Clearvision Lighting

Welcome to 2012

2012-01-03T13:46:00.000Z

All the signs are that 2012 will be an important year in the transition to LED technology. We started using LEDs to replace halogens in 2009 when they were only good enough for utility areas, but by 2011 the products had sufficient power to work in many 'front of house' applications. In 2010 our Juno LED circular downlight started to compete with CFL for high maintenance areas and then, by mid-2011, on cost of ownership terms as well for some buildings. 2012 will see us installing our first 3500 exit lumen LED modular fittings engineered to specifications standards (i.e. not some of the products factored in from Asia) and integrated with UK interior architecture. We are not expecting these to be price competitive with T5 right now, but who knows where the module prices are heading next year.

LuxLive!

2011-11-10T16:52:00.000Z

There is a new lighting exhibition this week at Earl's Court, which is interesting - or at least it will be interesting to see if many visitors outside of the lighting world visit. Lighting shows have a chequered history with none attracting much wider interest outside a fairly narrow spectrum of attendee - however LuxLive is attempting to address this with the adjoining EcoLight conference. It will be interesting to see if both LuxLive and Arc can prosper in the current market.

Ideas behind circadian lighting

2011-09-23T17:02:00.000+01:00

For anyone unfamiliar with lighting technology and the conceptual ideas behind artificial daylight and why (Clearvision introduced Virtual Daylight in 1997) we recommend high colour temperature lamps (6000K+) for the workplace should follow the below link to this recent BBC item on Bang goes the Theory for a simple introduction. If you would like to know more about Circadian Lighting please email me at pstephenson@clearvisionlighting.com

.http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b0154vvz/Bang_Goes_the_Theory_Series_5_Episode_6/

Lamp issues continue

2011-09-12T17:24:00.003+01:00

Last year we had an interesting time with the ballast suppliers and their delivery periods. This year it is the lamp companies' turn to have their fun. Being cynical one might see it as convenient that the lack of rare earth phosphors has increased prices by around 40% in 3 months. I on the other hand feel nothing but sympathy for the lamp suppliers in their difficulties in keeping their customers satisfied. The great strength these incumbent players have against LED newcomers is their reputation for reliability, which is now going to the four winds. From a technology standpoint fluorescent will no longer be seen as a such a safe option once customers feel the impact of rapidly rising prices. If it hadn't really before, LEDs time has certainly come now.

Phosphor problems will help LEDs

2011-08-02T11:53:00.000+01:00

All the lamp suppliers have price increases coming up which they are blaming on phosphor shortages - since LEDs use less phosphor they should benefit from quota restrictions placed on phosphor exports by China.

LED Panels

2011-07-13T09:05:00.000+01:00

Much hawking of LED 600x600mm panels from China going on in parts of the market. These are being sold as energy saving products although their performance does not match up against good T5 product. These are strictly for early adopters who are prepared to accept the risks attached to them.

1-3 Bishopsgate achieves Gold Ska rating

2011-06-24T09:09:00.000+01:00

The new Cat A fit-out by Skansen at 1-3 Bishopsgate has been awarded the UK's first Gold Ska environmental rating for an office project. We are pleased to have played our part through supplying several fittings from our range including the Arizona HTX linear recessed fitting and Oslo fittings with PL-R lamps amongst others. Virtually all fittings are linked to automatic controls on DALI protocol.

LEDs and the false comparison

2011-06-23T15:20:00.002+01:00

Ever since aggressive marketing of LEDs began a few years ago there has been a tendency for suppliers to over egg their products' performance. The US Dept of Energy CALiPER reports are available to anyone interested in the extent of this activity (http://www1.eere.energy.gov/buildings/ssl/benchmark.html) . However an aspect of LED marketing that is just as pernicious is the use of the false comparisons, with which many consumers who have bought "50w halogen equivalent" LEDs may be familiar. I see this practice has now reached modular light panels, with one panel claiming 2400 lumens (are these exit lumens?) output being marketed as a 4x18w fluorescent equivalent. An 18w lamp typically produces 1300 lumens (x4 are therefore 5200 lumens) and therefore 2400 lumens suggests Light Output Ratio of 46%, which is frankly lousy. Most decent products are capable of much higher outputs than that, which makes the claim totally misleading. It is only an equivalent to the least efficient 4x18w products that are on the market. Is that a fair comparison for a £150/panel? This type of comparison is confusing customers and eroding the proper marketing of an excellent technology. Responsible salespeople must inform their customers wherever they see these false comparisons being made.

VLC with LED is interesting but needs to be HF

2011-06-21T09:40:00.000+01:00

Visible Light Communication (VLC) is a buzz idea in technology of light circles and the media is now picking up on it as well. I don't know much about the technology paths as they are in their early stages of development, but we must hope that it does not lead to pulsing close to the minimum 200Hz threshold frequency that affects human perception of light. Wilkins' study in 1988 conclusively linked the subliminal flicker from fluorescent sources with a high incidence of headaches. This is not likely to be the case with LEDs, because they can be turned on and off at very high frequencies, but I am less confident of the sensor receiving technology.

Arizona in Bishopsgate

2011-06-14T10:15:00.000+01:00

New Arizona 1200 x 300mm installed at 1-3 Bishopsgate.

State of play on LED replacements

2011-06-08T17:00:00.001+01:00

LED replacements for halogen and incandescent lamps are the wild west of lighting. The US Dept. of Energy provides a useful assessment of products through their CALiPER testing programme. The latest report from April 2011 contains conclusions typical of previous reports including for example that "none of the 11 products carrying equivalency claims achieves light output levels matching typical light output for their respective lamp type" and in fact most did not even come close. Engineered LED fittings are making great strides forward in performance and quality, but LED replacements are still being marketed in a way that will bring the technology into disrepute.

