LED lights are the finest revolution in the history of the world. Along with saving energy, it saves money, electricity and lessens the efforts of the customer. But do you think, all the LED lights are of best quality? Absolutely not! With the rising competition in each field, one thing that got harm is the quality. No doubt, quality products have come up, but in order to win the race, some manufacturers don’t care about quality. So it becomes a necessity to check properly the quality of the LED lights before purchasing it.
Myths to check quality of LED Lights:
- Quality can be judged from the brand of LED chip
- LED lights can only be imported.
- The LED lights with same watts are absolutely similar irrespective of brand or company
- Don’t rely on new brands as old is gold.
This is the general criteria to judge the quality of LED lighting, which is totally wrong. One can’t choose the right one by following these points. For choosing the best LED lights, the factors which must be kept in mind are different.
Real Factors that Define quality of LED Lights:
- Quality of LED Chip
- Quality of power supply
- Metal usage
- The optical system
- Overall construction
Let’s discuss all these points in detail:
Quality of LED Chip:
LED chip works just like the roots of the tree, without which, there is no existence of tree. Similarly, LED chip is the base and the main part of LED lights. With the help of monocrystalene, the chip generates light with the conversion of electrical energy. The entire quality of these chips depends upon the depletion of the light and die brightness. Chips are available with different features in the market. These are like red, blue or green colored, wafer or square, 9mil, 14mil, 8mil, 12mil, low powered or high powered etc.
The point to keep in mind is the ranges in which LED lights are available in the market. There are three ranges: Lower Lumens, Medium Lumens and High Lumens. As per the performance, the ranges are to be selected by the manufacturer. The next thing to keep in mind is that, it has the watt ranges and not the watt rating. The life of LED depends upon the high efficacy of watt range (current range) of operation.
For ex: If any led has watt range from 10 watt to 25watt, We can drive it to 10 watt as well as 25 watt. Life and efficacy will increase if we drive it on 10 watt.
On the opposite side, Life and efficacy will decrease if we drive it on 25 watt.
Quality of power supply:
If you are using an electrical instrument, then it is a necessity to have proper power supply. Because inappropriate power supply can weaken the performance of your product.
Power supply fails dues two reasons.
- Surge/Spike in input voltage. Depends on technology of main IC and other surge protection components
- Capacitor Life which is used in power supply. Depends of Capacitor Value and Capacitor Life span. Capacitors are available from 1K hours@ 85C to 10K hour@125C.
The quality of power supply also matters. The brand of main IC should be checked, that’s what technology is being used. The life period of the capacitor which holds its value, also holds its own importance. It must be checked that whether it has the compatibility to run in the Indian environment & hot temperature. The power factor should also be checked that whether it is correct or not.
For effective performance, appropriate LED lighting is a must. And for appropriate LED lighting, power supply quality matters a lot. An intelligent customer should never purchase the LED light without checking the proper wattage and power factor.
Power supply quality depends on many factors like below
- Technology and brand of main IC being used
- Efficiency and performance of MOSFET and DIDOE
- Capacitor Value, Brand and Life span of capacitor
- Is it made for Indian environment to work with 50C?
- Does it have 4KV surge protection?
- Is Driver power factor corrected?
Metal Usage:
If you want the long life LED lighting, then you have to check the body’s metal quality. It enhances the life of the product. This is because, for the longer life, it is necessary that the LED must be cooled down. The LED chip present in LED lights generates tremendous heat, which may damage the whole process. To cool it down, metal is used as heat sink and the best results depend upon the best quality of metal. The chip produces heat on back side of the LED light and metal cools it from any damage and for longer life. Because it is obvious fact, the life of LED increases if low temperature is maintained and life decreases if it has the high temperature during operation. This is the function of body metal, to keep the chip cool always.
The Optical system:
Optical system holds its own significance in the LED lights. As it is obvious that the light from LED chip cannot be seen with the naked eyes. One must be extremely careful in this matter. Here, the optical system works. The diffusers of optical system, disperse the light which is coming from the LED chip. In this way it becomes possible to see the light.
The LED lighting need protection from the UV rays as well. Presence of Poly-carbonates indicate good quality of LED lightings, which gives it the UV protection. It saves the lighting from being brittle and yellow and maintains the life of it.
For the best results, it is essential that the diffusers must be efficient enough to spread the light. But you cannot find the diffusers which are 100% efficient. In the market, various diffusers are available; you have to choose the best one having the supreme quality with precision.
Overall construction:
Before purchasing LED lights and after considering all the facts giving above, the main point you must keep in mind is the overall construction of the LED lighting. Its look, design, feel, strength and material used, everything matters a ton. The powder coating is good or not, it is to be checked. If it is not good, then you can simply assume that the whole construction is not of good quality. Moreover, the paste used for LED chip must be of good quality. There are different types of paste that are being used on the LED chips. So you have to consider that accordingly.
Waterproofing is the necessary feature in the outdoor lights. Outdoor lights should be waterproof, because only then it will carry long life. The Type of glass used, heavy PC glass or the toughened glass, also matters. One thing that must be checked is type of powder coating: PP power coating, or any other. The thermal management also matters a lot. Before buying it, you should check the thermal management of the lights.
The revolutionary LED lighting is a boon to society. But the part that matters is supreme quality. For that manufacturer also hold its own importance, because if good quality control is not being done by the manufacturers then the quality is on stake.