Diode-based devices are successfully crowding out other types of home lighting fixtures from the market. Moreover, the rather hefty cost and sensitivity of devices to high temperatures does not stop them. The reason is the excellent quality of the fixtures.

Specifications LED lamps include some of the most important parameters for the consumer.

Light output

The main purpose of a lighting device is to provide good lighting. This goal is fulfilled by the luminous flux of one or another intensity generated by the source. It is measured in units of light - lumens, or, more significantly, in the ratio of a lumen to a unit of power - a watt.

The higher the light output of the light source, but the lower the current consumption, the more efficient the device should be considered. LED lamps are classified as ergonomic, and in terms of light output they are second only to fluorescent lamps.

Power

In fact, these parameters should be considered together. After all, power indicates the amount of electricity consumed, and light output indicates the amount of light that the device generates. It is this ratio that determines the efficiency and effectiveness of the device.

When replacing a conventional light bulb with a diode or other source, it is worth paying attention to the comparative technical characteristics shown in the table in order to find the appropriate analogue.

The table provides only some comparative data. However, it is easy to understand that to replace a 75 W incandescent lamp, LED power in 10–12 W, since it emits the same luminous flux. And at the same time, the lighting will in no way deteriorate, and may even improve.

Colorful temperature

This value indicates the shade of the emitted light. And if there is no choice for an incandescent bulb - the color is determined only by a light filter, as for a fluorescent one, then such a characteristic of LED lamps as the color temperature of light can vary over a very wide range.

The point here is that the basis of the device is a diode - a semiconductor crystal that generates light when passing through electric current. The color of the radiation depends on the impurities in the crystal and can be anything - yellow, red, white. Moreover, the intensity and correspondence to some particular shade of sunlight is also determined by the degree of the color scale.

A semiconductor can generate white warm, white cold, white daylight. The color temperature in this case ranges from 3500 to 6500. K, while the temperature of the yellow ordinary light is 2700-3000 K. Any version of the LED lamp turns out to be brighter, simply because it has a higher color temperature.

At the same time, the white light of the LED device has excellent color rendering characteristics and does not change shades at all.

Plinth type

This quality determines the application of the device. So, E27 indicates the possibility of placing the lamp in ordinary household lamps and chandeliers of the different kind. E14, for example, is a base parameter for a device used for a refrigerator or car interiors. And E40 is the largest base, it is used not for the home, but in large industrial premises, for street lighting and so on.

The remaining comparative technical characteristics of the E27 LED lamp do not differ from other models. The E27 base is designed specifically to be able to replace outdated lighting devices in the house with new LED lamps. In the photo - a device with an E27 base.

Working environment

LED lamps are characterized by good resistance to low temperatures. The very nature of a semiconductor is such that for it normal operation heat dissipation is required. As a result, the device operates under the most low temperatures- up to -40, and, according to some reviews, even up to -55 C. In the house, of course, this temperature does not happen, but on the street in the conditions of the Far North - quite.

But the upper temperature of the models is limited to +40 C. A powerful electronic lamp driver, among other things, removes heat, but at high temperatures the case will heat up itself, which leads to malfunctions of the semiconductor and to its destruction.

Ripple

All artificial lighting tends to flicker to some extent. Alas, LED lamps are no exception. This characteristic must be taken into account when choosing.

Unfortunately, this issue is not easy to understand. The flicker is determined by the device driver and depends on its quality. In budget LED models, you can often find a capacitor instead of a driver, and the latter, as expected, cannot stabilize the current.

Working conditions

Characteristics of LED lamps E27 or car lamps points E14 also includes such a parameter as voltage. All led devices consume direct current with a voltage of 12 V, and therefore do not connect directly to the outlet, which cannot be said about car battery. Ability to work with alternating current a voltage of 220 V causes the same driver in the lamp or a converter included in the circuit.

LEDs

Nowadays, most of the electronics is of Chinese origin. Unfortunately, this also applies to LEDs. A simple buyer without qualifications, certain knowledge and specialized equipment does not have the opportunity to evaluate the quality of LEDs. In addition, many are confident that the LED is the simplest device and to get a quality product, it is enough to solder it to the board. In the event that the cost of the product is frankly low, most likely this is due to one of the three reasons, which will be discussed below.

