LED Lighting
LED Light Bars shine for 2015 as Best New Lighting Product by M Lite Solution
When we designed our UL and DLC listed LED Light Bar and Mini Light Bar retrofit kits, we built them to last long, provide energy savings, while being easy to install. These are a Win-Win for building owners, electrical contractors, and our environment.
Below is a step by step install guide for a better understanding of how easy they are to install. Click the link below to view our PDF attachment for easy install and our product overview flyer.
m-lite-mr-series-led-upgrade-kit-installation-instructions 3 LED LIGHT BARS MR-1100-318-ALC
m lite light bar flyer general
For more information visit online at M-Lites.com
Building retrofits could mitigate more than 600 million metric tons of CO2 per year
#ActOnClimate : A call to action on #Twitter and from actors and environmentalist like #LeoDiCaprio
141,540 PEOPLE IN ILLINOIS HAVE CALLED FOR CLIMATE ACTION
#PresidentObama and the #EPA have announced carbon pollution standards for all existing power plants in America.
Will you join others around the country in saying you believe we must protect our children and future generations from climate change?
Submit a public comment to the EPA in support of strong carbon pollution standards. Click Here
Reduce 40% of global carbon emissions: From the Rockefeller Foundation Report
Upgrading and replacing energy-consuming equipment in buildings offers an important capital investment opportunity, with
the potential for significant economic, climate, and employment impacts. In the United States alone, more than $279 billion
could be invested across the residential, commercial, and institutional market segments. This investment could yield more
than $1 trillion of energy savings over 10 years, equivalent to savings of approximately 30% of the annual electricity spend
in the United States. If all of these retrofits were undertaken, more than 3.3 million cumulative job years of employment
could be created. These jobs would include a range of skill qualifications, and would be geographically diverse across the
United States. Additionally, if all of these retrofits were successfully undertaken, it would reduce U.S. emissions by nearly
10%. The potential employment and climate benefits presented by energy efficiency retrofits have led the Rockefeller
Foundation to explore a program initiative in this area, and to partner with Deutsche Bank Climate Change Advisors to
produce this research report as a publicly-available resource for all interested stakeholders.
For some time, advocates of clean technology have emphasized the market potential and rapid payback of energy
efficiency upgrades and retrofits in buildings.
Buildings consume approximately 40% of the world’s primary energy and are responsible for 40% of global carbon emissions. Mature and proven technologies, designed and manufactured by established multi-national firms, can save energy and yield significant returns when replacing older, less efficient systems.
However, the apparently simple act of upgrading and replacing equipment in buildings – from upgrading lights to replacing
heating and cooling systems, or replacing building controls – has never achieved its full potential. In order to provide a clear
understanding of this opportunity, we use this paper to establish the potential size of the retrofit market in the United States.
We also examine the emergence of new financing models that offer the promise of overcoming historical barriers and
unlocking the true potential of this market.
Case studies and various analyses have shown that the energy savings from retrofit projects can offer the potential for
strong financial returns. However, a status quo bias, asymmetric information and structural barriers in the real estate
industry have traditionally resulted in low levels of demand by home and building owners. Over recent years, a number of
financing models have emerged which offer the potential to scale investment in these markets and overcome both the
supply and demand side barriers. Utilizing the work done by the World Economic Forum as a reference point, we profile
these models, including the Energy Services Agreement (ESAs), Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) and On-Bill
Finance (OBF), in addition to examining the largest historical provider of energy efficiency upgrades, the Energy Services
Companies (ESCOs). #MLiteSolution
Each of these models merits consideration, and we believe that a robust market will offer multiple options to building
owners seeking third-party investment in building retrofits. The ESA model appears to be especially promising in the near
term, given its potential to scale without policy or regulatory requirements. A number of firms have already demonstrated
early traction utilizing this structure.
While parts of the market are poised to grow independent of government policy, an enabling policy environment could
further accelerate adoption and facilitate greater, or more rapid, scale. Enabling policies go beyond subsidies to include
measures such as building data disclosure requirements.
