December 4, 2023
LED Lights
We’re translating the labels and metrics you need to understand when assessing the right lighting products.
In the first two parts of the series, we went through metrics around lighting brightness and power labels, or the lifespan, dimming, and beam angles. In the next section, we unpack everything you need to know about compatibility with the environment or fixtures.
This label tells you the required electrical input for the lighting source. Expressed through Volts and Hertz (Hz), it is a standard adopted by a region or country and may vary. For instance, The standard voltage in most MENA countries ranges between 220V and 240V, and the standard frequency is 50 Hz.
Taking it into account becomes important not only for compatibility with the electrical supply but also as variations in voltage and frequency can determine poor power quality, affecting the performance and lifespan.
This label reflects how in sync the voltage and current are with each other, measuring the phase angle difference between the voltage and current waveforms in a circuit.
This way, you get to understand how well-aligned the voltage and the current are and, therefore, how efficient the lighting source is. A factor close to 1 indicates more efficient power usage, while a lower one shows less efficiency and potential power quality issues, especially in the case of using reactive power.
The cap or the base is the part that connects the bulb to the power source, providing both mechanical support and electrical connectivity.
There are multiple types of caps and bases, each offering different applications. The screw base, for example, is commonly used in households. You can identify it by the “E” letter, followed by the number that indicates the diameter in millimeters. The pin base, used in specific lamp models, is marked by the “G” letter, followed by a number indicating the number of millimeters between the pins.
Paying attention to the cap/base indicator is, therefore, essential to make sure the bulb is compatible with the lamp or fixture.
Also known as CRI, it measures the ability of a light source to accurately reproduce the colors of various objects compared to a natural light source. It varies between 0 and 100, with a higher CRI value indicating better color rendering abilities. For example, 100 represents the color rendering of natural daylight. A low CRI might distort specific colors.
The CRI value becomes particularly important for environments where accurate color representation is critical, such as art galleries, retail spaces, or hospitals.
