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Privacy Policy
Privacy
PRIVACY POLICY
Privacy statement
FORMA LICHT UG, Arnulfstraße 37, 80636 München, Germany (FORMA LICHT - personal data controller) values and protects your privacy, strives for the highest level of security and pursues the principles of transparency and careful handling of personal data. This privacy statement elaborates on the managing and collection of the personal data provided by our digital platforms that facilitate the access to the website and the use of corresponding services for our visitors. FORMA LICHT processes personal data in accordance with the provisions of Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and the Council of 27 April 2016 on the protection of individuals and the processing of their personal data and on the free movement of such data and repealing Directive 95/46 / ES (hereinafter referred to as the General Data Protection Regulation or GDPR), in compliance with the current Personal Information Protection Act and other personal data protection regulations.
Continue reading to learn more about our processing of your personal data.
E-mail advertising if you subscribe to the newsletter
If you subscribe to our newsletter, we will regularly send you our e-mail newsletter based on your consent according to Art. 6 (1) 1 lit. a) GDPR, using the data required or disclosed by you separately for this purpose. You may unsubscribe from the newsletter service at any time. For this purpose you can either send a message to the contact option specified below or use the opt-out link in the newsletter. Upon unsubscription, we will delete your email address unless you have expressly consented to the further use of your data or we reserve the right to further use your personal data in the scope and manner permitted by the law, of which we inform you in this notice.
Legal basis for data processing
Personal data collected through application forms in an online store - or otherwise communicated to the controller - FORMA LICHT UG (first name and surname, email, telephone, street name and number, postal code, location, country, region, shopping cart contents, IP address) are gathered with the purpose of conducting the principal activity of the company FORMA LICHT i.e. an online shop, particularly for responding to customer demand, and for designing, concluding and implementing a contract. Such information processing is part and parcel of an exquisite service and is therefore valid on the basis of a contractual relationship between the customer and the service provider. The implementation of the contract whose party is the data subject represents the legal basis for the lawful processing of the personal data, i.e. the application of pre-contractual measures taken in response to the data subject's request (Article 6 (1) (b) GDPR).
Providing that your consent is the legal basis for data processing, you hold the right to revoke your consent at any time. However, this shall not affect the lawfulness of the personal data processing by FORMA LICHT prior to your withdrawal of consent (Article 6 (1) (a) GDPR). We will discontinue the managing of collected personal data for this specified purpose in case of revocation.
It is our legal obligation to transmit your personal data to law enforcement or other national authorities if deemed imperative. Furthermore, we are legally obligated to store accounting and taxation documents (Article 6 (1) (c) GDPR).
The distribution of personal data with our contractual partners to ensure efficient management and vital protection of operation along with the establishment, exercise and defense of legal claims represent the so-called legitimate interest of the company FORMA LICHT (Article 6 (1) (f) GDPR.)
Grounds for the collection of personal data by FORMA LICHT
Below are further specified the main categories and objectives of data assembled by the company FORMA LICHT:
- As a segment of general business processes of FORMA LICHT
We collect personal data from visitors to the website, customers and suppliers (including third-party service providers). Relevant personal data are in particular personal information, such as first name, and other contact data necessary to conduct a business relationship with you or your organization.
- As a query assistance
You may choose to permit personal data transmission, including your first name, email address, or other contact information when you connect with us via phone, email, post or by using our digital platforms or other communication channels. Personal data enable us to respond to your information queries, to prepare necessary steps and purchase offers, and to appropriately respond to warranty claims or other requests.
- Customers and potential customers
Personal data of customers and potential customers, including names, contact information, payment habits and credit cards are collected to conduct a business relationship with individuals or organizations. Data may be transferred to logistic partners for the purposes of ordering and delivering the products. Automatic data collection via digital tools enhances your safety and ensures confidentiality.
- Business development
Confidential personal data supplied by you or automatically gathered via our digital tools, shall be utilized to better acknowledge the preferences of our customers, to propose customized solutions and shall serve as a basis for relevant marketing notifications and offers. Personal data shall be used to significantly improve the quality of the products, procedures and website.
- Marketing communications
We shall process your personal data with your expressly granted consent to inform you about the business activity, products and services of the company FORMA LICHT. If you object to such utilization of your personal data or if you do not wish to obtain further marketing information, you may unsubscribe at any time. Find unsubscribe links at the bottom of various communication channels or contact us by email or post to terminate your subscription. Your personal data will be permanently erased from our systems after the obtained withdrawal unless we store and manage your private data on an alternative legal basis.
