Interested in Installing LED Lighting? Confused Already?
So you’re interested in using LED lighting in your own home, maybe because you’re interested in introducing some new lighting effects to lift the appearance or because you want to save money on your electricity bill, or perhaps a bit of both.
But if you’re like most people then your first problem is in figuring out where and how to start. Both bricks and mortar and online retailers of LED bulbs seem pathologically intent on confusing the bejesus out of their would be customers with a mix that’s heavy on hype and jargon and light on straightforward basic information.
So you set off to find a nice new super energy efficient LED light bulb to replace say that 50W halogen lamp that’s blown (yet again) and chucks out an amazing amount of heat (or put another way, quite literally burns your money). How hard can that be?
You find yourself a suitable looking LED replacement – it’s the right size and fitting, rather more expensive but then they use only about one tenth as much electricity and last for absolutely ages. But information about how it compares to a conventional incandescent light bulb or (and here’s an idea so radical and threatening that no-one has yet dared to implement it) showing it actually lit?
Well that would spoil all the fun and anyway surely you can figure it out: luminous flux of 310 lm at 3200 Kelvin with a power factor of 0.85 and beam angle of 30 degrees (plus some seriously pointless data such as luminous intensity 650 candela and weight 53 grams to further obscure any useful information).
Then you get the online hyperbole merchants who, in addition to spouting as much technical gibberish as possible, like to indulge in wildly exaggerated claims about performance. Now, for reasons relating to differences such as build quality, the source of the chips and a host of other factors, it is indeed possible for an LED described as consuming 3 watts to appear brighter than one consuming 4 watts.
What is not possible though is for any LED rated at 3 watts to deliver light equivalent to a 50 watt conventional lamp. In fact it would struggle to match a 30 watt incandescent. The scaling factor at 3 watts or below is approximately 10:1, but LEDs don’t scale up linearly. So although a 3W LED might replace a 30W regular bulb, a 6W LED will be quite some way short of a traditional 60W lamp (more like 40-50 watts). So where wattages are concerned, work on an equivalence scale of ten to one and then a bit more for good measure.
What other factors should you consider when evaluating LED light bulbs? Well luminous flux (measured in lumens) can give a reasonable guide though be aware that, as with wattage, you’re comparing oranges with apples. The luminous flux for an LED spot light can be comfortably below 50% that of a comparable incandescent lamp for the simple reason that all the light is already aimed in one direction and not being scattered in places where it does no good.
Then there are different types of construction for domestic LED lights. SMD LEDs (also sometimes called SMT which stands for Surface Mounted Device/Technology) use multiple very small, flat, rectangular LEDs laid on a surface. The LEDs themselves have a relatively wide viewing angle since there is no focusing lens, and being spaced apart on a curved surface increases the effective angle. They are however quite delicate and often the bulb includes a perspex cover to protect them. Despite their unusual appearance when off, they do deliver a lot of bang for the buck.
DIP LEDs such as the one shown in the link use a mounting technique called Dual Inline Package which basically boils down to pushing pins through holes. These are commonly seen in instrument panels and the like and are sometimes called “Straw Hat” LEDs because of their hat shaped appearance. When used for domestic lighting then, as with SMDs, a large number are clustered together (individually they are quite low powered) and work perfectly well from my experience, if again slightly odd looking.
Many LEDs currently being sold for use in the domestic market are what are rather unimaginatively called High Power LEDs, such as this Edison 6W LED. Typically these use three 2W LEDs that are set inside epoxy resin lenses. These lenses not only focus the light so as to mimic a regular spotlight, but can be slightly tinted so as to alter the apparent color (a subject we are just about to get on to).
Having tested light bulbs that use all three of these methods, my opinion is that what counts the most is good old fashioned power, so a 6W SMD will outperform a 4W high power LED and vice versa. That said, whenever I have tested an SMD against an apparently equivalent high power LED then the SMD invariably seems to come out on top. But much of this is very subjective (the Mark 1 Eyeball rather than anything resembling scientific equipment) and your own mileage will undoubtedly vary.