Buildings consume approximately half (49%) of all energy used in the United States and three quarters of all electricity,
according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). Building energy retrofits, or the application of energy efficient
or clean generation measures to existing building stock, represent a significant opportunity to save money, reduce climate
impacts and generate or maintain jobs. However, the U.S. building stock is heterogeneous and the building retrofit market is
actually comprised of a number of underlying market segments and sub-segments. The three main categories of segments
include residential, commercial and institutional, as depicted above. The finance models and other market development
strategies needed to realize energy efficiency measures at scale will vary by market segment, although a number of models
and strategies can be applied in one or more segment. Due to the limitations of publicly available data at the segment level,
this Market Scan does not include any information and analysis about the 21 segments within the Industrial category (not
shown).
1 This economic impact is a directional estimate, which converts the volumetric energy savings to dollar savings using sector specific energy prices from the U.S. EIA, as well as EIA estimates for sector specific electricity price escalation. It does not incorporate the feedback loop of reduced demand via energy savings affecting prices.
2 Source: http://epa.gov/climatechange/emissions/usinventoryreport.html
Saving energy Starts with You and M-Lites.com is ready to help you
M-Lite Solution manufactures high end #LEDLighting products that are the most cost effective LED lighting technology in the marketplace for schools, nursing homes, government buildings, and other commercial properties. We specialize in LED Retrofit kits that will significantly lower your energy consumption, provide years of maintenance free lighting , are UL approved, and easy to install.
Click here to view a few cost saving projects by #MLiteSolution
White Light LED products can be used as a powerful deterrent with LED Lighting Facts
Summary: the advantages of LED lighting
LED lighting works much better than traditional lighting solutions, such as halogen flood lights or metal halide lamps, for a number of reasons, including:
- Lower energy consumption (LED’s offer the lowest possible running costs: less than 100 watts for the highest power units; whereas with other forms of lighting much more energy is wasted generating heat)
- Superior quality illumination (even spread of light, no dark or bright spots, better targeting especially with higher-end LED lighting products)
- Longer product life and reliability (up to 100,000 hours – in comparison fluorescent bulbs typically last 10,000 hours and incandescent bulbs 1,000; the best LED products available today deliver 10 years life, with warranty)
- No maintenance (no bulb failure, no down-time)
- Instant start (no warm up time for full light output)
- Suitable for challenging environments (higher-end products are weather-hardened, hot and cold climate tolerant, vandal resistant)
- Flexibility of installation and maintenance (with new and specialist developments such as poe, and explosion protected lighting)
With its higher performance and lower power consumption LED lighting provides an ideal solution for any CCTV application.
Energy saving benefits
Leds are unquestionably the most energy-efficient choice for lighting and by converting to LED lights, users can make significant savings on energy bills. It’s estimated by the Carbon Trust that 40% of energy used by organisations goes on lighting, so the potential to reduce bills is substantial. Not only to leds save energy and have lower running costs, because they are not prone to bulb failure they do not carry the ‘hidden’ energy costs associated with time consuming maintenance work.
When you take into account higher running costs and money spent on replacing bulbs that don’t last very long an organisation using 100 CCTV or security lights could be wasting £45,000 per year. This is based upon 4,400 hours usage per year at 10p kw/hr; with labour costs conservatively calculated at £40 per bulb change; it’ll be much higher if a cherry-picker is needed.
(NB. If you want to get an accurate figure for a particular site, in fact it’s very easy to work out exactly how much can be saved by using the energy saving calculator which Raytec provides online).
Superior LED performance
With ongoing product development and improvements based on frequent night-test sessions, LED illuminators have been refined to provide the even quality illumination that is exactly what CCTV cameras need.
With the right products the light can be easily targeted and adjusted to give both the correct range (typically up to 370m+) and angle of coverage (typically anything from 10-180°) for each application.
LED lights are also highly flexible in use, they start up immediately (with no warm up period) and so can be used for active warning systems, and for intelligent detector-driven CCTV applications.
The advantages of IR (infra-red)
Designed for use with both black & white and day/night cameras, infra-red illuminators provide IR light which is invisible to the human eye but visible to the CCTV camera.
Because IR is invisible to the human eye it is ideal for covert surveillance; the camera can see, but the intruder cannot.
Further, as their light cannot be seen, IR illuminators are the perfect solution in sensitive areas where light pollution needs to be avoided; areas such as residential neighbourhoods and parks.
IR illumination also works well over long distances, with illumination at ranges up to 370m. Therefore in many applications IR illumination is the perfect lighting tool for CCTV, allowing cameras to capture crisp, clear images in black & white, and optimising camera performance.
