How to choose an LED lamp: which LED lamps are better

A few years ago, LED lamps were very expensive, which is why they were rarely used. With the development of technology, prices have become lower, the parameters of the lamps are getting better. And today, many people want to choose an LED lamp, but they get lost in a wide variety of models and a spread in prices for lamps of the same light power. What is the difference and what does it depend on – in the article.

Selection by technical parameters

When choosing an LED lamp for an apartment or house, you need to start with technical specifications. It was incandescent lamps that had only power, and even the size of the base.

LED lamps are more serious equipment, in which, in addition to the crystal that emits light, there is also a built-in voltage converter – a driver that transforms the AC mains voltage into 12 volts DC. So for the right choice you will have to get acquainted with some technical nuances.

Power and luminous flux

Power is measured in watts. Abbreviated in Russian is “W”, in English it is denoted by the letter W. It is this value that has traditionally been used to determine the luminous efficiency of incandescent lamps. So it continues, although modern lighting devices have many times lower ratings, but they also shine. This is what we will look into.

At the current stage of technological development, LED lamps are considered the most economical: when consuming a minimum amount of electricity, they produce more light. If we compare them with incandescent lamps, they are almost 10 times more efficient. This means that where the 100-watt Ilyich lamp used to be, you need to put a 9-10 W LED. A good way to significantly reduce your electricity bills. To make it easier to choose an LED lamp by power, there is a table corresponding to the power of different types of light sources.

Today, there are different types of lamps in stores – incandescent, halogen, energy-saving, LED. All of them have different efficiency. And if you don’t have a correspondence table at hand, you can focus on the luminous flux created by the lamp. You can take all the same incandescent lamps as a basis – we are used to them, we have been using them for a long time and we have a good idea of ​​how much light, for example, a 100 W lamp gives. So, this lamp gives about 1200 lm. By remembering this figure, you can more or less accurately imagine what kind of luminous flux the lamp you are considering gives out, since on most packages there are Lumas that display the amount of light that this source emits.

Colorful temperature

You probably noticed that the light from artificial sources has different colors. This is the color temperature of light. LEDs have an extremely wide range of radiation – they can be colored – green, red, blue, give out purple light. This feature is used if color illumination is needed.

When choosing LED lamps for lighting a house or apartment, only a small part of the spectrum is considered. But there is also a large selection. LEDs reproduce many shades of light, from the bright midday sun to the subdued yellowish or slightly reddish sun at sunset or dawn.

Choosing an LED lamp by color temperature is based on the purpose of the room. For overhead lighting in the bedroom, it makes sense to choose a warm white color with a yellowish, or better, a reddish tint. It promotes relaxation more than others.

At the same time, in reading lamps – sconces or table lamps – it is worth putting lamps with neutral white light. We recommend using them in all other rooms. Despite the fact that yellowish light is more familiar to us, with neutral white you will feel better – it is easier to read, your eyes get less tired. These are subjective feelings based on personal experience.

Color rendition

By having lamps of the same color temperature, we can get a different perception of color. It depends on the color accuracy, which is characterized by the color rendering index (coefficient). Denoted by the Latin letters CRI (Color Rendering Index), followed by numbers from 0 to 100. Sometimes referred to as Ra.

The highest value is 100. A light source with this color rendering index does not distort colors at all, but the cost of such a lamp will be very high. For home lighting, lamps with a CRI of 80 and above are considered normal. It is in this range that you should look for LED lamps for lighting your home. And again, you will have to select depending on the purpose of the lamp. For example, to illuminate paintings, it is desirable to use lamps with a color rendering index of 100 or so, as they will not distort colors. For other rooms it is possible with lower rates.

Scattering angle

A distinctive feature of LEDs is that they shine directly in front of them. A very small amount of light waves are deflected to the sides. That is, the crystal itself produces a narrow beam of light. But the LED lamp contains some of these crystals. The angle of light scattering depends on how they are located. This allows you to create both a very narrow beam of light and a very wide one. The angle of dispersion of LED lamps can be from 30° to 360°.

It is also necessary to choose the angle of dispersion of the LED lamp based on the purpose of the lamp. If this is a general lighting lamp placed on the ceiling, the dispersion angle should be taken from 90 ° or more – up to 180 degrees. If it is a lamp for reading or for illuminating a small area (for highlighting paintings, for example), you should choose a more narrow beam.

In decorative fixtures with slots, it is worth putting a lamp with a scattering angle of 360 ° or installing narrow beams. You can get a very interesting effect.

If you have not been able to create such a play of shadows before, now you know that you need to choose the right LED lamp.

Type of base and the presence of a radiator

The base is chosen simply: under the available lamp. The industry produces LED lamps with standard cartridges for replacing incandescent lamps (E14, E 27, E40), there are options for replacing halogen lamps (G4, GU5.3, GU10). There are LED lamps that are built into furniture – to illuminate cabinets and lockers. They have a GX53 type base.

One of the disadvantages of LEDs is that they heat up, and with a significant increase in temperature, they lose their brightness. If overheated, they may even fail. There are two designs of LED lamps – in the form of a bulb familiar to us and without it – the so-called corn lamp. For better heat removal from the crystals, radiators are usually installed in bulb lamps. In corn, due to the absence of a flask, heat removal occurs efficiently and without a radiator.

For LED lamps with a bulb, there are several types of radiators:

• Ribbed aluminium. It copes well with heat dissipation due to the ribbing, which increases the heat transfer area. But aluminum conducts current well, in order to protect it from a dangerous touch, the surface of the radiator is usually covered with paint or varnish.
  

• Smooth aluminum. Usually it is a thin layer of aluminum. Heat dissipation is usually worse, openings may be provided for better ventilation.
  

