WNDLC: June Update
June 18, 2014
In my last blog post, I mentioned that perhaps tracking a monthly top 10 average over time would be a valuable thing. It weeds out the “just barelys” and the “good enoughs” and targets the fixtures that hit the list each month that are pushing LED fixture efficacy higher. So, here is a look at the top 10 monthly average over time, for the three different fixture types I have analyzed so far.
This chart shows some of the gains over time that I was expecting, when I was only looking at the entire monthly population average. However, those pesky Recessed Troffers are just plain stuck between 100 and 110lm/W. Of the 67 Recessed Troffers to hit the list in May, 60 of them have come in below 100lm/W.
This recessed troffer stagnation persists in spite of our shining beacon of efficacy, LG Electronics. LG had their 26W version of this fixture test out just a hair above 140lm/W in late May and another just above 135lm/W, and they still couldn’t pull the top 10 average over 110 lm/W. In early June they sent their retrofit version of this fixture through DLC and it came in at 149.3 lm/W!!! The rating on their cutsheet for that fixture is 130lm/W, but that is still tremendous. The average DLC approved 2x4 (fixture and retrofit), when you take out LG’s fixtures, was 90.5 lm/W (only about 60% of LG’s tested efficacy). Kudos to LG for really pushing the envelope.
As for the other two fixture types, both Highbays and T8 LED are showing some good efficacy gains over time with the Highbays barely overtaking the T8 LEDs for the first time since T8 LED hit the chart. This is thanks to a few companies that either introduced or are about to introduce a new fixture line.
GigaTera, a South Korean company just released their SEGA fixture that tested out over 130lm/W. These guys are interesting because their parent company (KMW) is a large wireless communications company.
Aqualuma, which is a new company to me, is now king of the hill with its Lightsource-R Highbay fixture that tested out at 139lm/W. That fixture is little low in total lumen output (~12,000lm) for me to call it a true “Highbay,” but its sister product gets up to 20,000lm and comes in at 132lm/W, which is still good enough for top billing.
Two other companies, Aimlite and Stanpro also had products in May that topped 120lmW. It’s interesting that of the four companies, one is Korean, one is Australian, and two are Canadian. Maybe June is the big month for American-made LED Highbays?
Tony Johnson is Energy Management Collaborative's Technology Manager. In this role he combines his background in lighting & controls design and solid state light fixture design with his expertise in energy savings to evaluate emerging technologies for EMC customers.