When to choose WL (white-light)
Where accurate colour images are required, white-light illuminators are the ideal solution, providing high quality visible crystal clear illumination to optimise colour camera performance.
White Light LED technology allows accurate colour image capture at night and ensures that the CCTV system works at its best 24/7.
White Light LED products can be used as a powerful deterrent. For example, with its quick start characteristic this technology can be used as part of an intelligent, detector-driven security system. Purpose-designed for CCTV, the technology’s even illumination allows the best colour image capture, without the bright or dark spots which can be a problem with other types of lighting.
This is also a multi-purpose lighting solution that can be used for non security applications, such as commercial and general lighting.
Alternative lighting technology
Following is a summary of different types of lighting technology that has been commonly used.
1) Incandescent Lamps (Including Halogen)
For CCTV purposes, bulb life is limited and they are very inefficient. They are generally expensive to run (typically500 watts) and expensive to maintain (up to 3 bulb changes per year). End users are increasingly moving away from using halogen based lighting products in favour of longer life leds.
Incandescent bulbs were the first bulbs developed and are highly inefficient, wasting 90% of input energy as heat. Their heat output is such that they are extremely hot to touch and can heat surrounding objects in close proximity.
Halogen bulbs provide a minimal increase in efficiency and still waste as much as 85% of input energy as heat. Halogen bulbs are smaller and higher pressure than incandescent bulbs causing halogen bulbs to have an extremely hot surface hazardous to the touch. Bringing the bulb into contact with cold surfaces such as residue from fingerprints, particularly sodium, may cause bulb failure.
2) Fluorescent Lamps
Their effectiveness for CCTV purposes is limited due to the perceived “beating” effect when used with a CCTV camera. They are generally low power and designed mainly for internal fittings. As they have a large diffused source the light output is difficult to focus and control. Fluorescent bulbs are much more efficient than incandescent bulbs, operating at approximately 40% efficiency. Only 60% of the input energy is wasted as heat so fluorescent lamps run much cooler than incandescent lamps and can provide equivalent power from much lower electrical input. For this reason, and the fact that fluorescent lamps tend to last 10 – 20 times as long as an incandescent bulb, they are commonly used in domestic homes as long life bulbs. However, fluorescent lamps produce a flicker imperceptible to the human eye but visible to cameras as a “beat” effect making fluorescent illumination unsuitable for video surveillance. Fluorescent lamps also contain the hazardous material mercury.
3) HID Lamps
HID lamps could be used in CCTV. They are efficient, provide good colour rendition and they provide a relatively long life – up to 12,000 hours. However, they suffer from a slow start (2-3mins) and cannot be turned on immediately after being turned off. High intensity discharge lamps are 60-80% efficient and compared to incandescent and fluorescent lamps provide much more light from a smaller package. HID forms include low pressure sodium (unsuitable for CCTV due to its yellow tinge), high pressure sodium (which is more acceptable but produces worse colour rendition than Metal Halide) and Metal Halide. Metal Halide HID bulbs provide a very natural, cool clear White-Light with excellent colour rendition. HID lamps are commonly used for street lighting and in car headlights.
LED’s – technical background
Light Emitting Diodes (LED’s) are semiconductors that naturally emit a narrow band of light. They are a relatively new development in lighting but their usage is expanding rapidly on the back of clear technical advantages. LED’s are comparatively expensive to purchase but provide extremely long life up to 100,000 hours. In comparison fluorescent bulbs typically last 10,000 hours and incandescent bulbs 1,000. LED efficiency is typically 80-90% with the greatest efficiency coming from LED’s producing red light. Advantages of LED’s include extremely low electrical consumption, low operating temperatures and continuity of colour through the operating life of the LED. Unlike traditional bulbs LED’s are also highly durable, insensitive to vibration and they are more robust and difficult to break. They are also capable of emitting light at a given wavelength without the need for a filter and are quick start devices. Power management and thermal management are important to ensure LED’s deliver expected performance.
Recent LED developments
Through-hole leds are expensive to mount to pcbs and generally are not as robust as Surface Mount Technology (SMT). SMT LED’s offer better thermal management and allow the LED’s to be driven harder without compromising performance.
CCTV lighting – which wavelength?
1) Infra-Red:
- 715-730nm – overt IR, produces a red glow like a red traffic light.
- 815-850nm – semi-covert IR with a faintly red glow only just visible.
- 940-950nm – covert IR invisible to the human eye.
