LED Lighting FactsLabel
Because not all LEDs perform as promised, the Department of Energy developed the Lighting Facts® label to tell buyers exactly what they can expect. As a Lighting Facts Partner, we chose to have our products’ performance tested by an approved laboratory and to include the official Lighting Facts label on our packaging and/or literature. The label reports product performance results in five areas from actual test data in accordance with industry standards that measure photometric performance of LEDs:
- Lumens measure light output. The higher the number, the more light is emitted.
- Lumens per watt (lm/W) measures efficiency. The higher the number, the more efficient the product.
- Watts measure the energy required to light the product. The lower the wattage, the less energy is used.
- Correlated Color Temperature (CCT) measures light color. “Cool” colors have higher Kelvin temperatures (3600–5500 K); “warm” colors have lower color temperatures (2700–3000 K). Cool white light is usually better for visual tasks. Warm white light is usually better for living spaces because it casts a warmer light on skin and clothing. Color temperatures of 2700 to 3600 K are recommended for most general indoor and task lighting.
- Color Rendering Index (CRI) measures the effect of the lamp’s light spectrum on the color appearance of objects. The higher the number, the truer the appearance of the light on objects. Incandescent lighting is 100 on the CRI.
Items 1 through 5 above are an excerpt from the Department of Energy’s LED Lighting Facts® website. Follow the link for more information.