You may have seen a Lighting Facts label on an LED lamp package recently and wondered what exactly makes an LED product special enough to have this label. Lighting Facts is a voluntary pledge program to ensure LED products are accurately represented in the market. Lighting manufacturers can send their products to Lighting Facts to test the lamp’s performance, including the light output, power consumed, lumens per watt, color of the lamp, and more. Lighting Facts then prints the testing results either on the package or in an instructional insert so consumers can see unbiased testing results of LED products.
Lighting Facts also published its bi-annual Product Snapshot for LED Replacement Lamps this May. The program takes data from Lighting Facts-approved products and weighs in on the differences in the performance of LED replacement lamps and standard lamps, and compares that to the performance levels mandated by the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007. In the product snapshot, Lighting Facts compared the prices and payback times of halogen, CFL, and LED lamps. While halogens consume 30% less energy than incandescent lamps, their high initial cost pays off near the end of the lamp’s lifetime. CFLs consume 75% less energy, and their return on investment pays off in a little more than a year if bought in a multipack, but they only last 10,000 hours. Because of the high price of LEDs, payback occurs after six years, pushing consumers away from purchasing them. The Department of Energy predicts that LED lamps may cost as little as $5 in the next decade, making their payback period less than a year! We hope LED lighting becomes the most affordable lighting in the future!