Most Chinese-made LEDs have a backlight structure designed to operate in a pulsed mode (PC monitors, TV screens, LED modules, etc.). The production of LEDs with the backlight structure has been launched into mass production, which makes it possible to obtain a low cost at the output. At first, they really give good performance. luminous flux, however, after six months, they gradually lose them.

The LED is a semiconductor device. To ensure the efficient operation of semiconductors, LED lamps must have good heat dissipation. The use of poor quality heat-removing materials has a bad effect on the luminous flux. In our case, the quality of the luminaire is also determined by the professional support of the LED matrix manufacturer.

Therefore, give preference to products from global manufacturers: Osram, Phillips, Cree, Gauss, etc. Branded products are different good quality. Therefore, it is better not to save money, especially if these are recessed LED lamps. Degradation at an acceptable level and a stable luminous flux will provide you with good lighting for a long time.

Degradation

Despite the fact that, according to the norms, the permissible degradation value should be 20% per year, in practice it is better to choose a value of no more than 5% for, since with a high degradation rate, the color can change dramatically: for example, reviews say that it can become pink or blue .

Power supplies

Proper nutrition affects the quality of light and the life of the lighting fixture. So with poor-quality operation of the power supply, the purpose of which is to provide direct current, the ripple level will become minimal. At the same time, in accordance with SNiP, for office premises it should not exceed 5%. The ripple factor increases with pulsating current. And this means that the light source will not provide comfortable conditions for the eyes.

Frame

The quality of the luminous flux largely depends on the body of the lighting device and its components. The use of cheap plastic for a diffuser can reduce the luminous flux by up to 70% due to poor light transmission. A housing made of poor quality metal that has not been properly treated will corrode after a few years. That is why serious manufacturers carry out quality control of the materials used at all stages of the production of lamps. The most commonly used diffuser strained glass. It 100% meets the highest fire safety requirements in terms of its performance. Office LED lamps should give clean light without blinking, otherwise the efficiency of staff will decrease.

Guarantee period

Most companies provide a guarantee for their products for a period of 5 years. It looks great: you get an inexpensive LED table lamp and get a long warranty period for it.

In fact, everything is not so great and a small company with attractive low prices can quickly go bankrupt. The company can function for all 5 years and honestly replace low-quality lamps for you. At the same time, this will cause a lot of trouble: the need for constant installation and dismantling, labor and time costs. Replacement lamps will be given to you (and in fact they are not always available, so they ask you to wait a few days), but you will be forced to remove and change them at your own expense (the issue of using products in production workshops where lighting fixtures are suspended is especially acute at high altitude).

Characteristics of LED light bulbs for home and office

1. Light flow. The parameter is measured in lumens (Lm) and displays the amount of light emitted by the LED lamp. The higher the indicator, the brighter the ceiling LED lighting fixture shines.
2. Power consumption. Measured in watts (W). The lower this indicator, the lower the consumption of electrical energy.
3. Light output. Measured in Lm/W. The main indicator of the energy efficiency of a lighting device. For example, now the installed lamp in the Armstrong type ceiling is very common. He has 4 fluorescent lamps, each of which consumes 18 watts. Its actual light output does not exceed 30 Lm/W. Therefore, in comparison with the LED lamp, it cannot be called an energy-saving solution.
4. Radiation pattern - luminous intensity curve. It depicts the distribution of light fluxes emitted by an LED lamp. Remember that the installed LED luminaires must have an optimal radiation pattern for your task. For example, in the office ceiling lights uniform light fluxes should be distributed over the entire area of ​​\u200b\u200bthe room. Therefore, they must have a cosine diagram. If we consider street lighting, then the luminaire must have semi-wide or wide luminous intensity curves.
5. White LED Light Shades (Color Temperature). The parameter is measured in degrees Kelvin in the range from 2700–7000 Kelvin. Warm white is considered the most comfortable for the eyes. It has a color temperature of up to 4000 K. Anything above that is considered to be "cold white". As a rule, fixtures with shades of "warm white" are much more expensive than "cool white" due to the production technology.
6. Ra color rendering index. The value reflects how reliably the color of an object that is illuminated by LED lamps will be displayed. The higher the score, the more faithfully the colors are displayed. The index when illuminating those objects in which color difference is important should exceed 75.
7. Lighting manufacturer. The best solution would be to focus on branded manufacturers in this area: Semiconductor, CREE, Samsung, Seoul, etc. These companies give a guarantee of compliance with the declared characteristics during the entire life of your lighting fixture.
8. The efficiency of the power supply must be 80% or higher. LED fixtures with less efficient power supplies will have significant power losses. In addition, the power supply must be protected against power surges, overheating. The device must comply with EMC regulations.
9. Dimensions and number of LEDs in the product. The principle of "more is better" does not work here. So a luminaire with 45 LEDs may not be better than a luminaire with 12 LEDs if it uses better quality LEDs with good light output. It is also impossible to judge the advantages and disadvantages based on the size of the lighting device. It doesn't matter if the LEDs are small or large.