Infra-Red light can be used to provide discrete or covert illumination for CCTV; to minimise light pollution; or to provide very long distance illumination. IR can be used with monochrome and day/night cameras. NB. As IR becomes more covert it becomes more difficult for the camera to see and consequently distances are reduced. 940-950nm IR should only be used with highly sensitive cameras fitted with high performance lenses. Focussing is also more difficult at those wavelengths as lenses start to operate more inefficiently with 940-950nm.
2) White Light:
A mixture of light from 400-700nm provides true White-Light.
When to use: to illuminate an area for the CCTV system; improve the overall level of illumination for key personnel; provide a welcoming environment for authorised personnel; and to deter crime by illuminating a secure area on intrusion; White Light can be used with monochrome, colour and day/night cameras
Beam Patterns
When providing CCTV illumination the beam angle should always cover the full field of view. The correct angle of illumination must be used to light the full scene. Modern units allow the angle of illumination to be adjusted on site to suit the specific scene requirements.
Traditional Beam Patterns: as standard, beam patterns from an illuminator are provided at a fixed angle, either narrow or wide. Historically, spot and flood lenses have dominated but more recently these have been rejected in favour of more precise angles such as 10, 30 or 60 degrees. However, these are still fixed angle output, meaning they are inflexible on site. If the lighting requirements change or if the cameras field of view is changed the lighting may be unacceptable. Also, it means that all lighting decisions must be made prior to installation which is often difficult. Often final lens decisions and viewing areas are made during the installation process. Typical Beam Patterns: Spot; 10°; 20°; 30°; 60°; flood.
The Inverse Square Law
The inverse square law describes how the intensity of a light is inversely proportional to the square of the distance from the light source(the illuminator). Light obeys the inverse square law so to fully understand the way that light travels, and the resultant impact on CCTV systems, some understanding of the inverse square law is required. As light travels away from the point source it spreads both horizontally and vertically and therefore intensity decreases. In practise this means that if an object is moved from a given point, to a point double the distance from the light source it will receive only a ¼ of the light (2 times the distance squared = 4). Taking this theory further, if an object at 10m from a light source receives 100 LUX, moving the object to 40m, it will receive only 1/16th of the light (4 times the distance, squared = 16) resulting in the object receiving only 6.25 LUX. The inverse-square law applies to both White-Light and Infra-Red light in the same way. The effects of the inverse-square law make clear how a CCTV camera has to handle a wide range of light levels within a given field of view and shows the importance of even illumination.
Using multiple illuminators
The inverse-square law explains how light intensity reduces over distance but can also be used to calculate how many additional illuminators are needed to achieve specific increases in distance.
Calculating how many illuminators are needed to cover a given distance:
If the distance from a single illuminator is doubled then the intensity of the light is quartered. Therefore to achieve double the distance of one illuminator, achieving the same power on scene, 4 illuminators are required (2 squared = 4). Similarly to achieve 3 times the distance of one illuminator, 9 illuminators are required (3 squared =9).
Calculating the impact of multiple illuminators on distance: the inverse square law can also be used to calculate the effect of using multiple illuminators by taking the square root of the change in illumination intensity at source. For example, using 4 illuminators will produce a 2 fold increase in distance (the square root of 4 is 2), and using 25 illuminators will result in a 5 fold increase in distance (the square root of 25 is 5).
NB. There is no need to use multiple illuminators to achieve increases in distance. Tighter angle devices, or more powerful illuminators can provide the required additional power output.
How to Specify Lighting
1) Infra-Red or White-Light?
Identifying the purpose of the system will point to the type of light to use.
Infra-Red light provides greater distance, a varying degree of invisibility (depending on the exact wavelength) and no light pollution. Infra-Red is light designed only to be used by CCTV cameras. White-Light provides the opportunity to illuminate an area for pedestrians, staff or vehicles in addition to the CCTV system. It can also be used as a visual deterrent when turned on if an intruder is detected by a PIR.
2) Angle?
The illumination should ideally match the angle the camera / lens is set-to in order to provide best performance. If not, and too narrow an illumination angle is chosen, the camera will simply see a bright spot in the middle of the scene and the contrast between light and dark areas on scene will be too great to provide high quality images. Illumination which is too wide wastes energy and reduces achievable distance.