Colour temperature (a figure denoted in Kelvins or just K) affects both general appearance and brightness. As a general rule, values between about 2600 – 3200 K are described as “warm white” and resemble the colour of conventional incandescent lamps. As the numbers get lower the colour appears ever more yellow/orange. Above 3200K is considered to be “cool white” and as the numbers rise it takes on a distinctly blue hue.
Now the fact is that cool white LEDs both actually are and appear to us to be quite a lot brighter. The downside is that they also look extremely clinical and, well, cold. Not exactly ideal for domestic lighting then.
But you can mix it up to good effect (it often works well in contemporary kitchen lighting for example) since obviously it provides a pretty clear contrast to the normal warm lighting. Also, you can create stunning effects not achievable with regular lighting – the whole kitchen in the photograph to the left is lit using LED which gives a clean, modern look but check out specifically the edge of the counter. Cute huh?
What kind of lighting is LED best for? In a word: spotlights. There are increasingly many very good all round GLS (General Lighting Service) LED light bulbs but they all rely on clever internal trickery to disperse the light uniformly in all directions (ironically the reverse situation for halogen spotlights that require parabolic reflectors to try and focus the light into one direction).
Where spotlighting is concerned though then LEDs are where it’s at and in particular GU10 LED bulbs which can easily and very effectively be used in situations where down lights or track lighting would normally hold sway. The financial savings can also be quite staggering by simply targeting this type of lighting because it is so prevalent these days (a victim of its own success).
You can replace/install low voltage MR16 type LED spots instead of the mains voltage GU10 type, but you’re mostly adding complexity for no real gain and if you want your lighting to be controlled by dimmer switches then you will need to ensure that the LED lamps, drivers and dimmer switches are all mutually compatible. Whereas there are many GU10 LED lamps available these days that will work out-of-the-box with a wide range of domestic dimmers (the issue of LED dimmer switches can be a bit of a minefield).
Basically, you get a wider choice of products with LED GU10 bulbs and there is one less component to deal with. The only good reason to specify MR16 LED lamps is if the lighting circuit is already low voltage (caravans, boats, DC systems directly connected to solar panels etc).
Remember though that if you’re looking at spot lights then be sure to check the beam angle. You should do this anyway, but some LED suppliers play fast and loose with their brightness claims by using very narrow beam angles so as to focus as much of the available light as possible into one small but nevertheless very bright light pool. Trust me, it’s not a good look when you get it home.
LED Lighting – Two Basic Approaches
Anyway, let’s first get some basics sorted out. In principle, installing LED lamps is no different to using regular ones since they are manufactured to have the same size and fittings as are most commonly found in domestic lighting (you will notice though that they are on the whole heavier and considerably more robustly built). In practice however it all starts to get a bit fuzzy and hand-wavy because it depends what you’re trying to achieve by fitting LED lighting.
Some folk simply want to replace a conventional lighting layout using LED lights, almost invariably because they know it will save them a fortune in the years ahead. Others however are more keen on creating the kind of lighting effects that are only possible with LED.
For the first camp, the issues boil down to identifying LED replacements that most closely resemble traditional incandescent light bulbs and they don’t want anything that jumps out at them or looks like an alien has teleported into the lounge.
The second camp don’t give two hoots about recreating a conventional look and are far more interested in the full possibilities that LED home lighting offers.
There is no right versus wrong here and whichever camp you’re in then remember that the basic principles of home lighting design haven’t suddenly been rewritten by the introduction of a new lighting technology.
But for the first group then the advice already given above plus this simple LED lighting guide should ensure that you can go green and save money on your lighting without drastically altering the overall look you’ve gotten used to.
Even a new build, such as the Marlborough Farmhouse featured in Channel Four’s Grand Designs programme (see picture left) can adopt this conservative approach and blend a conventional design with low energy technology by lighting the house entirely with LED downlights.
