Electrical Industry Articles and Stories

A University of Michigan study found that while LED lighting options outperform fluorescents, factors like installation, upfront costs, and long-term savings vary. Retrofit decisions should balance energy savings, maintenance, and lifecycle costs.

Recessed downlights have evolved from simple fixtures to high-tech marvels. LED technology has revolutionized the game, enabling slim profiles, integrated lighting elements, and unparalleled controllability.

Most electricians and contractors are familiar with the concept of hazardous locations – areas where a fire or explosion could occur through the presence of flammable vapors or gases, combustible dust or easily ignitable fibers or flyings.

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.

In just a little more than a decade, LED lighting systems have moved from a not-quite-yet-there technology to one that essentially owns the market, especially in commercial applications. With efficacy ratings that now surpass those of once-dominant fluorescent fixtures, LEDs also can operate for years before needing replacement, versus months for fluorescent tubes.

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.