There are literally thousands of lighting options, hundreds of lighting manufacturers, and then many of us lighting specialists and consultants; 

Sifting through this ‘sea of choices and data’,  can be daunting…OR NOT… we believe all you need to do is ask the right questions of knowledgeable and reputable manufacturers and their trusted representatives. 

LUX acts as your lighting consultant, designer, supplier and contractor.  We are trusted to represent some of the largest, best, and most credible Canadian and global lighting manufacturers.  We go to market on your behalf and vet each of them to see which products they have which will make your project a success. 

We have all heard the puffery of some of the best and largest global companies…

• “We are the biggest & best lighting manufacturer in the world…”
•  “We are a global leader…”
• “We are the #1 or #2 in our industry…”

“One size doesn’t fit all”

Although these statements can be accurate statements made by each of the global leaders in their respective industries, however, we find typically that not one company manufactures the best-in-class luminaires of all the products they offer. 

Or, unfortunately they are a great producer of indoor or outdoor luminaires but don’t make what we are looking for.   

Q1:   Do you know who makes the best-in-class series within any lighting manufacturer?

A1. Yes we do, however this is a moving target because LED lighting specs change as often as your current smartphone.  Coincidentally, we could describe a smart phone could be classified as a very sophisticated handheld electronic solid state computer based portable luminaire being that the screen is illuminated with LED capable of many features and don’t forget, it includes a flashlight!

To keep current with each manufacturer, we must seek out who makes the best-in-class at the time of your project with each company we represent.

Q2  Is the lighting manufacturer credible, I haven’t heard of them? 

A2  Yes they are because LUX only work with credible Tier 1 manufacturers in our industry. Why?

1. Our 25 year reputation counts presenting to you the most credible manufacturers best suited for your project. LUX isn’t limited or restricted to any one manufacturer’s capabilities.

Q3  Why don’t we buy everything from one manufacturer, why have you specified more than one?

A3  Because not one manufacturer does everything well. Each have their strengths & weaknesses.

We look at ensuring their product:

1. Generates the lowest glare
2. Distributes the light evenly across the space (minimal shadows)
3. Has a long rated life
4. Solid performance over time with minimal failures over the next 10-15 years
5. Priced competitive
6. Future ready for expansion
7. Solid components that can be replaced easily when they fail…
   1. YES, although we think “LED’s last forever”…they don’t.

LUX chooses the best-in-class manufacturer for the lighting tasks you require.

We will simply say yes, why… because LUX’s high volume lighting purchases allow us to purchase directly from our network of key manufacturing partners and/or through key distributors.  This allows both competitive fair market pricing along with credible warranty management.  

We request of our manufacturing partners to DISCLOSE what LED chipsets are being installed and what brand & quality of LED drivers are used.  Did you know that the driver is the most important part of the system?  And it’s quality determines your stress level of warranty management for the next 10 plus years. 

We often offer “Good, better & best” solutions because we realize that you must balance your current budget and the total lifecycle cost to maintain the new LED lighting system.

Our national chain accounts understand the value of “total cost of ownership”. 

If you are managing 400-1,100 locations, do you really want a warranty management headache because you ‘got a good deal and saved a few dollars on a fixture? 

Most people don’t fathom they are making typically a 20 year commitment…will those years be worry free or constant calls because the lights are failing?  

Most people don’t realize they are committing to a decision that is going to impact them for the next 20 years  when upgrading to LED; how complicated do you want those 20 years to be?  

With 25 years of lighting experience in dealing with various manufacturers, we have a simple saying…” Warranties are only as good as the companies that back them.”

This is probably the most important aspect in the lighting industry that we find quality companies truly appreciate… AND, fortunately for LUX, our loyal customers do appreciate this and we are truly fortunate and proud to have them…

LUX has installed projects across Canada spanning from:

Whitehorse YK and  Yellowknife NWT

to 

Labrador City & Conception Bay NF

In order for us to keep our customers satisfied, for that reason, we only specify Tier 1 manufacturers who stand behind their components installed within LED luminaires.

In some cases LUX negotiates exclusive 10-year EXTENDED WARRANTIES including LED DRIVERS for our national accounts.  We will insist on Tier 1 components from global leaders such as Samsung, Philips, GE, OSRAM, etc.

WHY?

Because our national chain accounts who own thousands of light fixtures understand the value of “total cost of ownership”. 

Imagine managing this potential headache…

• If you are a property manager, managing 400-1,100 locations across Canada, with an average of 100+ luminaires per location
• That equates to 40,000 – 100,00 plus fixtures you must manage
• NOTE: Most hi-bay luminaires have 2 drivers per fixture… that adds up to 80,000 – 200,000 drivers.
• 98% of the time it’s the drivers that fail, not the LED’s
  • Do you really want to manage the potential failures of an inferior driver?

Manufacturer Longevity in the Industry:

And, after all that, what if you find out the manufacturer either no longer imports into Canada anymore and/or the luminaires were ‘throw away’ and the same model is no longer available…Hmmm, welcome to the complicated world of LED lighting warranty management.