- Surveys for visitors and customers
Personal data of the visitors to our website may be gathered as a survey matter of the company FORMA LICHT.
- Considering the preferences of visitors and customers
Personal data of the visitors to our website or customers may be gathered to ensure the availability of particular products and to take into account the interests of our clients.
- Legislative compliance
Personal data shall be collected in compliance with legislation. Collected personal and non-personal data are treated as strictly confidential and will not be traded or transmitted to third parties except for the particular instances mentioned in this statement.
How we capture your data
We collect provided personal data either as a result of your registration to receive marketing information in the course of our business relations, your participation in public forums or other activities on our digital tools, as a result of responding to customer surveys or other ways of communication with us. Personal data are gathered via diverse technologies, for instance »cookies«.
Your personal data will not be transmitted to third parties, except in the following occasions:
- When third parties provide services on our behalf, such as responding to your enquiries, parcel deliveries and other services, etc. These companies are prohibited from using your personal data for purposes that are not strictly specified by us or required by legislation.
- When we distribute personal data within our company or with third parties in order to ensure the safety and confidentiality of our customers, to protect our legal rights and property in compliance with legal procedures or in other instances, if we believe that disclosure is legally required.
Command and control
We facilitate a certain control in decision-making with regards to collection, processing and transmission of personal data. In accordance with local legislation, your control and decision-making may incorporate the following points:
- You may alter your stance on receiving the latest news and marketing notifications.
- You may decide if you wish to receive marketing information about the products and services that we believe would interest you.
- You may decide if you wish to receive notifications from advertising networks, providers of data exchange and marketing analytics services and other services.
- You may demand access to your personal data that we retain to supplement any incorrect or incomplete information, and in certain circumstances, you may request that we erase your personal data from our systems (fundamental rights of individuals).
You may assert your control in decision-making or require access to your personal data by contacting us via telephone or email and abide by obtained instructions. Please consider the fact that we may not be able to fully comply with your interests and preferences or provide you with certain products and services should you choose to restrict further collecting and processing of your personal data. If you have any questions about specific personal data that we process and store, contact FORMA LICHT at info@lightingonline.eu We will respond to your demand within one month with the right to an extension of an additional month. We will notify you in case of an extension within one month upon the receipt of your request.
Safety, integrity and data storage
Safety, integrity and confidentiality of your personal data are at the core of how we deliver trusted business insights. Our group implements technical, administrative and physical security measures aimed at providing security against unauthorized access, disclosure, use and modification of personal data. We consistently test our safety procedures to contemplate suitable innovative technologies and methods.
The transfer of sensitive personal and transactional data on the website is carried out in a safe mode by means of a protocol SSL (SecureSocketsLayer). Encrypted personal data are transferred to the provider's server in a secure format. The system prevents the interception of customers' personal and transactional data in an online store.
Global payments platform Stripe arranges and forwards safe authorizations and transactions with payment cards. The authorizations of payment cards are carried out in real-time with immediate data verification in the banking system.
Please consider the fact that despite our best efforts, safety measures are not inherently immaculate and impossible to evade.
We will retain your personal data as long as this is necessary for the processing purposes mentioned in this data privacy statement, except if extended storage period is needed or permitted by the legislation. In this respect, a regular review takes place.
Modifications to this privacy statement
We may occasionally alter this privacy statement to adjust it according to the latest technologies, industrial practices, legislative requirements and for other purposes. A valid version of this privacy statement will be published on our digital platforms. We recommend frequent monitoring of the Privacy Statement. If required by applicable legislation, we will obtain your consent prior to any alterations.
Comments and queries
Should you have objections or questions regarding privacy, contact FORMA LICHT in writing. You are eligible to lodge a complaint if you are dissatisfied with our processing of your personal data. Use provided contact information. In the case of a complaint you should provide the company FORMA LICHT with your contact information. We will address your appeal and reply in 30 days.
Privacy and cookies
Protection of our customers' personal data is one of the areas ingrained into the core of our business culture. We strive to accomplish and even surpass all the goals with diligence as confidentiality is fundamental to maintaining trust.