• Ceramic. The most efficient way to remove heat, but such LED lamps are the most expensive. Ceramics do not conduct current, so LEDs are often mounted directly on a heatsink, which contributes to more efficient cooling.
  

• Composite. This is an aluminum radiator, on top of which a layer of heat-conducting plastic is applied. This type of radiators is widely used, as it has a low price along with good heat dissipation and safety. Accordingly, LED lamps with composite radiators are in the middle or low price segment.
  

• Plastic. The plastic used is a special one that conducts heat well. This is the most inexpensive option for radiators for LED lamps, which has an average efficiency. Holes may be provided to improve heat dissipation.

Choosing a cheap LED lamp and hoping that it has a ceramic heatsink is not worth it. But also be afraid of plastic coolers too. They have more than a decent service life and will repeatedly “recapture” the money spent on their purchase.

Lamps with ceramic or corrugated aluminum radiators should be placed in places where heat dissipation is critical. For example, in built-in luminaires, in which the hottest back of the lamp is at the level of a stretch ceiling or furniture board / wood / fiberboard. Here, strong heating can lead to changes in the structure and color of the material, which is clearly not good. In less critical situations, even plastic and composite radiators work normally – LED lamps still heat up many times less than incandescent lamps.

Working resource and warranty period

One of the most important parameters for consumers is the working resource. It is indicated in hours and shows how long the LED lamp remains operable (under normal operating conditions). The average “lifespan” of modern LED lamps is about 30 hours, which is equivalent to 000 years, the maximum is about 10-50 thousand – this is about 60-15 years. But LED technology is actively developing and, most likely, LED lamps with a working life of 18 hours or even more will appear in the near future.

But don’t get too carried away. The working resource is the time that the crystal is able to emit light. Unfortunately, there is such a thing as LED burnout. As a result of this phenomenon, they lose the brightness of the glow. The speed of these changes depends on the operating conditions – the less the LED overheats and the less it is at low temperatures, the longer the original brightness is maintained. How to understand how long the lamp will last without losing brightness? According to the warranty period. This figure more realistically reflects the state of affairs, since in case of problems the device is simply replaced with a new one. Here, manufacturers, on the contrary, tend to slightly underestimate the figure so that there are as few warranty cases as possible.

Dimming

There are two ways to change the brightness of the lighting in the room – by increasing or decreasing the number of lights on or by setting the brightness control – a dimmer. The second method is more convenient, as it allows you to fine-tune the lighting to your requirements by smoothly changing the brightness of the glow by turning the knob.

But, if you need to choose an LED lamp for a network with a dimmer, the technical specifications should indicate that it is dimmable. The usual one will shine at full strength, and at a certain position of the dimmer it will simply start blinking.

In addition to the fact that the lamp must be dimmable, it is necessary to look at the limit of dimming. Some have a minimum dimming limit of 5%, others 20%.

Rating of producers

Choosing an LED lamp according to technical parameters is not all. You still have to decide on the manufacturer. In light of the fact that LED lamps are not so cheap, I want to save money and buy from those that are cheaper. These are, as a rule, Chinese lighting fixtures, and from which they do not differ at least in normal quality. Their distinguishing feature is poor packaging, the absence of a warranty period, or it is, but very small. They are assembled mainly from the cheapest parts, as a result, the color rendering coefficient (real, not written) may not exceed 60, due to poor-quality parts in the lamp converter, it flickers. It is difficult to talk about the service life of such products – how lucky. In general, no matter how much you want to save money, it is better to choose an LED lamp from the products of normal manufacturers.

The highest quality

Very good products are produced by European companies Philips and Osram. Their offices are located in Europe, but the factories are mainly located in China. Despite this, they produce very good quality LED lamps. The image must be maintained, because the quality is tightly controlled. Yes, but their prices are high. Philips LED lamps cost from 800 to 1800 rubles apiece, Osram has budget lines with a cost of about 100 rubles, there is a premium one with a price of 2700 rubles, and the average range is from 400 to 800 rubles.

Normal quality at a low price

The best combination of price and quality can be found in representatives of the middle price category. There are Russian manufacturers, there are Chinese ones, and some other Asian countries are also represented. The products of these firms have a predominantly good product rating. Also, the declared data coincide with the realities:

• Russian company Feron (Feron). One of the areas of activity is the production of lighting devices based on LEDs. Prices from 60 rubles for low-power embedded, up to 360 rubles.
• Camelion (Camelion). The campaign from Hong Kong produces several lines with different plinths. Prices from 75 rubles to 400.
• St. Petersburg firm Jazzway (Jazzway). Produces LED lamps with various bases, bulb and tubular. The price range is about the same – from 100 to 370 rubles for lamps of normal power (up to 20 W), there are powerful (for 30-60 W) their price – from 3700 to 6700 rubles.
• Another Russian company Gauss (Gaus) is considered the leader of this market among domestic manufacturers. Prices – from 83 rubles for lines with not the best characteristics, up to 1600 rubles for super-economical ones.
  

• Another representative of Russia is the Navigator campaign. They differ in that they have a reliable driver that ensures stable operation of the lamps even at low voltage (from 170 V to 250 V). Prices – from 60 rubles for small ones with a pin base to 800 rubles for products with increased efficiency.
• And another Russian company – Era (Era). This brand is on the market quite recently, but it has good reviews and very competitive prices – from 100 to 500 rubles. What sets them apart is consistent quality.
• Selecta (Selekta) is a Chinese company whose products receive consistently good reviews. Prices are approximately in the same range – from 80 to 750 rubles.
• Another representative of the Celestial Estares (Estares). Lamps in fixtures cost from 200 to 500 rubles, thin built-in ones – from 1200 to 1700 rubles.

There are many other companies, but reviews on the products of these companies are often negative. If you want to choose a good quality LED lamp for sane money, take a look at the above brands.