In the current situation, all people are trying somehow, but to save on electricity. Previously, saving mercury bulbs were used for these purposes. But they did not justify themselves: they burned out relatively quickly and did not pay off the costs, despite the fact that the price of such a product was by no means 5 rubles.

Today, people buy everywhere. Their technical characteristics are such that with a very small power consumption, these products are able to shine brightly. This is a good opportunity to save money. That is why they have become so popular. But not all of them are equally good. To choose the right light bulb, you need to know and take into account some points.

By the way, among the advantages of these products are not only high efficiency and long term services, but various options performance and different colors of glow. All this allows you to use them as one of the elements of interior design.

Advantages in detail

220v LED lamps have replaced traditional incandescent counterparts and demonstrate excellent performance for the average consumer. Among their advantages - a lot of everything. This is a significantly lower energy consumption, higher quality, longer service life. These products are also completely safe for humans and pets. It is worth considering all these advantages in more detail.

The best way to save

What is the economy? LED lamps, whose technical characteristics are similar to incandescent and fluorescent products, consume significantly less energy.

Take, for example, an ordinary 65-watt incandescent light bulb. A luminescent element with the same capabilities (and this is the creation of a luminous flux of 600 lm) has a power of 14 watts. A diode light with the same characteristics will consume only 7 watts. Here is the result. So, you can save 10 times if you replace old light bulbs with these new LEDs. In different cases, the level of efficiency can be even more.

Lifetime

The best can work from about 30 to 100 thousand hours. An ordinary light bulb, let him also make it famous brand, will work only 4000 hours, and even then only in an ideal situation. From this it turns out that for the period while the LED product will shine, it will be necessary to purchase and replace about 40 pieces. traditional counterparts. If we take into account the price ratio of 1/25 only for the purchase of one LED part, then instead of 40, the savings will be as much as 15%. This is a good number. In addition to the amount, time is also saved, which is spent on replacing products.

Guarantee

These unique and economical lamps also come with a manufacturer's warranty. So, domestic brands guarantee a service life of 2 to 3 years for their products. Foreign manufacturers prescribe 5 years of continuous operation. If suddenly for some reason it burns out before the warranty period, the company undertakes to repair or replace it free of charge.

If we take into account that in most standard ones they use about 6 hours during the day, then even the most inexpensive of all existing ones with a declared period of 30,000 hours will work for about 13 years. This is a serious period. At the same time, the cost of such a unique acquisition will pay off in about 2.5 years. It turns out that the rest of the time the light from the LED product will come out almost free.

In addition to all this, there are other advantages:

Important technical specifications

These lighting fixtures have become extremely popular in recent years. Therefore, it is necessary to know which technical specifications one or the other lamp must have. This will greatly facilitate the selection of these products for home use.

Power

This is probably the most important thing. For domestic use, a lamp is sufficient, the power of which is from 1 to 25 watts. This indicator is the equivalent of 20-150 W for an incandescent element.