Who really wants to be that in that situation?

The true cost of a failed driver replacement:

For that reason, we may be able to source lower quality Tier 2 products, but do we really wish to take the chance on returning to projects to replace failed components?

Service call breakdown:

• Scissor lift rental
  • +/-$500.00 / day
• Electrician labour
  • travel & site time (+/-$200.00)

$700.00 labour to address a failed +/-$40.00 driver?

NOTE:  Typical contractor 1-year workmanship warranty typically covers material supply & labor to address lighting defects which typically are failed LED drivers. 

Over the last 25 years of being in the lighting business,  early on we discovered, “It’s too expensive to purchase low cost lighting.”   

It is a fact of life that no product is perfect, things fail, it’s how well we support them, address promptly without stress  that matters.

OF COURSE NOT but we sure wish they did!!  

Especially when you are dealing with lower quality Tier 2 components.  They last according to the quality of the LED chips, drivers (that make the chips glow) and MOST OF ALL, the heat sink (metal body) that dissipates heat & keeps the LED’s cool.

Excess heat = shortened LED life.

Let’s break out the 3 key components that make up the LED luminaire and it’s performance:

1. The LED chipsets
2. The LED driver
3. The luminaire body housing the components.

1. LED Chipset & Board:

SUMMARY: Less heat = longer life.

• LED’s chips (light emitting diodes) are small individual semiconductors supper heated and glow to create the light; these are mounted onto LED circuit board.
• The diodes are DC driven and require an LED driver to convert the AC to DC
• The LED’s & board we call a ‘package’ and the ability for that package to absorb and dissipate heat away from the diode.  This determines their efficacy in generating light output and their heat regulation affects the usable light and life of the LED’s.
• Some boards are metal (these are premium boards typically used in  heavy duty industrial luminaires), however the majority in the industry are composite and generally good performers and used in less demanding environment
• LED chipsets are typically rated from 100-200,000 hours L70 or 30-60,000 hours L90.
  • The longer the life, the less heat is building up within the chip set.  That’s due to the LED’s not being ‘driven’ as hard by the driver.

Materials commonly used in composite LED boards:

• FR-4: A fire-retardant composite of glass and epoxy, widely used but not optimal for heat dissipation.
• Epoxies: Cost-effective but less durable than other materials.
• Metal-core: Typically aluminum, alloyed with metals like magnesium and silicon, providing excellent thermal conductivity and electrical insulation.

2. Drivers:

The LED driver is what to pay attention to…NOT ALL DRIVERS are created equal.

And just because it’s a popular brand name, even within those brands, they make “Good, better and best” drivers within their product offering.

Most drivers are rated at approximately 50-60,000 hours (similar to the rate life of fluorescent electronic ballasts).

As you compare the LED chips rated life and add in the driver, are you really going to worry about the LED chips?  

Ever since 2015 when LED’s came into popularity, the LED’s have rarely failed “they just fade away” because the early generation LED rated average life was typically 40-50,000 L70 so by now, they are dim and although they are working, they probably need to be replaced as their usable lumen output is depreciated to less than 70% output.

You would see this same phenomenon with the old Mercury Vapour HID lighting…the saying was…”They didn’t die, they just faded away…” 

When it comes to LED luminaire rated life, factor into your  cost of ownership that the lifecycle of +/- 15 years or so, (depends how many hours annually you operate your lighting) 

No matter who the manufacturer is, their disclosed rated life of LED’s which can be in the 100’s of thousands of hours (for L70),  the mortality will be occurring with the drivers and the industry average is about 2%-5% average over the first 5-10 years. 

Factors that affect mortality/luminaire performance for light output:

1. HEAT is the #1 killer of drivers & LED chips
   1. Heat also reduces the LED chipsets output/lumen loss over time
2. Power quality
   1. Supply voltage inconsistency, fluctuation affects driver life
      1. Power surges from brown / black outs can create havoc to your lighting system 
3. Moisture & Dust
   1. When the LED’s are exposed to dust accumulation and moisture (caking teh dust into the diodes) they build up heat
   2. Damp rated/dustproof luminaires typically will last longer for this reason
4. Vibration
   1. Fixtures located near air handling equipment may affect the drivers and connections between the drivers and chipsets. 
   2. This is more prevalent in industrial settings with surface mounted luminaires. 

3. Luminaire Body

The luminaire body affects the interaction between the LED chips, board and LED driver.

ALL manufacturers staddle that fine line between form and function and wrestle with amount of material content to keep the product compact and sleek, while minimizing material and production costs, and ultimately producing a quality cost effective luminaire that doesn’t cause the components to overheat.

The metal body of the luminaire:

The basis of LED luminaire manufacturers is how can they best design a luminaire to generate lots of  is the best way to dissipate heat from the LED through the luminaire.

Mortality varies on each site site condition.