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Greetings!
Welcome to the April edition of Landscape Lighting Supply's monthly e-newsletter. Here you'll find out what's new in our ever-changing industry, product updates, price changes, etc. Feel free to forward our newsletter to anyone else that would be interested in learning Watts Up in the landscape lighting industry! |
| An exciting addition... | |  To our Moon Visions Family of Bullets!
We are thrilled to introduce a new family of bullets for the Moon Visions product line: a low voltage LED lamp series that retrofits into the R20, R30 and R40 size fixtures. The light output is the same as the 120 volt LEDs, but the heat is considerably less. This LED PAR fixture can compete with Mercury Vapor projects in both light output and color temperature; yet the minimal time and expense of 12V installations, combined with the incredible energy savings of LEDs, make it a no-brainer!
Now we were very hesitant to jump on this LED band wagon, and have done LOTS of research on why LEDs work and why they fail...and it's all about heat. Because LEDs only require 3.5 volts and 375 ma to operate, most of the heat generated has to do with the conversion from 120 volts. By operating on only 12 volts, the heat is significantly diminished.
Also, Light-Emitting-Diodes are designed to function at 1.2 watts each. Most LED lamps have only 3 LEDs but claim the lamp is 15 watts...meaning each LED is running at 5 watts (and 1400 ma)! This is WAY too hot and the phosphorous coating on the diode will eventually burn off causing a shift in color. The excess heat will also cause an increase in lumen deprecation, so your lamps will get dimmer and dimmer as time goes on. Our new LEDs operate at 1.22 watts each, insuring a long-life lamp that will keep its color throughout its life. The new 12V LED family of bullets will be as follows: - PAR20 5W LED (260 lumens)
- PAR30 7W LED (350 lumens)
- PAR30 15W LED (720 lumens)
- PAR38 22W LED (1080 lumens)
The new Moon Visions 12V LEDs will be available in cool white (5000K to simulate moonlight). They will be built into the actual fixture with a GU24 twist-lock, high-temperature base; however the lamp will be replaceable in the field if needed. They will not be dimmable, but we can make a dimmable version if the demand is adequate. Needless to say, we are thrilled with this new product. We believe our 12V LED's will be able to compete with 120V LED's currently on the market, but will save our installers time and money! Oh wait, did we mention that we are also going to be offering these LED's in 120V! Yep, that's right, we will have the exact same units available in the 120V. That way, you can mix and match 120V and 12V LED's on a job, and they will all be the SAME COLOR, SAME INTENSITY. and SAME QUALITY! So now, you could retrofit a customer's existing Mercury Vapor fixtures in the front yard with LED plus add 12V LED's to the backyard and have it all coordinate! All of these GREAT features AND a 3 year warranty! Can't say that about Mercury Vapor or a lot of 12V manufacturers! So be on the lookout early to mid June for our new 12V AND 120V LED lamps! For more information feel free to email us with any questions: sales@landscapelight.com |
| We're going retro... | |  Retro fit LED 120V Lamps, that is! So while we are very excited about our new line of LED lamps, they will not be available until mid-June. So in the meantime, we have found a new line of retrofit 120V LED medium base lamps. And yes, we will finally have 120V LED lamps in ALL 3 SIZES and in both Warm White (3000K) and Cool White (5000K). These new LED lamps will carry a 3 year warranty and 50,000 hour life rating They are in stock now, so come and get 'em! For more information, visit our LED Lamp page on our website: |
| Common Myths About LED Lighting | |  What's the truth, Ruth?
"The marketing of LED lighting is far ahead of its technology" - is a quote I often cite from Len Thomas of EYE Lighting. I think he was dead-on when he came down from Ohio to visit us last spring, and those words have rung in my head ever since.
We have learned so much about LED lighting in the past 12 months, and have a small graveyard of sample LEDs we purchased to prove it. Our owner, Ed, likes to joke that we didn't even know how to spell LED lighting last year. But things are changing...and they are changing fast.
There are a lot of false claims out there and we're still deciphering them all, but here are some of the top myths of LED Lighting we have come across:
Myth #1: LEDs Don't Give Off Any Heat
- Fact: LEDs do not give off radiant heat, but they do need to get rid of conductive heat in order to achieve their long life rating. Because LEDs only require 3.5 volts to function, there is a significant amount of heat generated in converting the operating voltage from either 12 or 120 volts. Also, exceeding the maximum current rating of 375 ma per LED will produce excessive heat within the LED chip, resulting in reduced light output and operating life.
- Note: Moon Vision's new LED bullet family operates on 12 volts or 120 volts and uses 18 LEDs running at 1.2 watts each...much cooler than most systems you see!
Myth #2: LEDs Last Forever
- Fact-With proper thermal design, LEDs can achieve 60,000+ hours of life while maintaining 70% of original light output. LED life is rated where it has reached 30 percent lumen depreciation. At 60,000 hours an LED would still be operating, but at a decreased lumen output. Be careful though, some manufacturers rate their LED's for 60,000 hours, but at a 50% lumen depreciation instead of 30%... big difference in light output down the road.
- Note: Moon Vision's new LED bullet family will have a 50,000 hour lamp life rating and a three year warranty.
Myth #3: LEDs Are Really Cheap - at least at the home improvement stores and when I "google" LED light bulb
- Fact-Quality LEDs are really expensive-but getting cheaper at an impressive rate. As dollars per lumen, LEDs have come down 50% in the last two years; but that still leaves them more expensive than incandescent and fluorescent lighting.
- Note: Because the new Moon Vision's LED bullets contain more actual Light- Emitting-Diodes in order to run cooler at 1.22 watts each, they are more expensive than other brands you will find. However, they will last longer because of the diminished heat output and they are still very competitive with mercury vapor pricing.
Myth #4: Because It's Made By "Cree" (Or Another Name-Brand), It Must Be The Best
- Fact-LEDs are manufactured as semiconductor wafers, about the size of a CD. Companies take the premium parts of the wafer they want to use and the rest are discarded. These discarded pieces often end up in China, where they are used in building cheaper LEDs-not near the quality we need and expect in our industry, yet they are marketed as "Made by Cree".
- Note: Moon Visions has an exclusive agreement with an LED manufacturer to buy only the most premium LEDs available-only those with a forward voltage of 3.5 (+/- .1) and with 5000K color temperature.
Source: David Simon, President of the Troy, Michigan-based LED lighting manufacturer ilumisys. |
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