The following user data are collected for business purposes:
- first name and surname;
- shipping addresses;
- company name or name of the legal entity(if the user is a legal entity);
- tax number of the legal entity (if the user is a legal entity);
- email address (username);
- encrypted password;
- contact number;
- country of residence;
- other data that users voluntarily enter in the online store forms;
- other data that users voluntarily subsequently add to their profile.
The seller is not responsible for the accuracy, completeness and currency of the personal data submitted by the users. Users' IP addresses are being collected to ensure safety. Each user is assigned a session cookie to identify and track the shopping basket. www.lightingonline.eu may store other cookies on your computer, for instance: encrypted user identification number (to identify the user during the next visit), product reviews (to obtain a clear overview) and cookies used by Google Analytics (analysis of the visits to a website).
All the aforementioned information, except for cookies, are stored on the server leuchtenonline.de under the applicable legislation. Session cookies are stored on the server merely for the duration of the visit and are deleted after an hour of inactivity, while persistent cookies remain on the visitor's hard drive.
The implementation of the privacy policy
FORMA LICHT has adopted Privacy Policy. Employees who are in any way involved with users' personal data are familiar with the contents of Privacy Policy.
Which are my rights according to GDPR?
a) The right to be informed
We guarantee the exercise of all your statutory rights with regards to personal data processing in accordance with GDPR provisions. You are granted access to complimentary information about your personal data at our disposal, i.e. the right to access, rectification and erasure of personal data. Should you enquire further information regarding the erasure or processing of your personal data, contact us at info@lightingonline.eu or send us a request via post at FORMA LICHT. You may contact our authorized person for data safety (Data Protection Officer - DPO) via email: info@lightingonline.eu who shall also respond to your questions about the confidentiality, the method of data collecting and processing or your requirements for the exercise of statutory rights in relation to your personal data.
Notifications upon an obtained order: we highly value supreme user experience, therefore you will be contacted by our advisor upon the delivery of the product to inquire whether your expectations were met. Upon request, our advisor may provide you with further information regarding exclusive offers in case of repurchase. Should you wish to learn more about exceptional deals, you will regularly receive marketing materials via email or text messages. You may terminate your consent at any time by contacting us at info@lightingonline.eu or by clicking on the link »Unsubscribe«. We also retain the right to enquire about the frequency of visits to our website. Your appreciated opinion will be utilized to enhance the overall user experience. Should you fill out promotional forms (coupons) on social networking sites, you will regularly receive notifications about promotional coupons on your email. The same aforementioned termination procedure applies in this case.
b) The right of access
You have the right to request access to your personal data (consent whether the data concerned are being processed or not) from the company FORMA LICHT as the controller of personal data in accordance with Article 15 of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the following information:
- the purposes of the processing,
- the categories of personal data obtained, the recipients or the categories of recipients that have or will receive personal data, especially the recipients in third countries and international organizations,
- the estimated retention period for the personal data or, if this is not possible, the criteria used to determine this period,
- automated decision-making and profiling,
- the purposes and anticipated ramifications of such data processing for an individual,
- one (free of charge) copy of personal data in a set format (a copy shall be provided in electronic form if not otherwise specified). The controller may impose a reasonable charge taking into consideration the costs for any additionally required copies.
c) The right to rectification
You have the right to rectification of any inaccurate personal data relating to you (Article 16 of the General Data Protection Regulation - GDPR).
d) The right to restrict processing
Under the conditions set out in Article 18 of the General Data Protection Regulation – GDPR, you hold the right to request from the company FORMA LICHT the restriction of processing of your personal data at any time in the following instances:
- the correctness of your personal data is disputed for the time period which allows the controller to verify the accuracy of personal data,
- you request limited processing instead of deletion under the conditions of a justified right to erasure,
- the data is no longer required for the purposes pursued by us, but you need the data to assert, exercise or defend legal claims,
- you as an individual have lodged a formal objection referring to the data processing under the conditions set out in Article 21(1), until it is verified that legitimate interests outweigh your reasons.
e) The right to erasure, objection, portability and appeal
Pursuant to the conditions set out in the General Data Protection Regulation, you also hold the right to:
- erasure of all your personal data (the right to be forgotten) if the specific circumstances of the Article 17 of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) apply, especially in case of unlawfully processed data;
- access to your personal data in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format, as well as the right to request us to forward this personal data to another controller (portability), without hindrance from the original controller in accordance with Article 20 of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR);
- to cease the processing of your personal data in case of a legitimate interest of the controller and for the purposes of direct marketing including profiling (the right to objection) – Article 21 of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR),
- to object to the decision based merely on automated processing including profiling bearing significant legal effects on you, pursuant to the presumptions of Article 22 of the General Data Protection Regulation;
You may lodge a complaint against the controller to the information commissioner Der Bundesbeauftragte für den Datenschutz und die Informationsfreiheit - Graurheindorfer Str. 153 - 53117 Bonn should you believe that data processing significantly breaches the General Data Protection Regulation and other applicable legislation.
