Electrical Industry Articles and Stories

Tube lamps have been a go-to for decades and, while the latest LED fixtures often incorporate integrated lighting elements – in other words, no separate lamps – millions of troffer fixtures initially designed for fluorescent technology are still in service around the globe.

Maintaining proper lighting levels, color temperature, and Color Rendering Index (CRI) is crucial for various applications. Color temperature affects the ambiance, while CRI determines color accuracy. LEDs offer flexibility in color temperature, have a high CRI, produce less heat, and are energy-efficient compared to incandescent lamps.

As someone who’s tracked LED lighting since its early days as a commercially available technology, my own experience with the products has evolved. I live in an older house with overhead lighting only in the kitchen and bathrooms, so this has mostly meant experimenting with LED bulbs (or “lamps,” in lighting designer lingo) in the 14 or 15 table fixtures scattered around my home.

Earlier this year at the Light + Building 2018 trade show in Frankfurt, Germany, Philips Lighting announced a string of new initiatives aimed at the transition to more LED lamps as well as the inclusion of LEDs into the “Internet of Things” (IoT) in homes and buildings worldwide.

First the company announced IoT platform called Interact, designed to handle data collected from connected light points, sensors, devices and systems.