T5 Eco Lamps and LOR

2011-06-07T12:24:00.000+01:00

Much confusion about luminaire performance and T5 Eco lamps. These lamps are more efficient versions of standard T5 lamps - typically producing 10% more light or using 10% less energy depending on the type of ballast operating them (whether current or power controlled). Most ballast manufacturers produce a mix of both types of ballast depending on the lamp/dimming format.
This makes it unclear whether the luminaire is going to use less energy or produce more light from the Eco lamp unless you know the exact ballast being fitted. It is therefore questionable whether luminaire suppliers should be using the increased output characteristic to boost their LOR (Light Output Ratio) data, except I suppose in specific project circumstances.
For instance we produce fittings available with both DSI and 1-10v dimming options (as do many suppliers), which might have different LORs depending on the dimming protocol selected. The Eco lamps are certainly a good innovation in the war on energy, but they are not going to make lighting specifiers lives any easier.

Pleased to see biological light in 12464:2011

2011-06-02T14:52:00.000+01:00

Although there is no hard and fast guidance involved it is encouraging to see that the new European standard 12464:2011 will recognise the importance of variable light to health & well being.

Does the hold test work for LED heatsinks?

2011-05-31T09:35:00.002+01:00

There is quite a bit being made in the lighting media of the idea that you shouldn't buy an LED when you can hold the heatsink for more than 10 seconds. This is a dangerous misconception, because there are plenty of rubbish products out there where you can't hold the heatsink. In recessed products the heatsink at room ambient temperature should not be too hot, because ceiling void ambients are often higher and operating tolerance is needed. Separately it should be noted that good products may have quite low heatsink temperatures for a number of reasons - not least that some light engines (Fortimo is an example) have quite low temperature limiting feedback loops (say 65 deg.Tc) meaning that the heatsink will be quite a bit below this temperature and probably well into the 'hold' zone. Our Juno product has an eminently holdable heatsink with 2000 lumen Fortimo engine and so I expect does Philips' own product. A large pinch of salt should be taken whilst digesting this type of vague idea of assessing product quality.

LEDs explained

2011-05-27T17:08:00.000+01:00

It is always difficult to know how to discuss LEDs, because some people have been using them for years and are very familiar with the main technical issues, but most people are only using them sporadically and many people are only looking at these products for the first time. To help this last group we've created a simple introduction to broaden awareness of some of the things that are important to consider when buying or specifying LEDs.

There is virtually no one who doubts that LEDs are the future for many lighting applications, but it is also true that right now there is no product group creating as much dissatisfaction. This is largely the result of a lack of good information and the way many of these products are being sold.

Follow the link for the guide http://clearvisionlighting.com/an-introduction-to-leds.htm

Standard deviation | Know-how | Lighting

2011-05-26T17:03:00.000+01:00

Standard deviation | Know-how | Lighting

Visit the above link for info on upcoming European Lighting Standard.

2011-05-25T12:16:00.000+01:00

Kallista HXT

Clearvision UK - News

2011-05-25T09:09:00.000+01:00

Clearvision UK - News

Tobias Grau at Clerkenwell Design Week

2011-05-25T08:32:00.000+01:00

Dominic Maassen of Tobias Grau is talking on office lighting Wednesday (25th) at 2.00pm in the Sedus Showroom. We are a TG project partner for their more technical projects and can help architects/designers with lighting design for projects using TG products. Since almost everything these days requires BREEAM / SKA ratings or similar this is a useful service.

Don't ignore the driver when buying LED downlights

2011-05-24T08:46:00.000+01:00

Enthusiasm for LED downlights to replace halogen is understandable, but there are a number of people meeting problems with these products. In many cases the driver is at issue, either because of incompatibility with dimmers and controls or something more basic, such as being physically larger than the cut-out hole. It is worth confirming these details with your supplier before ordering.

LED Vs T5 for recessed modular fittings?

2011-05-23T09:17:00.000+01:00

There is quite a bit of media buzz about LED recessed modular fittings coming in to the market. For the emergency function we see LED as having clear advantage. We have incorporated these into our Kallista range since 2010. However for most applications it will be a while off before we (or anyone else) are able to produce an LED product with comparable value (using light quality, efficiency and £/lumen metrics) to T5.

Zen with HXT lens

2011-05-23T09:07:00.000+01:00

After launching in April we have supplied our first office project (Clarendon House) with the new HXT lens for our Zen lay-in modular. In the middle price band it is hard to find a genuine new part L (55lm/w) product that has reasonable LG7 spread as well and so we are optimistic about the future for this product.

DALI Self-Test Emergency

2011-05-19T10:54:00.000+01:00

Completed our first central PC controlled DALI emergency selftest using Tridonic emPro and all seems to be working well, but we now realise that these jobs need pre-commissioning, commissioning and post-commissioning visits which will add substantial cost on smaller projects.

Kallista Flush

2011-05-18T11:19:00.000+01:00

The Kallista is a very popular LG7 style modular fitting, but some people want a version that does not drop below the ceiling - well there is a flush version now available.

Genesis

2011-05-18T10:49:00.000+01:00

This is our first post on this blog from Clearvision to improve communication with anyone who is interested in us. We will put up news on products and projects as well as things we think are interesting in the wider lighting industry.