Note: The adoption of vari-focal lenses has caused difficulty in specifying lighting. With vari-focal lenses the exact FOV is often only established on site through trial and error making exact matching to fixed angle lighting impossible in advance. The latest vari-focal lighting allows the output angle of an illuminator to be adjusted on-site to match the set-up of a vari-focal lens.
3) Distance?
After selecting the angle, the next consideration is distance. How far should the lighting illuminate? Installers and specifiers should be aware that as angle increases, distance decreases.
4) Camera and Lens Considerations
The exact performance of any illuminator in a CCTV system is dependant upon the camera and lens combination used. For best results a high sensitivity camera (for IR projects an IR sensitive camera) should be used with a high transmission lens. Generally a CCTV imaging system (camera, lens, illumination) is only as good as its weakest link.
Practical Installation Considerations
Lighting and Domes
Providing lighting for domes has long been a challenge for CCTV professionals as the lighting cannot be fitted to move with the camera as would be the case with a traditional PTZ system. However, there are three lighting solutions available for fully functional domes:
- Wide angle illumination: New wide angle illuminators covering 120-180° allow the full 360° angle of a dome to be covered with only 2 illuminators.
- Target Area Illumination: Illuminators can be used to target specific points of interest including gates and entry points on pre-set positions.
- Local Area Illumination: Illumination can be fitted away from the camera to flood the scene. When the camera zooms in the whole area will be lit.
Lighting and PTZ systems
Typically PTZ systems are used in applications where a single camera is designated to secure a large area. At long distances the camera lens is often zoomed in giving a narrow field of view and at short distances the camera lens pans to a wide angle. The flexibility of such a system requires the lighting to cover long distances and narrow and wide angles. The solution is to use a twin lighting system. The old fashioned method was to use 1 narrow and 1 wide angle illuminator. The better solution is to provide even illumination. Both illuminators should be attached to the PT motor by a bracket. A second solution for shorter range PTZ units is to use a single wider angle illuminator such as a 30° – 60° model. If the required distance is not too great a wide angle illuminator may be able to cover the maximum distance as well as the wide angle.
Infra-Red and Focus Shift
Focus shift is a potential issue encountered when setting up camera systems for 24-hour performance using Infra-Red. The different wavelengths of visible light (400-700nm) and Infra-Red (700-1,000nm) create different focus points through the lens onto the camera chip. This can lead to a loss of image focus at night, particularly if the camera is set up during daytime operation. The degree of focus shift depends on a variety of factors:
- Lens quality
- Wavelength of the IR. (Longer wavelengths such as 950nm will provide a more exaggerated focus shift).
- IR response of the camera
Focusing the camera correctly for low light performance means the camera will be focussed for IR with the aperture fully open. During daytime operation the increased depth of field created by a closing aperture will counter the effects of focus shift. The best solution is to focus the camera using only Infra-Red. This can be achieved by: setting up the camera at night using Infra-Red lighting; using an IR pass filter over the camera lens to simulate.
Back Focusing
Back Focus describes the relationship between the distance of the lens to the camera chip. This distance is critical to maintaining the proper depth of field through changing focal lengths and varying light conditions and setting it correctly can ensure the image stays in focus 24 hours a day. Correct back focus of the camera can be used to overcome the typical issue of a sharp daytime image followed by a blurred image at night. This situation is caused when, during bright sunlight, the lens is closed and the depth of field is very wide, whereas when the light level drops the iris opens and the depth of field decreases causing a lack of focus. For correct 24-hour focusing a camera should be back focused with the lens iris fully opened to simulate the worst possible depth of field. Neutral Density filters can be used to cover the lens during back focusing to simulate lower light intensity on scene. This is an effective solution for colour cameras or cameras using White-Light CCTV illumination. However, for mono cameras, or day-night cameras using Infra-Red lighting, the best solution is to place an Infra-Red Pass filter over the lens.
High Sensitivity Cameras and Lighting
All cameras require light, sensitivity is simply a measure of how much light they need. High sensitivity cameras require less lighting to produce high quality CCTV images. However, even high sensitivity cameras should be fitted with professional CCTV lighting to provide even illumination. This allows the camera to provide sharp, clear images.