Procedure to exercise legal rights
I confirm that I am fully aware of my right to contact the controller in writing at: info@lightingonline.eu to address any of the aforementioned claims with respect to exercising personal data rights.
I confirm that I am entirely familiar with the fact that the controller may request further information from me for the purposes of reliable identification with respect to exercising personal data rights. However, the controller may refuse to take further action in case of clearly demonstrated unsuccessful identification.
About cookies
What are cookies and why are they necessary?
Cookies are short encrypted text files that are sent to the browser by the website you visit. This enables the website to recognize and remember the data at the time of your visit and help positively navigate your browsing experience. Cookies enable us to customize the contents of our website, consider your preferences and track the visits to our online shop. Your overall browsing experience is significantly more pleasant, quicker and more effective with the help of cookies.
Disabling cookies
You decide whether you will allow the storage of cookies on your device. You may supervise and modify the cookie settings in your web browser.
Choose the web browser you use for further information on cookie settings.
- Chrome
- Firefox
- Opera
- Internet Explorer 9
- Internet Explorer 7 in 8
- Safari
Should you modify or erase cookie files stored in your browser, modify or upgrade your browser or device, you may possibly have to disable cookies as well. The procedure for managing and deleting cookies varies according to the browser. Should you require technical assistance in this process, you may explore customer support in your browser.
You may also disable Google Analytics tracking at the following link: https://marketingplatform.google.com/about/.
Cookies used on this website:
Website cookies
Cookie name |
Cookie function |
Duration |
Origin |
.ASPXANONYMOUS |
Functional cookie intended for user login. |
2 months and 7 days |
Website owner |
ASP.NET_SessionId |
Functional cookie essential for the website operation. |
Until the browser closes |
Website owner |
Language |
Functional cookie essential for the appropriate language display on the website and storage of language information. |
Until the browser closes |
Website owner |
DotNetNukeAnonymous |
Functional cookie |
Until the browser closes |
Website owner |
_ContainerSrc |
Functional cookie essential for storing the color template. |
1 day |
Website owner |
_SkinSrc |
Functional cookie essential for storing the color template. |
1 day |
Website owner |
dnn_IsMobile |
Functional cookie essential for storing information on whether a mobile device is used to browse the website. |
Until the browser closes |
Website owner |
cc_fs |
Functional cookie for the operation of the banner "cookies". It stores information about the status of the banner display. |
1 year |
Website owner |
cc_advertising |
Functional cookie for the operation of the banner "cookies". It stores information about the consent to marketing cookies. |
1 year |
Website owner |
cc_analytics |
Functional cookie for the operation of the banner "cookies". It stores information about the consent to analytical cookies. |
1 year |
Website owner |
cc_social |
Functional cookie for the operation of the banner "cookies". It stores information about consent to social cookies. |
1 year |
Website owner |
Other cookies
Cookie name |
Cookie function |
Duration |
Origin |
Google Analytics |
|||
__utma |
Analytical cookie. Essential for distinguishing between users and sessions. |
2 years |
Google Analytics |
__utmb |
Analytical cookie. Records visits of new users or sessions. |
30 minutes |
Google Analytics |
__utmc |
Analytical cookie. Records the duration of the visit to the website. |
Until the browser closes |
Google Analytics |
__utmz |
Analytical cookie. Stores the source of traffic or an advertising campaign that contains the information on how the user reached the website. |
6 months |
Google Analytics |
__utmv |
Analytical cookie essential for storing custom variables. |
2 years |
Google Analytics |
_gat |
Analytical cookie. The cookie is used to restrict the frequency of hits. |
1 minute |
Google Analytics |
_ga |
Analytical cookie. This randomly generated unique number is used to calculate the data about visits to our website. |
2 years |
Google Analytics |
_gid |
Analytical cookie. Essential for distinguishing between users and sessions. |
24 hours |
Google Analytics |
AddThis |
|||
__atuvc |
Functional cookies for the operation of AddThis plug-in to connect to social networks. |
30 minutes |
AddThis |
__atuvs |
Functional cookies for the operation of AddThis plug-in to connect to social networks. |
30 minutes |
AddThis |
loc |
