Active Cooling Versus Passive Cooling for LED

LED Light is efficient. Far more efficient than the HID, fluorescent or incandescent bulbs they replace. But not all energy LED consumes is converted to light. Some of the energy is used to create heat. And while LED is far more efficient than the other light sources at producing light and very little heat, the heat it produces must be removed.

Why do you need cooling?

Removing the heat from the LEDs extends the life of the product. Think of an LED light installed inside a cooler or freezer area. The ambient air is cold. The entire air source of the cooler area acts as a heat sink, keeping the LEDs performing extremely well and efficient for years. And while it is impractical to only install LEDs inside a cool environment, having a heat sink to remove this heat is the next best thing.

Removing Heat: Active Cooling

So what is active cooling? Typically, this means fan. This type of cooling has been used for decades on other types of electronics: computers, laptops, TV’s and amplifiers. Fan’s blow a steady stream of air onto a a heat sink and transfers the air away. If inside an enclosed fixture, this hot air is then moved to the fixture itself, thus acting as a secondary larger heat sink. It creates airflow inside the enclosed fixture, creating turbulence over the face of the LED’s, removing any static heat that might built up that might build up without the present airflow.

Within the LED industry, there had been a debate on whether fans are good or not. Some who think they are bad claim they are a point of failure. And over the years, we have heard these types of arguments as well. However, the truth of the matter are fans are extremely robust and rarely fails. MyLEDLightingGuide has sold 1000’s of active fan retrofit kits over the past 10 years, and have maybe seen 2 failures. In both cases, water intrusion into the fixture caused the fans to fail.

The benefit to an active fan solution is the physical size of the heat sink required is significantly smaller. So retrofitting an existing fixture, replacing the bulb and ballast with a LED Retrofit Kit, makes sense. Without the active fan, the heat sink would be too large to fit into the existing fixture.

Removing Heat: Passive Cooling

So why not use a fan all the time? Well, you don’t need to. Lighting designers can integrate the heat-sink as the fixture housing, combining both form with function. Take our LED UFO High Bays. The UFO part of the fixture is the heat sink. It is significantly large enough to absorb the heat produced by the LEDs, and radiate the heat away from the fixture. These types of fixtures are typically not installed inside other fixtures, so it can utilize what ever available air flow is available to help remove air that is available. Outdoors, there are available breezes that can effectively remove heat. So creating a stylish fixture that radiates heat away is practical and economical. Engineers can easily design the right size heat sink to accommodate the removal of heat for the fixture they are designing.

So What Better?

Neither. They are both good. Both are perfect for the solution they were designed to solve. Fans are extremely robust. So you should not let the fan, if a retrofit is your best option, be the deciding factor on moving forward with either an active cooling or passive cooling solution.

Reposted from MyLEDLightingGuide Blog

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How to Retrofit a 400 Watt HID Fixture

Where do you start? What are the options? Should you consider a retrofit kit or use a 360 degree post top screw in bulb? Here are some of the things you should consider before you purchase…

You’ve heard that switching to energy efficient lighting can save money, but where do you start?

Old 400W HID (Metal Halide and High Pressure Sodium) systems are installed almost everywhere in commercial and industrial applications. You see them in parking fixtures, flood lights, wall packs, cobra heads        and for lighting indoor spaces like factories, warehouses and gymnasiums. Energy costs are rising, so how can you take advantage of converting to LED?    

Well there are options available for you. What works for you is totally dependent on your fixtures and your goals. You can expect at least 50% energy savings. You should expect more. Add controls, and you can achieve up to 90%. So    

Things to Consider before the HID to LED Conversion - Who will do the installation?    

Some options require the use of a licensed electrician. Other options allow you to screw in a bulb into the existing socket. But this should not be the determining factor in your decision.    

What retrofit options do I have?    

Typically, you have 3 options to convert from HID over to LED

1.        
2. New fixture – Maybe your fixtures are old and are failing. Replacing them would be your best option.       
3. Bolt in LED Retrofit Kits – Requires removal of bulb, ballast, reflector and socket. Kit contains everything you need to add LED Head and LED Driver.       
4. Screw in LED lamps. This would require you to remove the ballast and direct wire the socket to the power source. Post Top Bulbs are a good example of this type of retrofit.   

   How much does it cost?    