Megapixel cameras and lighting
Digital cameras record brightness on a per-pixel basis so the greater the amount of pixels the smaller surface area each pixel has available to capture light. The end result is that the greater the resolution the less sensitive the camera. A megapixel constitutes 1,000,000 individual pixels and Megapixel cameras offer a number of advantages to installers including higher resolution, wider angle images, and the ability to digitally zoom images. However, they are by nature less sensitive than standard CCD cameras meaning they require additional lighting to achieve high quality images at night. With Megapixel cameras ALWAYS use additional CCTV lighting to achieve high quality night-time images. Megapixel cameras only deliver their advantages when viewing a correctly illuminated scene.
This article was supplied by Raytec and M-Lite Solution providers of LED Lighting Products
Click here to contact M-Lites.com for the Best LED Lighting Solutions in the USA.
17 Billion Dollars of Lighting upgrades are needed in the USA
LED lighting is gaining traction in commercial retrofits in Chicago
At M Lite Solution in Wauconda, Illinois we are shipping out every LED Retrofit we can assemble, and now we have a slew of New Distributors wanting our products Nationally. This shows great traction for the LED Lighting business here in Chicago, which is fantastic news for a growing company like ours. Our LED products are brighter, last longer, and more cost effective than competitive products in the past years.
Our recent success is fueled by the creativity of local inventor Dave Rozek, and the combination of Dr. Hasan (formally of Tellabs), and Manny Lin (Professor to China’s Best Engineers). With the recent addition of Michael Lin, an Engineer with a flare for quality control, and the ability to work hands on with Electrical Contractors, M Lite is positioned for years of growth.
After reviewing the growing LED Market, M Lite is faced the task of looking to manufacture our LED retrofit kits here in Illinois in order to meet the demand of our clients. We are firmly committed to Job Creation here in Chicago, and with 17 Billion Dollars of operational commercial saving waiting for us, we are a few investors or grants away from fulfilling our visions and making them a reality.
Why is the Market so Strong for LED Retrofit Solutions?
If we consider both short and long-term energy and maintenance savings, the impact of LED lighting retrofit projects on the building market has show us how upgrading to efficient lighting give commercial building owners a 60 to 80 percent savings. Not to mention a safer work environment with more efficient employees or students due to the increase of more blue light emitted from LED Lighting. In factories and grocery stores our LED lighting does not normally attract bugs, or flies, which is a proactive action being made by many retailers. A few of the largest retailers to act on these environmentally friendly lighting upgrades are retail chains Walmart and Walgreens.
In the LED Lighting market our Retrofit solutions make it easy for major retailers like Walmart and Walgreens to make the switch to more responsible lighting, because they are built to be quickly installed which allows for minimal or zero disturbance in daily business operations. Plus, M Lites LED products are maintenance free during the duration of our warranty. Many major companies have tried to compete in the retrofit arena, but most can not perform and maintain the strong return on investment our M Lite products optimally perform at.
Cost of waiting: Maintenance improvement or Capital Investment?
Such project’s like the one above should be classified for business owners as capital improvement that will increase the market value of the property. By doing an LED upgrade it is common place to see great annual savings that can provide a cash infusion to any consumer of electricity from outdated electrical fixtures that are found in almost every business we venture into. The Cost of waiting chart is based on 100 units being upgraded with a Return on Investment within 2 years.
Through proven leadership, M-Lite remains in the forefront of the design, engineering, manufacturing, and distribution of LED lighting technology. We will grow every day as Chicago continues to led the Nation in Green Buildings.
What sets your product apart from all those currently in the marketplace
A Question to us in a Linkedin Group for Inventors:
From Mike P.
CEO/Prof/Mech/Engineer/Physicist/Inventor/Entrepreneur
What sets your product apart from all those currently in the marketplace and how does it compete with those from China/Taiwan/Japan/Korea etc which are first class with high outputs across all frequencies and low price.
The Answer:
The Ultra Slim LED light bars are easy to install, maintenance free during the duration of warranty, and the most cost effective LED lighting retrofit solution for recessed luminaire’s. USA designed and assembled locally in Wauconda, IL. by Dr. Hasan (former Chief of Technology from Tellabs), and his staff.
The Led Light Bars also come in a 2×2 retrofit kit, a single LED Light Bar unit, an 8 ft troffer retrofit kit solution, and we can custom build them to your specifications.
