What should you pay attention to when buying LED lighting? The advantages of LED lighting are now well known: they consume much less power and your energy bill is therefore lower. LED lighting is sustainable (LED lamps really last much longer) and there are all kinds of color options and LED is dimmable. And all of this together is also good for the environment.
Do calculations
However, not everyone is enthusiastic about LED lighting and that is because there are some uncertainties. With a light bulb you know exactly where you stand; After all, you have been used to it that way for years. For smaller rooms such as the toilet you choose 25W, in the bedroom you choose 40W, the living room 40W or 60W and in your office 75W or more. You know what you buy and what you get. LED lighting is new and the terms are also new. Lumen, Kelvin and the amount of Watt are also not consistent. Annoying! We will tell you more about it below, so that you know exactly how it works.
Replace lamps
Do you want to switch from regular (incandescent/halogen) lamps to LED lighting ? Then of course you first investigate whether you want to keep your light sources as they are now. Making a plan is the first step. If you want to maintain the same amount of light, it is important to buy LED lamps that are similar to the incandescent or halogen lamps you currently have. Therefore these rules of thumb:
- 4W LED = 35W incandescent/halogen
- 8W LED = 40/60W incandescent/halogen
- 10W LED = 75W incandescent/halogen
Light color
The old-fashioned lamps offered little difference in terms of color, with LED lighting you can also choose the color temperature. This is expressed in Kelvin (K). The higher the Kelvin value, the whiter/more bright the light:
- 2700K = warm shade, most often chosen for homes
- 3000K = slightly whiter, mainly used in offices
- 4000K = neutral white, nice light color for the car garage
- 6000K = daylight, mainly chosen if good visibility is important
The size of your LED lamp
Although LED lamps usually fit in your fixture , this is not always the case. Or they fit, but the whole thing doesn't look good in your designer lamp, for example. That is why it is important, especially if you strive for perfection, to keep an eye on the size of your lamp. InElektro has specifications for our products, so you can easily check them. By the way, you almost only encounter this problem with cheaper or dimmable LED lamps and halogen spotlights, for example, are often just a little too large, causing them to stick out. Feel free to ask us for advice.
Dimming
One of the big advantages of LED lighting : it is dimmable (note: not all LED lamps are!). If you have a light source with a dimmer, you can choose a dimmable LED lamp. However, please note that light source and dimmer do not always work well together. This is almost always the case if your dimmer is older than 15 years. In such cases you can buy and install a universal LED dimmer. You can find them in our switching materials department.
Tips:
- Would you like to create an atmosphere? Then buy an LED lamp dim-to-warm 2200-2700. When dimming, the color becomes warmer, just as it used to be
- Doubts about the right light source? Take your old one to the InElektro collection point and get advice
- Even though LED lighting uses very little energy, turning off your lights when you don't need them is still cheaper
Any questions or need help? Contact us. During office hours you can chat, call or visit us and outside of office hours you can email us.