RANGE REVIEW: LIGHTING & ELECTRICAL IS LED THE FUTURE LED technology is proving a key trend in lighting across the home and garden industry but what opportunities does it p


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ED lighting has a variety of different platforms within the home improvement industry, whether it is within home


lighting – from bathrooms to dining rooms – use in home automation, or for garden applications, with decorative lights and hydroponic propogatoors. The benefits of LED are seemingly endless, bringing an opportunity for more sustainable options by extending the lifespan of the product, which ultimately produces less waste. Many suppliers and retailers in the industry say they have noticed a phenomenal increase in the use of light-emitting diodes, which could potentially wipe out the use of other conventional lighting methods as a whole.


LED technology soaring in the sector With LEDs up to replace all classical light sources in years to come, this has also changed the total value chain in the industry. Dencon Accessories director Robert Milliken believes LED


18 DIY WEEK 24 NOVEMBER 2017


technology is the main driver in the sector: “Compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) are finished – you can’t give them away now. Incandescent are finished too. The GU10 ceiling spot lights were banned last year. As they keep banning models, demand for LED is climbing.


“The lighting market is growing fast. The LED marketing is growing and turnover is going up week by week. The only downside is that prices keep falling week by week. As volumes go up, prices go down. Initially the volumes were low and it was just the production costs but, once everybody starts automating, they get cheaper prices. We had a steep drop to begin with but it seems to have plateaued now.” Interestingly, Mr Milliken mentions that different geographical locations in the UK seem to prefer different light colour option, with “the blue white daylight LEDs [being] really popular around the Midlands”; however he doesn’t believe the increased cost prices of LED compared to traditional incandescent lighting for consumers


is a problem: “they’ve got no choice. I think customers have gotten used to it. CFLs were more expensive than the standard incandescent bulbs and LEDs are cheaper than the CFLs.” Trade counter manager at Jegs Electrical, Shirley Walsh, has noticed an upward surge in LED lighting too; she says: “Our trade counter has been selling LED only for about three years and the sales are our fastest-growing sector for the past 18 months. With the decrease in prices of LED, plus the faster return on investment through lower utility bills, the benefits to homeowners are now more obvious.” But she believes customers need


more information when buying. “POS boards must be shown to customers so they understand the brightness. This is still confusing for many consumers who do not understand lumens and kelvins or how the lower LED wattages tally with the traditional incandescent or halogen lamps. They need to see how bright a five or seven watt actually is plus how the light effects when at home, for example, in the kitchen under a cabinet.”


Sustainable lighting Although previous reports and rumours have suggested LEDs can pose certain health risks, a request from the European Commission, the Scientific Committee on Health, Environmental and Emerging Risks (SCHEER) reviewed recent evidence to assess potential risks to human health of LED emissions. The Committee concluded that


there is no evidence of direct adverse health effects from LEDs emission in normal use (lamps and displays) by the general healthy population.


Lighting Europe, the industry association that represents the lighting industry in Europe, says that, “improving the serviceability of lighting products brings numerous benefits to the customers, the environment and the economy” and the transition to a more circular economy, where the value of products, materials and resources is maintained in the economy for as long as possible and the generation of waste minimised is an essential


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