But on sale there are more powerful LED lamps. Their technical characteristics, or rather the power, can be up to 100 watts. For home use, the capabilities of these products are redundant - they are used to organize street lighting.

Light flow

In order to find out how bright a particular product will be, you should usually pay attention to the luminous flux values. Manufacturers characterize the brightness of the glow with this parameter. It is these data that must be remembered in order to select a complete replacement for a burnt out incandescent lamp.

Many domestic manufacturers, as well as friends from the Middle Kingdom, indicate on the package which light bulb an LED can replace. But this setting is not always correct. There are cases when Chinese manufacturers have doubled this figure. For a luminous flux of 50 lm, you must purchase a 1 W LED lamp. For a flux of 600 lm, a 7 W LED part is needed, which is equivalent to a 65 W incandescent lamp.

Additional Specifications

Another important parameter is the angle of divergence. Those of the bulbs with this angle of 90 ° will be the most optimal solution as the main lighting. If the light scattering angle is 20-30 °, then the product is better to use for spot lighting.

Don't forget about color temperature. For example, 2700 K is a cozy and pleasant yellow color, somewhat reminiscent of Soviet lamps. 3500K - Whiter and brighter glow, but still slightly yellowish. 5000-6000 K are already neutral whites. Everything above these numbers is intended for street lighting.

Another is service life. This is worth looking at, but professionals do not recommend completely trusting the indicator. Often, everything that is sold in the markets of our country is made in China, and perhaps the quality is much higher than before, but you can buy a defective product everywhere.

LED Lamp Bases

On the modern market lighting devices, you can find products with 11 socles of various types. The differences between them are in the shape and size, as well as in the contact planes. Each base has its own number according to the standard. Just by looking at the lamp, you can understand where the device fits.

E27 is the most common base for home use. It is he who is used in most household chandeliers, and there are corresponding LED lamps for him. Lamps, sconces, desk lamp are also equipped with such a base. E14 is considered an analogue of this base. It is also designed for home use. This is a candle lamp.

In modern chandeliers and lamps, products with plinths are used, the marking of which begins with the letter G. There are a huge number of modifications to these parts. When buying devices, it is very important to fully know the markings, even though the base is equipped with pin contact surfaces.

Manufacturers

As noted earlier, the bulk of all the lamps on our market are Chinese products. But recently, a domestic manufacturer has also become more active, which makes LED lamps, the technical characteristics of which even surpass those of products from the Middle Kingdom. Often large enterprises are located in the European part of the country. These products are great for home use. Internet publications dedicated to information technology, conducted tests of a domestic product and were very pleased with the results.

Among the manufacturers of high-quality and reliable lamps are:

• Feron.
• Jazzway.
• camelon.
• Gauss.
• Navigator.
• "Era".

The cost of light bulbs can vary greatly depending on the region and ranges from 200 to 1300 rubles. It makes no sense to buy an inexpensive solution. Experts recommend purchasing products that are equipped with modern durable diodes.

New - LED lamp with remote control

Among the advantages of such devices can be identified high efficiency. The lamps are battery powered. Therefore, there will always be light in the apartment. The remote control allows you to conveniently control the lamp from a distance. This product is convenient as a mobile lamp.

For more than a century, people have been using incandescent lamps to illuminate their homes, apartments, workplaces, etc. And only relatively recently, just a few decades ago, the intensive development of alternative lighting devices began. At first, fluorescent lamps became widespread, they are already in a hurry to replace the more economical and efficient LED ones.

Reducing the cost of the latter made it possible to apply with led lamps as a complete replacement for other types of lamps.

Choosing the right LED lamp You can only get acquainted with its main technical characteristics. First of all, it is:

Power consumption. It can vary from a few units to tens of watts. But it is not possible to unambiguously judge by its value the brightness or power of the light flux of the lamp.

Light flow . In incandescent lamps, the brightness of illumination was in direct proportion to their power. In LED lamps, the dependence is different. To understand which shines brighter, pay attention to the value of the luminous flux. It shows the amount of light emitted by the lamp. It is measured in lumens (lm).