Functional cookies for the operation of AddThis plug-in to connect to social networks. |
1 year |
AddThis |
mus |
Functional cookies for the operation of AddThis plug-in to connect to social networks. |
1 year |
AddThis |
notice_gdpr_prefs |
Functional cookies for the operation of AddThis plug-in to connect to social networks. |
1 year |
AddThis |
notice_preferences |
Functional cookies for the operation of AddThis plug-in to connect to social networks. |
1 year |
AddThis |
ouid |
Functional cookies for the operation of AddThis plug-in to connect to social networks. |
1 year |
AddThis |
uid |
Functional cookies for the operation of AddThis plug-in to connect to social networks. |
1 year |
AddThis |
uvc |
Functional cookies for the operation of AddThis plug-in to connect to social networks. |
1 year |
AddThis |
May, 2020
Privacy Policy
E-mail advertising if you subscribe to the newsletter
If you subscribe to our newsletter, we will regularly send you our e-mail newsletter based on your consent according to Art. 6 (1) 1 lit. a) GDPR, using the data required or disclosed by you separately for this purpose. You may unsubscribe from the newsletter service at any time. For this purpose you can either send a message to the contact option specified below or use the opt-out link in the newsletter. Upon unsubscription, we will delete your email address unless you have expressly consented to the further use of your data or we reserve the right to further use your personal data in the scope and manner permitted by the law, of which we inform you in this notice.
Colour temperature [K]
What is colour temperature?
Colour temperature indicates the appearance of the light supplied by a light bulb or an LED module. It is conventionally expressed in degrees of Kelvin (K) on a scale from 1000 to 10000. Kelvin temperatures for commercial and residential lighting applications generally fluctuate between 2700K and 4000K.
The reason why this colour measurement is actually using a temperature unit the Kelvin is because it is correlated by observing the colour of a piece of steel when heated to the prescribed temperature. The piece of steel will glow a different colour depending on the temperature it is heated to, varying from red hot through yellow to amber than white and finally a blueish white.
How to select a suitable colour temperature?
A good understanding of the Kelvin temperature (K) facilitates the selection of the most accommodating lighting solutions that ultimately provide you with the desired end effect and sense of well-being. So-called “warm white” light is located at the lower end of the scale (between 2700K and 3000K) and ranges from orange to yellow-white in appearance.
“Cool white” or “bright white” colour temperatures vary between 3100K and 4500K. Bulbs within this range will emit a more neutral white light and may even have a slightly blue tint. 4500K and above brings us into the “daylight” colour temperature. Light bulbs with colour temperatures of at least 4500K and above will give off a blue-white light that mimics daylight.
Bulb base
Light direction
IP Protection rating
Protection class
Class I incorporates appliances that have two levels of protection: the basic insulation and the earth connection. Such appliance consists of three wires (Live, Neutral, and Earth) connected to three different pins. Their usual colours are brown, blue, and green/yellow respectively.
Electricity travels from a power source to an appliance through a circuit. In case of an immaculate circuit, the power flows from the source to the appliance and returns to the source. The Live wire leads electric current to the appliance. The Neutral wire brings the current back to the power source. The Earth wire provides a way for the current to flow into the ground should there be shortcomings in a circuit.
The Live and Neutral wires are attached to the plastic connector which secures them to prevent any contact with the metal case. This is a so-called basic insulation. Should the Live or Neutral wire touch the metal case, there will be a consequential fault in the circuit.
Supposing that the basic insulation fails to perform, the earth connection will act as the next level of protection by using the Earth wire which is connected to the metal case. The Earth wire diverts the current into the ground and hereby prevents the current flowing through the end user’s body which can ultimately result in an electric shock. The fuse should then blow either in the plug or the fuse box, or there should be a power trip.
Class II appliances contain two layers of insulation. As in the case of Class I appliances, the plastic connector provides the basic insulation. The added layer of insulation is a plastic casing, which provides backup protection. The double insulation does not require an additional earth connection.