OK, enough about our LED Light Bar retrofit solution. Stop by often to here about LED Lighting Retrofit News from M-Lites.com
LED Terminology – Kelvin, CRI, and Luminous Flux
LED Lighting Terminology
Color Temperature and Color Rendering (Kelvin and CRI): There are two standard measurements for the color characteristics of light: “color rendering index” (CRI), a term used to describe the extent to which an artificial light source is able to render the true color of objects as seen by natural outdoor sunlight which has a CRI of 100, and “color temperature”, which expresses the color appearance of the light itself.
Color Rendering Index (CRI): Incandescent is used as the base reference of 100 CRI. Compact fluorescent lamps are graded at 82-86 CRI, which is considered high quality color rendering. CRI is a more important consideration for retail lighting design than it is for office lighting. Any CRI rating of 80 or above is considered high and indicates that the source has good color properties. Incandescent lamps and daylight have a CRI of 100, the highest possible CRI. The higher the CRI of the light source, the “truer” it renders color. At M-Lite we strive to manufacture our LED lighting at 80 CRI or better.
Color Temperature (Kelvin): Refers to the way color groups are perceived – the psychological impact of lighting. Color temperature is how cool or warm the light source appears. The color temperature of a light source is a numerical measurement of its color appearance. This temperature is based on the principle that any object will emit light if it is heated to a high enough temperature and that the color of that light will shift in a predictable manner as the temperature is increased. This system is based on the color changes of a black metal as it is heated from a cold black to a white hot state. As the temperature increases, the color would shift gradually from red to orange to yellow to white and finally to a blue white. Color temperature is measured in degrees Kelvin (K). Colors and light sources from the red/orange/yellow side of the spectrum are described as warm (incandescents) and those toward the blue end are referred to as cool (natural daylight). The sun, for example, rises at approximately 1800 Kelvin and changes from red to orange to yellow and to white as it rises to over 5000 Kelvin at high noon. It then goes back down the scale as it sets.
Luminous Flux – the flow of light measured in lumens. With light bulbs, it provides an estimate of the apparent amount of light the bulb will produce. Depending on the application, much of an incandescent’s light is wasted because it’s emitted in every direction. LEDs on the other hand, put out directional light, sending all of the light exactly where it’s needed. This is why an LED producing 500 lumens might be equivalent to an incandescent producing 900 lumens.
Lumens measure how much light you are getting from a bulb. The more lumens means it’s a brighter light; fewer lumens means it’s a dimmer light.
Lumens produced is just one factor of the performance of a light, and sometimes it is misleading. To understand how to fully evaluate the LED product, we need to look the overall system efficiency, optical control, thermal management of the LEDs.
Another factor that can also be very misleading is the life of an LED lights, the life time is defined by how long will the light last before the fixture reaches 20 percent lumen depreciation.
For example, most of the time an LED Light has a life time of 50,000 hours, it does not mean that after 50,000 hours, the LED lighting product will not work at all. It will still be working, but the Lumens it emitts is factored at 20% less than when it was first used.
For more LED Lighting Facts, visit our website at http://www.m-lites.com
What are the benefits of LED – Light Emitting Diodes?
LED Lighting Benefits
Light Emitting Diodes (LED) are almost unstoppable in terms of lighting efficiency and durability, which make them incredibly resourceful for our sustainable future. They are stylish and cool in many ways, they have such outstanding performance properties that they offer a whole series of practical benefits, including providing healthier light that even improves our moods and a higher blue light that create more tasked focused students and employees. They are more durable, cost efficient, and are environmentally friendly. LED lighting is truly a creative technology, which rightly deserves the title of “Most Innovative Product” in our ERA.
For all purpose lighting illumination, Our M-Lite Solution LED lighting products provide outstanding light, which are already being used commercial, and residential lighting applications. As far as atmospheric lighting is concerned, the multi-colored changing LED lights give inventors like David Rozek enormous creative freedom for outdoor, and indoor LED lighting. These innovative LED lights range from special lamps for military applications, the entertainment industry, and film industry, which inventor David Rozek, and staff are currently building for the next generation of LED lighting.
1. Low Energy Consumption: LED lighting has significantly reduced energy consumption without sacrificing functional efficiency and visual performance. An incandescent bulb is only able to transform 20% of the electricity that it requires into light energy, with the other 80% being given off as heat. when it comes to LED lights they do just the opposite, 80% of the electrical energy is emitted as light energy and only 20% is released as heat. Some M-Lite LED products offer 95% of its energy into to light, and as little as 5% release of heat.
