID sources), no sensitivity to ambient temperature (LEDs start and work fine, warm or cold), no delayed restart as with HID, dimmable using incandescent dimmers, no flicker or hum, and no bulky ballasts.


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