ENERGY MANAGEMENT
A BRIGHT FUTURE AHEAD WITH NEXT GENERATION LED
Early adopters of energy-efficient LED lighting may feel as if their fingers have
been burned, since the first phase of this new technology hasn’t really delivered on expectations. Brendon Airey, Energy Manager at Cloudfm, explains the shortcomings of this first generation of product, highlights the benefits of the
newest innovations, and suggests now is the time to review such installations – and he’s got good news about refurbishment options.
Perhaps you installed first-generation LED lighting five years ago, keen to benefit from the promised improved energy efficiency and longevity. But then came the lamp failures and problems with colour matching, the challenges of compatibility with controls, and the difficulties of claiming on warranty for issues that you thought were covered – but somehow turned out not to be.
Unsurprisingly, you now don't care much for LED. As someone said in a meeting I had recently, the reality wasn’t what you were sold initially
32 | TOMORROW’S FM
– not only did there turn out to be some quality issues with the first generation of product, but systems may have been specified by flash- in-the-pan businesses which didn’t design and specify intelligently, so the promised benefits simply didn’t materialise as they should.
“THE KEY IS TO
CHOOSE A SMART CONTRACTOR.”
Now you have a number of fittings that have stopped working, and the
issues with health and safety are problematic. What do you do? Even if there's no budget for replacement, and the company you bought them from has disappeared, all is not lost.
Firstly, evaluate the scope of the problems (all works should be carried out by a competent electrician). If the light flickers or just doesn't work, you may need to look at the LED system itself to work out what fix might be required – it could be a very simple one. The main components of an LED fitting are the LED driver, LED diodes, and main
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