Not as much as you think. Prices have come down a lot over the past few years. Rebates may be available to help offset the purchase price. Rebates can be obtained for both new fixtures and retrofit options. Once we understand your goals and needs, we can help you find the best option including looking for rebates.

What are the Differences between LED and HID?

HID

HID is a relatively old technology, consisting of several bulb types that include low pressure sodium, high pressure sodium, mercury vapor and high pressure sodium.

When you convert from HID to LED, you have to take into account ‘ballast draw’ of the HID bulb. What this is is the amount of energy the ballast consumes to power the bulb. It can add as much as 15% to the entire draw of the bulb. So a 400W HID bulb actually consumes about 460W of energy. A great deal of the energy consumed actually produces heat.    

HID  bulbs are omni-directional. They distribute light in every direction. It requires a reflector to “gather” all the light and redirect it to the ground.

400W HID bulbs are commonly found in fixtures not mounted higher than 30 ft above the ground. Anything higher than that, we typically find 1000W HID (or the equivalent in LED)    

LED    

Never buy a LED bulb based on watts to replace HID. Determine the amount of lumens you need, and get the most efficient LED bulb / fixture that produces that amount of lumens. Here are some products you can use to retrofit or replace a 400W HID fixture:

LED does not generate a lot of heat. It does generate some, the lights can get warm, but it is significantly less them HID lights. That is one of the reasons LED is more efficient, it uses the energy to produce light instead of heat.

LED Light is directional. The light goes where its needed. You need less LED Lumens to replace a 400W HID light that requires a reflector to gather the lumens and direct them where they need to go. Reflected light is less efficient than directional light.

5 Easy Steps to Convert from 400W HID to LED

Step 1: Do you have a 400W HID Fixture/Bulb?    

These bulbs are rather big and there are 2 sizes. One is larger than the other. The smaller of the two is 8-9" long, the larger bulb is about 11-12 inches long. Somewhere on the bulb, you should see the bulbs identification markings, and it should say 400 (to identify 400 watts HID)

Step 2: Determine the voltage    

Not that this is terribly important at this point, but you need to order your solution with the right voltage. LED comes in basically 2 driver options, 100-277V and 277-480V. They are auto-switching, so it will figure out what voltage you have and switch the first time it is used. But, make sure you have the right range selected or you will toast your driver.

Step 3: What is Your Goal?   

A. Is it Energy Savings?    

Reduction in energy spend up to 75% is a compelling reason to convert from 400W Metal Halide to LED. That should significantly reduce your utility bill each month.

B. Reduction in Maintenance Costs?    

LED’s life span is much longer than HID. Large commercial facilities can spend a lot of time and money. If you are not changing bulbs, you are saving money.

C. Increase / Decrease in light levels (brightness)    

Maybe your area is under lit? Over lit? Photometric reports done before you lets you adjust the light so there is no guess work. You simply use the software to help you decide what the best outcome for your area is.

Step 4: What Type of HID Fixture do you Have?    

For the most part, our LED Retrofit Kits designed to replace a 400W Metal Halide or HPS bulb will fit into the space that is provided. If you use one of our directional kits, you can make even more space by removing the reflector. Besides creating more installation space, it has 2 other side benefits.

1. Creates more air space to keep the fixture cool
2. To preserve the warranty, the reflector is not needed and the extra air space helps keep things cool.    

For the most part, the standard retrofit kit should be chosen over a post top bulb except in acorn style post top fixtures where a 360 degree pattern is required.

  Step 5: Make Your Selection    

Unlike some online companies, we offer both new and retrofit solutions, so we are not biased in one solution over another. Many times we have heard some customers call us and tell us 'Company A’ claims the only solution is a new fixture. And when you go to their site, that’s all they have. Naturally, they are going to recommend what they have over what they don’t. In our case, there are many factors that you need to consider to come up with the best solution for you.

Reposted from MyLEDLightingGuide Blog

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Lumens per Watt Matters. Not all LED efficiencies are the same

Reducing Airport Overhead by Upgrading Your Airport Lighting System

Lighting at an airport can consume lots of energy, this is especially true for airports that are much larger in size. Either way, outdated lighting at an airport (inside or out) can consume a lot more energy than needed, causing higher overheads than desired.

By upgrading to LED airport lighting, you can realize the following benefits:

• Reduce energy usage by up to 75%
• Increase lighting lifespan
• Improve light quality and avoid underlit areas

These are the main benefits that people consider when making the switch to LEDs at an airport. The only main downside is the fact that LED is a higher initial investment. Keyword there is investment. Thinking of the conversion to LED at your air field as an investment will allow you to view the bigger picture. By making the conversion, you will actually realize a positive ROI through energy reductions and longer lifespans by themselves.

