Civilized countries are actively and everywhere introducing energy-saving technologies, not bypassing the issue of street or parking lot lighting. In 2012, Austria and Germany have already completely abandoned sodium lamps in favor of LED luminaires. In domestic open spaces, they are also actively replacing sodium and even halogen lamps, because with experience of use comes the understanding that they are actually the most economical, despite the initially high price.
Due to the fact that this is still a relatively new type of lighting for many countries, not everyone clearly understands how to choose a parking lot LED lamp, and what properties it should have in order to be used to illuminate public or private parking spaces. We reveal the most important secrets of the right choice.
1. LED Luminaires
Since the lighting requirements for different types of sites differ, manufacturers offer us LED lamps for various purposes:
- Lighting: Designed to illuminate open areas, sidewalks, roads, courtyards;
- Architectural: They are used for decorative illumination of facades of buildings, monuments and other objects that need to be accentuated;
- Landscape: They serve to illuminate trees and parks, are widely used in summer cottages.
2. LED Luminaires by Functionality
The principle of operation of an LED luminaire described above is characteristic of typical floodlights and lanterns, but LEDs can also be used as decorative lighting in duralite, duraflex and nets. Therefore, it is customary to divide LED lamps into such groups, depending on functionality:
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- Floodlights are used to illuminate more or less large areas. Large floodlights illuminate roads, sports complexes, building facades, smaller lamps of this type are used in summer cottages and suburban areas to illuminate the territory and garden paths.
- Lanterns give diffused light, are used to illuminate sidewalks, personal plots, parking spaces and other territories. Check out the 150w LED parking lot light which is one of the popular parking lot lights you can buy right away.
- Duralight – a transparent tube with many LEDs inside, the distance between which is 1.5-27.5 mm. It is used for decorative contour lighting of buildings, as well as in landscape design for decorating trees. Some luminaires of this type can give a constant glow, others – a dynamic one.
- Duraflex is characterized by increased resistance to moisture and high flexibility, so it can even decorate areas around the pool and other bodies of water.
- The Ruler has the form of a flexible plastic tape on which LEDs are mounted in a vertical position. Used to decorate buildings, sometimes in advertising signs.
- The Mesh is a network at the nodes of which LEDs are fixed. It is pulled between the supports, thus decorating the facades of buildings.
3. LED Luminaires by Emission Color
LED street lights can emit light of different colors, but the most popular is the white color, which is the most difficult to obtain. Today, there are several of the most common technologies for achieving white light:
- RGB technology involves the use of blue, green and red LEDs in the substrate. For each, such a value of the transmitted current is selected so that the total radiation has the required chromaticity. The radiation is mixed using an optical system. The plus of the technology is the power of the light ceiling, the minus is the property of light to “float” over time. Using this technology, it is easy to obtain light of almost any shade and even dynamic lighting;
- Technology of mixing the radiation of three phosphors (red, blue and green), which are excited when exposed to ultraviolet radiation from the LED. Such lamps are cheaper than others, but they fail relatively quickly;
- Technology of applying a yellow phosphor to a blue LED.
4. Protection Class of LED Luminaire
The body of an LED luminaire, as a rule, is quite strong and resistant to negative environmental influences, but still the level of protection can be different, and it must be selected based on the expected operating conditions. Each luminaire is characterized by a certain class, which is given on the basis of the IEC-952 standard for the protection of electrical equipment against external factors.
5. LED Light Manufacturers
The number of manufacturers of LEDs and off-the-shelf LED fixtures is increasing in direct proportion to the growing popularity of the technology. To be guaranteed to get a quality product, it is better to give preference to the products of large companies like LEPRO LED. If the seller or manufacturer is reluctant to disclose the detailed characteristics of the LED, then there is no guarantee that after a couple of months of operation, the luminous flux will not decrease by 50%, and the color temperature will not shift.
Conclusion
When buying, it does not hurt to demand from the manufacturer the documentation for the luminaire, and pay special attention to the technical characteristics of the LEDs. Experienced people advise not to be stingy and take a luxometer and a multimeter with you to the store in order to immediately check the declared qualities of the lamp.
