New Options For Lighting Contractors

Janet Moyer, Jan Moyer Design

1-watt and 2-watt LED fixtures were recessed into the stone rain-wall built for this sunken garden. Fixtures holes were drilled at pre-determined angles to light the wall, the water effects and plantings. Fixtures were recessed into the bottom of the stairs and throughout.

In February 2012, Soraa introduced their new line of interior and exterior rated 10-watt MR16 replacement lamps, which uses a new substrate that allows higher current and PN-junction temperature. It produces good color, an even beam, and uses one LED chip, which minimizes shadowing and flicker.

EcoLink introduced their line of integral-module LED, also at 10-watts, (with six chips) and their fixture is "tuneable." That means the output can be modulated at the fixture ® using a magnet. They're presently working on the next version, which will control the output remotely using an iPhone.

EcoLink uses a magnet to "tune" the output of its 10.5-watt unit that comes with three beam-spread lenses. Without opening the fixture, as you are aiming, you can select the output that works for each part of your design. The unit has three predetermined settings and allows dimming from 10 to 100-percent output.
www.discoverecolink.com

Integral Versus Replacement Lamp
Back in 2010, I started thinking that this LED revolution would essentially offer two options: Integral LED module or LED replacement lamp. At that time, a few manufacturers had limited offerings with integral modules. In replacement lamps, the lack of output variation and breadth of beam-spread options effectively tied our hands, not giving us enough tools to create a cohesive visual. Today, that has changed. Good products are on the market. We have the flexibility we need in beam-spread options. Light output, in conjunction with good color has come a long way. There are good options today with more coming all the time.

The integral module approach means that the fixture manufacturer has designed the unit for an LED source. This means planning the heat dissipation needed to keep the PN-junction temperature in optimal range; providing for a wide range of voltage variation; protecting the driver/board from voltage spikes or surges; filtering electromagnetic interference; sealing the circuit board to eliminate moisture interference with electronic parts; designing for replacing the module as technology advances.

BK Lighting offers "Adjust-e-lume" technology throughout most of their LED product line. Using a flat-head screwdriver a designer can "tune" the output of each unit to provide the desired amount of light output at all locations. During specification an output level from 1-9 can be selected. BK has four interchangeable beam-spread optic kits. Each unit comes with the one selected during specification. If you want field flexibility, order some of the other beam spreads to round out your options. They come in 14, 18, 25, and 36 degrees.
www.bklighting.com

Manufacturers are offering replaceable lenses (sometimes reflectors) to change the beam spread. Right now two manufacturers offer tune-ability. This offers more flexibility when aiming lighting systems than previously. Integral modules represent the solution contractors should use to plan new design installations.

Replacement lamps allow one to upgrade existing installations until the time comes to change the entire system over to integrated modules. However, using replacement lamps puts much more knowledge responsibility on the designer. Neither the LED lamp manufacturer, nor the fixture manufacturer tests the LED replacement lamp in a fixture. Designers need to know how the lamp is going to perform in each specific fixture. So, who is going to do
that testing? One manufacturer recently said that if a replacement lamp still operates and/or doesn't cycle on/off (if the lamp has a thermal cutoff) after an hour of operation in an enclosed fixture, it will be compatible with the fixture. This mostly means that there will be enough heat dissipation to keep the PN junction temperature in its operating range. If the PN junction temperature is too high light output suffers; there may be odd color aberrations, and it can cause system failure.

Here, 1 and 2-watt stake-mounted LED fixtures were used to highlight the stone wall, while MR16 20-27 halogens up-light and down-light the trees.

Some LED lamp suppliers have 1, 2, and/or 3-watt units, then something in the range of 5.4-to-8 watts, and then 10-12 watts. Some manufacturers offer 15 or 20 watts, or higher. One of the questions too often asked is what lamp does that replace. We are getting close to a 6-8 watt lamp producing a similar amount of light to a 20-watt MR16 (you still need to think about the beam spread when comparing). Some 10-12-watt lamps produce enough light to compare with a 35-37-watt MR16. For most residential projects or areas that don't have a lot of ambient or street lighting, that will be all that's needed to create good landscape lighting scenes. The output is nearing the maximum that the engineers think one will get and still have good color. Replacement lamps do offer multiple beam spreads (or lenses to change the beam spread). The beam spreads are ranging from 7-15 degrees in a narrow spot, 20-24 degrees for a narrow flood, 27-40 degrees for a flood, and 45-60 degrees for a wide flood. That's pretty much what's needed. We still have to search to potentially get all those beam spreads, we can't get all the wattages or outputs we need and all the beam spreads from one source, but, they are available. Right now Illumicare offers PAR36 style, MR16 style, and several miniature styles of replacement lamps.

Three MR16 replacement lamps were tested at an installation that was lighting Black Walnut trees. An existing halogen lamp between 20-37 watts was removed to see how these lamps compared. The LED lamps appeared more vibrant and with a more consistent beam throughout the beam and field of their overall spread; they covered more of the trees' structure than the halogen lights. The Soraa lamp has higher wattage using one LED chip.

Do LED lamps/systems match the halogen lamps we are used to?
LEDs as light sources are expanding our palate. Some of the characteristics LED sources offer exceeds what has been available previously. For example, we can get a 1-watt LED module that allowed one to recess a fixture into a stacked rain-wall to highlight the wall itself, the wall behind it, the water spillways, and the plantings tucked into the wall.

Illumicare offers PAR36 configuration LED lamps in 5, 9, and 13-watt sizes, 3,000 degree (Kelvin). They come in 15, 30 and 45-degree beam spread with IP68 rating, as well as MR16 LED replacement lamps.
www.illumicaregroup.com

Beam spreads from LED MR16 replacement lamps have more consistency and uniformity than their halogen counterparts. They use less energy and produce more light. The LED chips are improving because we have the bright blue led chip to work with and electronics and lighting engineers are working together to provide good quality color, beam spread, and light output. Not all modules or replacement lamps have reached that goal, but, some have and more of that is coming in short order.