Now, let’s get into each benefit listed above in a little more depth. This will allow you to understand the benefits of this technology and how they will directly apply to an airport building and field.

Reduce energy usage by up to 75%.

Airports can have a lot of lights depending on their size. An airport lighting system that is new and using LED technology will allow you to reduce energy consumption by up to 75% when converting away from lighting technologies like metal halide, HPS, and fluorescent.

This benefit is the number one reason why companies, businesses, governments, and yes; airports are converting to LED. The energy savings will allow you to realize a ROI on your investment to LED airport luminaires.

Increase lighting lifespan.

Since airports have a lot of talls lights, especially in hangars, they face a hefty maintenance fee to replace lights that burn out. By upgrading to LED, you will be able to realize a 2-3 time increase in lifespan for your airports lighting system which can seriously prove to reduce maintenance costs associated with replacing burnt out lights.

On top of that, you can reduce the number of times you have to buy replacement lights by 2-3 times as well since LED will outlast 2-3 luminaires of other technologies. This is the second major reason people that wins people over to LED because it too adds to the ROI you will get by converting.

Improve light quality and avoid underlit areas.

Flickering and buzzing lights can be annoying and highly distracting. Firstly, this makes your appeal to visitors lower because of the annoyance.

But it also brings a safety and security concern. If your lights are flickering out on the airfield, it could cause confusion and make visibility harder to notice. This, of course, has no place at an airport.

Conclusion

There you have it, an in-depth overview of all the benefits that an upgrade to an airport lighting LED system. Through the conversion, you will realize all of these benefits and more. It is now up to you to research more on the technology, see how to make it work for your facility, and work on implementing it.

source http://my-led-lighting-guide.tumblr.com/post/155631485273

UFO Style LED High Bay - UL Listed - DLC Qualified for rebates...

UFO Style LED High Bay - UL Listed - DLC Qualified for rebates from your utility company

source http://my-led-lighting-guide.tumblr.com/post/155026701913

All the Major Reasons to Switch to LED Plant Lighting

The demand for lighting for indoor grow operations, LED technology has came in and made some major advancements that make it a near “no brainer” to use the technology over other grow light technologies.

As an indoor grower you need to make not only the best decision for your bottom line, but also for your plants quality and success rates. Both of these areas of concern for any grower can be address and even resolved with the technology we are going to be talking about in this post (LED). From using less wattage for the same amount of light outdoor to targeted wavelengths that allow for most optimal growing conditions for any plants indoors.

Now let’s start off with one of the biggest reasons LED plant light technology is so appealing to growers and why most will make the conversion away from other grow lights like HPS which consume too much energy, output too much heat, and a list of other cons.

Less energy used, yet same light is produced.

LED is infamously known for its ability to less energy all while outputting the same (if not more) amount of light. This is what we call efficiency and it’s making people from every industry consider LED seriously.

Imagine if you converted from HPS to LED, you could realize up to 50 to 75% reduction in energy usage in your plant lighting system alone. This would allow you to expand quicker, realize a greater net profit, and at the end of the day; bring more cash for you or your business. Sounds like a win-win with this benefit itself, but there are many more benefits like you are about to find out…

LED offers a longer lifespan.

How often do you find yourself switching our burnt out and / or no longer working lights? What if you could make the lifespan of your lighting system last 2-3 times longer?

Well, by upgrading to LED away from any other common grow light you can and will realize this increase in lifespan. Not only does this allow you to stop buying replacement lights so often, but it also reduces the amount of time you need to spend maintaining the lighting system which gives you more free time to do other important tasks.

Optimal growing conditions with targeted wavelengths.

LED grow lights offer more and overall better options for targeted wavelengths that match your needs for your growing environment. For any grower, this is highly important as different stages of a plant’s grow cycle call for different wavelengths to provide the most optimal crop. Full spectrum LED grow lights allow you to target very specific wavelengths which other technologies simply don’t and can’t offer. As any grower knows (or should know), this is simply something you cannot ignore if you want to be able to grow the best crop possible. Ignoring so may result in lower quality grows along with missing out on the other benefits LEDs offer (like listed in this post!).

Less heat is produced (near none).