Luminous efficacy is the main parameter that characterizes the efficiency and economy of an LED lamp. It is the ratio of the luminous flux to the energy consumed by the lamp, i.e. to the power. It is measured in lumens per watt (Lm/W). For conventional incandescent lamps, this figure is 10-15 Lm / W, for LEDs about 70-90 Lm / W. On the package, instead of these two parameters, a comparative characteristic may be indicated, equated to the filament of a conventional light bulb with a similar luminosity.

Colorful temperature. A black body is one that does not reflect light at all. One of its closest analogues is soot. If such a body starts to warm up, it will begin to glow at first red, with a further increase in temperature, yellow, blue, and so on up to violet. The temperature to which a completely black body is heated is called the color temperature. It is measured in degrees on the Kelvin scale. An incandescent lamp with a yellowish, eye-pleasing color has a color temperature of 2700–3500 °K. white color daylight corresponds to 4500–6000 °K. Everything above 6500 °K refers to a bluish cold color.

One of the significant advantages of LED lamps is the ability to choose the shade of emitted white light from warm yellowish to cool bluish.

Working voltage. 12V LED lights work on DC, which provides the power supply or driver. They allow you to connect LEDs to a household electrical outlet with AC voltage 220 V. You can also find options for AC and constant voltage 12–24 V. In foreign stores, our compatriots sometimes mistakenly buy lamps designed for 110 V.

Therefore, it is necessary to know in advance what voltage will be used for power supply. If the voltage is too high, the lamp will burn out.

LED lamps with a driver can withstand power surges better. Unlike conventional incandescent lamps, which either dim or, on the contrary, light up brighter when the voltage changes, LEDs shine in these situations in the same way.

Plinths. LED lamps are equipped with standard sockets that fit almost all cartridges used in everyday life. The two most common groups are threaded and pin, there are also other types of them, in particular car lamp bases. The most common socles are E27, E14.

The first of these is a threaded base that fits standard cartridges installed in any room. The number after the letter indicates the diameter of the connecting part in millimeters.

With an E14 base, there are usually decorative lamps such as “minyon”, “candle”, “candle in the wind”, etc.

LED lamps with pin bases type G and type GU (with two terminals) are used to replace fluorescent and halogen lamps. The number after the letter in this case means the distance between the contacts.

Working temperature. The temperature range at which the lamp operates stably and without failure must correspond to the operating conditions. In general, it is quite wide and varies from -60 ° C to + 40 ° C.

Ripple factor. The brain is not able to fully process visual information that changes at a frequency of more than a few tens of hertz. Consciousness does not perceive the flickering of lamps with similar frequencies, but the person still feels discomfort, overwork, depression, etc. The retina cannot respond to flickering light with a frequency above 300 Hz, and, therefore, they are not perceived by the brain.
The pulsation coefficient characterizes the flickering of lamps, it should not be higher than 20%. High-quality light bulbs do not have this problem. You can't say the same about the cheap ones. One of the most common causes of this phenomenon is an unstable power supply that passes ripples from a 220 volt network.

You can check for pulsation by pointing your mobile phone camera at a working lamp. The image will flicker due to the ripple.

Degree of protection . In order for the lamp not to fail, all the more so not to endanger the health of the people nearby, it must meet certain requirements for protection against moisture and dust. Its degree must correspond to the conditions in which the product will be operated. Usually this parameter is indicated on the packaging.

Cooling system. A feature of LED lamps is the distribution of heat in the direction of the substrate of the diode itself, and not the external luminous surface. Therefore, the presence and quality of a radiator is one of the essential characteristics for lamps with a power of more than 2–3 W. The most common aluminum radiators with fins to increase heat transfer.

Other characteristics worth mentioning are:

Ability to control brightness. A dimmer is a device with which you can change the brightness of a lamp by limiting the current through it. Standard dimmers can only be used if the lamp is specially made with this capability. It is worth this type of LED lamps, of course, more expensive.

Life time . When used properly, purchased from a reliable supplier, LED lamps can continuously work for at least 25,000 hours.
The number of LEDs in the lamp. It can contain from one to dozens of these elements.