LEDs are also utilized with various lighting control technology which contributes significantly to energy savings. LEDs are fully dimmable with the right driver provided by M-Lite, and are easily incorporated into circuits with a variety of sensors, including daylight harvesting sensors, or Human Centric Lighting.
2. Long Life Expectancy: LEDs are also known for having a long life expectancy, especially when compared to incandescent and fluorescent lighting. A LED light can last up to 100,000 hours at full use, which adds up to 11 years of 100% usage. With 50% usage, a LED lamp can last for 22 years. This is a vast improvement to an incandescent lamp’s operational life, which is approximately 5,000 hours if you are lucky.
The LED’s longevity also allows for unparalleled cost effectiveness, since it reduces maintenance costs and the need for regular bulb replacement. This feature is especially useful if lighting is required in areas that are hard to reach.
3. Durability: LEDs are very durable and resilient, and are the choice lighting solutions for areas that require rugged use. Because they don’t have a fragile glass encasement and do not require a filament to function, LEDs can take a lot of jarring and bumping and still maintain their ability to function at peak efficiency. They are known for being resistant to heat, cold and shock.
Because of this particular LED feature, LEDs are they also developed for rugged use in underwater environments, and for exterior and outdoor lighting solutions. This current generation of LED lighting can be exposed to the elements and will maintain a high-performance visually in rugged environments.
4. A Cool Lighting Solution: LEDs are cool – literally. LEDs only emit a small amount of heat compared to other lighting. The LED’s ability to not cause heat build ups works to the benefit of AC units, which translates to added energy savings and cost effectiveness. Which in turn helps maintain a comfortable environment for people during hot, and muggy weather.
5. Sustainability and Green Lighting: LED is currently the favored solution for sustainable or green lighting products. It does not contain any toxic material (e.g. mercury or neon), which makes it environmentally friendly and easier to dispose of than fluorescent lighting. LEDs do produce a very small amount of UV light, but they emit even less than an incandescent light bulb. That is because the amount of UV that it produces is converted to white light by the phosphors inside the lamp.
Because an LED has a very long operational lifespan, it lessens wattage as it does not require regular bulb replacement. LED lighting also features an unparalleled capacity for energy savings, which is a major concern for sustainable design.
6. LEDs do not attract bugs: LEDs offer relief from another problem—insects. UV light attracts insects. With virtually no UV emissions, M-Lites LED lighting products do not attract bugs, and that has made our LED Lighting products very popular in commercial food service industry and exterior building installations of M-Lite Solution lighting where it’s important to minimize the attraction of pesky insects.
Because of these many combinations of truly innovative features M-Lite Solution LED lighting products are becoming the leading choice for those opting for sustainable design and green lighting solutions World Wide. Our LED lighting solutions offer maximum lighting performance and cost effectiveness without the harmful byproducts that come with traditional lighting solutions. LED lighting is simply your best option, and are more affordable than ever with M-Lite’s LED Lighting Solutions.
Patent Designer / Inventor at M-Lite Solution LLC
Hello Mike,
Our products are a little different. Our Ultra Slim Led Light Bar, is built based on our patented design. They run cooler, brighter, and use a fraction of the energy our competition uses. Most retrofit kits from the Asian market are not UL approved, or DLC listed, because they do not qualify or prefer to sell products cheap.
Also, most of those countries products are not heat sink well and choose not to build commercial lighting products with the proper type of drivers based on cost of goods.
I am also very fortunate to have partners that are Engineers in multiple fields. One of my partners has been the professor to the Best Engineering minds in China for years, and was appointed by the Premier of China to do so.
When it comes to price we are very competitive and our demand is more than our on-hand supply. When we raise our production level this fall, our price point will drop even more. This will widen our advantage in the LED Retrofit Market for commercial end users.
We have strategically prepared for this market, and we also warranty our products in the USA. Many Asian made products take too long in the warranty process for end users to maintain good relationships with the supplier chains and they also are not cost effective for warranty claim processing by consumers because of the cost to ship products to Asian for repair or replacement.
In addition, we respect all manufacturers of solid state lighting, but we know it is a growing market that we can grow with them based on the demand of the market.
Additional information about our LED Retrofit Products:
Our LED 2 Light Bar Systems provide 3400 Lumens, while only consuming 34 Watts, and have become a first rate option for many Electrical Contractors in the Midwest. Our 3 LED Light Bar provides 5100 Lumens, and consumes only 50 Watts.