This is a completely reasonable approach and one of the primary reasons that compact fluorescent lamps struggled to gain traction – most people like familiarity, be it a favourite side of the sofa or a lamp that switches on immediately and isn’t a funny shade of green. That said, there is inevitably a certain amount of getting used to the differences between LED and incandescent lamps, both in the way they produce light and the quality of that light and you just need to accept that.
A common tendency is to purchase a single LED light bulb and install it in parallel to an existing incandescent one. This obviously invites comparison and the incumbent always exerts a psychological advantage (familiarity again). The truth is that once people get used to LED light then when you run this experiment in reverse they get uncomfortable about reintroducing a single halogen.
The best advice is to by all means purchase a selection of different LEDs to see which you prefer (Amazon are great for this not least because of their great prices and amazing returns process), but then replace all the lights in one room at the same time, not piecemeal. After a few days you’ll find you never want to switch back.
For the Camp Two guys though, this is where the party starts!
Total LED Lighting
The picture on the left is from VosLED, a company founded by the designer Marcel Jean Vos, creator of the Vos Pad, the first apartment in the world to be lit entirely using LEDs (way back in 2003).
The only lighting used in the place is LED and the specific effect shown (termed “full ambient lighting control”) is down to the Minicubeus and (embedded in the floor) color changing Orbit wall wash LEDs, both produced by ACDC Lighting Systems based in Lancashire.
The underlying engine (should you be interested in trying this yourself at home, but without forking out for expensive design consultancy) is the Philips Lumileds Luxeon Rebel LED. If that name is starting to give you a headache already, then let’s break it down for you.
Philips co-founded Lumileds Lighting but later took full control and so it is now a division of Philips Lighting. Luxeon is Lumiled’s trade name for their range of high-power LEDs and the Rebel is the smallest of the range and also available in a variety of white shades and various colors. If you want to know more then knock yourself out, but the gist of it is that it is a quality, versatile and powerful LED with many uses.
As you can easily pick up from such photographs, the key is using a lot of relatively low powered LED lights that reflect off adjacent surfaces, be they wall, floors, ceilings or furniture. You can also easily create a “floating coving” effect, either using carefully aimed wall wash lights or rather more easily and cheaply with concealed LED light strips. Note that concealment is very much the name of the game with LED lighting design – you want to see the effect of the light, not the light itself.
It’s a complete world away from light shining out of a light fitting – the light is bounced off other items in the space and so the wall, for example, appears to be the light source itself. But you don’t have to stop at creating this kind of futuristic ambient lighting.
These next photographs illustrate how you can blend old and new beautifully with these LEDs set into the side of an old wooden staircase. Alternatively just add a decorative touch with colored LED buttons set into a wall or board. These don’t provide much in the way of actual illumination but they sparkle like nothing else you could imagine and help create a magical/fantasy feel (a magnet for small and rather larger children alike).
And why restrict yourself to LED lighting indoors when LED garden lights can be used to create stunning effects outdoors. Now admittedly this color changing uplight effect on a large tree in Geneva requires a fair bit of horsepower (and is most effective when the tree is not in leaf) but in principle you could apply essentially the same idea to your own garden. If you look carefully you can see that many color changing LED spotlights are connected together and synchronised (the hard part) so as to all change in unison.
Talking of color changing light effects, if you want LED mood lighting in your home so as to, for example, create different effects in your lounge then you can just buy kits specifically designed for domestic use. Philips (again) offer two ranges called Living Colours and Living Ambiance that allow you to control and programme any number of lighting units to create an almost endless variety of coordinated color schemes.
They have this slightly daft video to demonstrate the technology but it does at least give some idea as to what’s possible and how it’s done. Obviously, if you want to install this kind of system it works best when the decor is fairly neutral and muted.
And of course, there’s nothing to stop you mixing conventional lighting design using simple LED downlights with some of these more extravagant ideas to switch modes or alter the balance between the two styles. Just put them on different lighting switches and if you can, also use LED compatible dimmer switches (but see caveat above regarding LEDs and dimmers).