Heat can be a huge issue for a grow operation, really at any scale. Take this for example: an incandescent grow light might produce 75 BTU’s per hour while the equivalent LED plant fixture might be producing only 2.5 BTU an hour. Since heat is often a very common issue for indoor growers, this can be one very highly effective way to reduce heat. In turn, you will also be able to reduce the amount of cooling you put into your operation, which will only reduce your overhead expenses even further.

Closing thoughts

Nearly every point we’ve made on this list has had a win-win situation by making the conversion over to LED plant lighting. The answer is near obvious on which is the superior technology for indoor growing environments.

The one con of LED is the initial cost investment. While they do cost more initially, they are slowly becoming cheaper and cheaper as technology gets more and more popular and advanced. On top of that, the energy saving benefits and quality benefits will produce a positive ROI, which will actually save you more money to go with LED overtime than it would have to choose other technologies

like HPS

. As a grower, you’ve got to always do what’s best for the bottom line all while maintaining the quality in your crop. Thus, LED is the perfect solution for your lighting issues in all aspects.

source http://my-led-lighting-guide.tumblr.com/post/155026609343

Why are Stadiums Converting to an LED Lighting System?

The sports industry on both a national big league and local small high school team level are slowly starting to see the benefits that a lighting system full of LEd technology will bring some major benefit to their fields and place of game. Not only are they doing it for the energy savings, but also the benefits that include a better viewable game; which in turn allows the “fan” to have an overall much better experience at their game of choice.

Not only are stadiums and sport fields saving money by a reduction in energy consumption, but they are also realizing better quality of light benefits, along with a few others.

Let’s now discuss the benefits we talked about more in-depth, along with some of those other benefits that will seriously help you to making the decision on whether or not an upgrade to high mast LEDs is right for your field or not.

Reduces monthly overhead.

If you could reduce your stadiums overhead by up to 75% (associated with your lights), wouldn’t you at the very least look into it? What if LED could do that, and easily? Well, maybe not technically easy in regards to installation, but we are referring to “easy” meaning you can see these cost savings without much work, other than choosing LED in your stadium.

Older technologies which we commonly find in sports arenas include metal halide and high-pressure sodium. Since these are the most commonly found, we often talk about them when we talk about converting to LED at an arena. These are by far the most inefficient luminaires on the market, and by converting to LED high masts in your field, you will surely realize a (up to) 75% less energy usage in regards to your lights. For this reason alone is one of the main factors stadium managers look at and are attracted to when they discover this opportunity.

Lifespans are much longer.

Since high mast lights (the most common fixture at sport events) is so high in the air, it can get pricey to switch out just one burnt out light; let alone 20. Thus, by realizing a greater lifespan and less maintenance required lights by 2-3 or even 4 times longer; you can also realize a reduction in maintenance costs associated with lighting maintenance.

Not only will a longer lifespan reduce the amount of time you need to pay someone to switch out the burnt out bulbs, but it will also reduce the amount of time you need to buy replacement bulbs; which will too cost you most money overtime then it would of been to just invest in an LED sports lighting system to begin with.

Improve your fans experience through better quality illumination.

As a sports host, you must give the best experience to your guests as possible. And although lighting isn’t the only thing you can fix to make the experience that much better for visitors and fans, it surely can help you not only avoid complaints but also make visibility better.

Think, would you rather go to an underlit game where you can’t see as clearly? Or, would you rather for to a game that is bright and everything is visible as if it were day? We think the answer is obvious to that one.

On top of that, technologies such as metal halide (MH) and high-pressure sodium (HPS) are susceptible to flickering and / or buzzing throughout their lifespan. This as you may or may not know, can cause annoyance and even irritability. Flickering and buzzing lights have no place in any application, and especially not where you have a large amount of people gathering to enjoy a game; not experience lights that make the experience near unbearable for some. Thankfully by converting to LED technology you will never face this issue as LEDs are built in a different way which doesn’t allow them to ever flicker or buzz.

Final words

The benefits of creating not only a better experience for visitors but also the massive energy savings that come along with it make this decision a whole lot easier. And although an LED system may cost 50% more initially, it will pay itself back in longer lifespans, less maintenance costs and more importantly, lower energy usage.

Considering the conversion should always include all of the above listed content along with the goals of your organization. Because without fans that always come back for more, your field will be pretty boring.

source http://my-led-lighting-guide.tumblr.com/post/154488131593