The only PAT test required is the insulation resistance test.
In some instances, the Class II classification is confused with the Class 2 designation; however, they are different. The Class 2 label is related to power supply, not safety.
Class III appliances use an isolating transformer that has two separate coil windings: the “Primary Winding” is connected to the power source, and the “Secondary Winding” is attached to the appliance. Each winding is wrapped around opposite sides of a common closed magnetic circuit called the “Core”. The windings have their own circuits, known as the Primary and Secondary circuits. The windings do not come in contact; hence, their isolation gives the transformer its name. Since the insulation is created by the isolated, non-touching windings, voltage needs to be passed through the windings via induction in order to carry a current.
Class III appliances do not require an earth connection. As a result, the current is cut off and cannot continue to flow in case of a circuit glitch. Therefore, the end user will not receive an electric shock.
Colour rendering index
The Colour Rendering Index (CRI) is the system utilized by the lighting industry to measure how the human eye perceives various colours. It represents the ability of an artificial light source to reveal colours of objects in comparison to a natural light source (the sun).
The colour rendering index (CRI) is measured as a number between 0 and 100. At zero (0), all colours look the same. A CRI of 100 shows the actual colours of an object. Incandescent and halogen light sources have a CRI of 100.
Typically, light sources with a CRI of 80 to 90 are regarded as adequate and those with a CRI of 90+ are excellent! The general rule is: The higher the CRI, the better the colour rendering capacity. A value below 60 represents substandard colour rendering.
CRI is entirely independent of colour temperature. They have absolutely nothing in common. For example, a 5000K (daylight colour temperature) fluorescent light source could have a CRI of 75, while its counterpart can have a CRI of 90.
This chart is a good depiction of differing CRIs, with each image having the same warm colour temperature (2700K):
How is CRI calculated?
The value of CRI for a light source is calculated by testing the colours. A scale of 8 CIE Standard Colour Samples was established by the “Commission Internationale de l’éclairage” (CIE) for the CRI method. There are 7 extra CIE Special Colours, adding up a total of 15 colour samples.
The general Colour Rendering Index examines the first 8 colour indices (Ri), with Ra being the average of the 8 Ri values and is stated as CRI with a maximum value of 100.
Special CRI refers to the remaining 7 colours (9 to 15) including the saturated colours and skin tones.
The first step of the test involves comparing either 8 or all 15 colour samples under the light source, which is followed by contrasting it with a reference light source, usually sunlight. The average differences are then subtracted by 100 to obtain the CRI value. Therefore, the light sources that display more “real” colours have higher CRI values, and the average differences between the light source and the reference sunlight are smaller.
At daylight, our lights are tested using all 15 colour samples, which include pastels, saturated colours, and skin tones for more accuracy.
Lumen output [lm]
Efficiency
A clear set of energy efficiency classes from A (most efficient) to G (the least efficient) meticulously determines the scope of energy efficiency for a particular appliance, i.e. the amount of energy a single light bulb uses. The lower the watts, the lower the electric bill.
The energy efficiency of any machine, device, or process accounts for performed activity volume for each measure of the energy. In lighting, the activity volume is measured in lumens. The electrical energy is expressed in watts. To determine the efficiency of a bulb, you need to acknowledge the amount of emitted light and the amount of electricity a bulb utilizes to produce that quantity of light.
How to Determine a Bulb’s Efficiency
The packaging should contain two crucial values that determine energy efficiency, i.e. the wattage and the lumens, or "initial lumens". Once you have found those two pieces of information, simply divide the number of lumens by the number of watts to obtain the standard measure of efficiency, which is lumens per watts.
It is best to use the actual wattage of the bulb, instead of the so-called "equivalency" value. The latter is a mere reference to the energy requirements of a standard incandescent light bulb that would produce the same amount of light.
The higher the number for lumens per watt, the more efficient an appliance: more light produced for less power. And vice versa, the lower the number for lumens per watt, the less efficient an appliance: more power is required for less light.
Here is an illustrative example.
A standard 40W incandescent light bulb uses 40 watts of electricity to produce 490 lumens. The efficiency of that light bulb is 12.75 lumens per watt.
An equivalent 40W spiral CFL light bulb utilizes 10 watts of electricity to put out 580 lumens, hence the energy efficiency is 58 lumens per watt. That is more than 4.5 times as efficient as the incandescent light bulb. Quite impressive.
