Tips For Choosing LED Lights

LED Colour
Property owners looking to retrofit LEDs into existing fixtures typically want to obtain the same look and feel as their existing lamps. A true warm white colour will range from between 2700K to 3000K (K = kelvin), however cheaper LED lamps tend to just say "warm white" and the colour of the light turns out to be a thick yellow with a mix of green. So beware of LED products that do not list a colour temperature.

LED Output
Cheaper LED manufacturers often exaggerate what their LED product's light output is, claiming up to and above 100 lumens per watt. Quality LED lights are lucky to achieve 75 lumens per watt for warm white.

The warm white colour of a burning filament in traditional lighting is hard to achieve using LED but one way of increasing the output of a LED is to use a higher colour temperature LED chip and changing the colour output of the lamp. So be aware how these cheaper products can achieve such high output.

LED Light Quality
Traditional lamps are very good at reproducing the colour of an object. Quality LED lamps can also achieve a similar light quality, but once again, beware of cheaper LED lamps that do not specify the colour quality (CRI). LED chips with poor light quality can make objects look dull, off colour and even cause eye strain.

What To Look Out For
When searching for your LED lighting, consider a lamp that has a high colour rendering index (CRI) of >75, maintains a high efficacy of >65 lumens per watt, and has the exact colour temperature you want.

Quality LED lighting providers should always specify the lumen output, colour temperature and light quality (CRI).

Doing your bit for the environment by choosing more energy efficient lighting doesn't mean you need to sacrifice light quality!