A typical 40W-equivalent LED light bulb, the Cree Standard 40W Replacement LED, uses just 6 watts of electricity to produce 450 lumens. That's nearly 75 lumens per watt. That amounts to almost a 33 percent efficiency increase compared to the efficiency of the spiral CFL. In addition to that, it is nearly six times as efficient as the replaced incandescent light bulb.
Why Lumens per Watt Matters
Higher efficiency of a light bulb leads to more energy saved, which helps reduce greenhouse emissions, decelerates the warming of our atmosphere, and most importantly, halves your monthly electricity bill. It may not make a significant reduction in cost, relative to your total utility bill, but it adds up over time.
You may install six 40 watt-equivalent LED light bulbs in place of each 40-watt incandescent bulb and get nearly six times as much light for the same price. Alternatively, you may replace the bulbs one-for-one and save at least 80 percent of the money originally intended to power your lights.
Lamp technology | Energy class |
Sodium-vapor lamps | A+++ |
LED lamps | A++ |
Compact fluorescent lamps with bare tubes | A |
Compact fluorescent lamps with bulb-shaped cover | A–B |
Halogen lamps with infrared coating | B |
Halogen lamps with xenon gas filling, 230 V | C |
Conventional halogen lamps at 12–24 V | C |
Conventional halogen lamps at 230 V | D |
The accurate energy efficiency class shall be determined based on the lamp’s energy efficiency index (EEI) as set out in the Table below:
Energy efficiency class | Energy efficiency index (EEI) for non-directional lamps | Energy efficiency index (EEI) for directional lamps |
A++ (most efficient) | EEI ≤ 0,11 | EEI ≤ 0,13 |
A+ | 0,11 < EEI ≤ 0,17 | 0,13 < EEI ≤ 0,18 |
A | 0,17 < EEI ≤ 0,24 | 0,18 < EEI ≤ 0,40 |
B | 0,24 < EEI ≤ 0,60 | 0,40 < EEI ≤ 0,95 |
C | 0,60 < EEI ≤ 0,80 | 0,95 < EEI ≤ 1,20 |
D | 0,80 < EEI ≤ 0,95 | 1,20 < EEI ≤ 1,75 |
Impact strength
IK ratings are defined as IKXX, where “XX” is a number from 00 to 10 indicating the degrees of protection provided by electrical enclosures (including luminaires) against external mechanical impacts. The IK rating scale identifies the ability of an enclosure to resist impact energy levels measured in joules (J). IEC 62262 specifies how the enclosure must be mounted for testing, the atmospheric conditions required, the quantity and distribution of the test impacts and the impact hammer to be used for each level of IK rating.
LED colour consistency
Figure: CIE Diagram with MacAdam ellipses (tenfold magnification of the ellipses provided a more precise view of the differences)
MacAdam ellipses are used to determine the consistency among colours from the human perception.
Specifically, one-step MacAdam ellipse is defined as the one in which interior most people are unable to recognize colour differences. If, on the contrary, we are within an area of colour variation twice as big, we will end up in a two-step MacAdam ellipse (also known as 2-SDCM), where we can start perceiving some variations between colours. Similarly, in a three-step MacAdam ellipse (3-SDCM) differences would be more noticeable.
Due to the variability of colours produced in the manufacturing of LED, the MacAdam ellipses prove to be an indispensable measuring tool to define colour dispersion between bins. Bins contained within the MacAdams ellipses inferior to the 3-steps (3 SDCM) offer exquisite results.
The method of light production changed with the introduction of the LED module. Millions of LED chips are produced daily from an assembly line during a manufacturing process, therefore colour inconsistencies between individual chips and their modules are unpreventable.
An ideal LED module assembly line will produce batches of modules that operate within a one-step MacAdam Ellipse. There will be no discernible difference between any of the module outputs. Such advanced LED modules are used in instances where colour performance and accuracy between fixtures are imperative. Typically, good LED modules are produced within a two to three MacAdam ellipse range, in which case you may spot a minor visual difference that is generally considered to be acceptable in commercial usage.
Inexpensive products will often use LED modules with MacAdam Ellipses ranging between four and all the way up to eight. Fixtures with such modules require careful handling. These budget LED modules may still be deemed acceptable and used in certain commercial or industrial areas, however they cannot completely eliminate colour sensitivity.