News, innovations, legislation and standards around LED
Find on this page the latest news, innovations, legislation and standards in force regarding LED lighting.
Circadian lighting: artificial light that reproduces natural light cycles!
In a world where workplace well-being is increasingly important, lighting must follow this trend. Thanks to circadian lighting, LED lighting reproduces natural light cycles.
In the commercial sector, Open Spaces are increasingly open to the outside. Employees' days are therefore regulated by variations in color temperature and intensity of this daylight. When this natural light becomes insufficient, artificial lighting takes over with solutions that allow reproducing this cycle.
This daylight is not just a visual reference for employees. It also has a major influence on their physiological processes and overall well-being.
Also, to maximize this well-being, lighting manufacturers, including CLAREO, strive to develop human-centric technologies. Management systems integrated into luminaires allow for decreasing or increasing intensity, as well as varying color temperature and programming these changes to support our biological clock.
Some examples of using circadian technology
A cool color in the morning will stimulate our energy
A warmer tint in the evening creates a more relaxing atmosphere to ease the end of the day.
Environment: government tightens regulations around night pollution.
Light at night can disrupt our biological clock and therefore our health. Animals are also impacted. To combat this, the French government has decided to tighten its regulations on night lighting.
Until now, only two decrees, one from 2013 on indoor lighting for offices or window displays and another from 2012 on advertising and signs, helped limit this nuisance.
From January 1st, 2021, these restrictions will be extended to certain places such as parking lots or construction sites. Heritage buildings, parks and gardens can be lit from sunset until 1 AM at the latest, or one hour after closing for parks.
A project also planned to regulate street light timing but it was eventually abandoned.
Circadian technology that reproduces natural light cycles can particularly be a solution to fight against this light pollution.
To learn more about this technology, click here.
Ban on halogen bulbs as of September 1st, 2018!
As of September 1st, 2018, halogen bulbs were withdrawn from European markets. They have been partially replaced by LED bulbs, which are more durable and energy-efficient. Stores can still sell their existing stock, but they are prohibited from ordering more.
Why ban halogen bulbs?
- Halogen bulbs use 90 to 95% of energy for heat transformation rather than light production. LED bulbs use almost no energy for this transformation, which will result in significantly reducing our energy consumption.
- LED bulbs have a much longer lifespan than halogen bulbs: up to 25 years of use for LED bulbs compared to 3 years for halogen bulbs (based on 3 hours of use per day). This makes LED a much more sustainable product and therefore limits the amount of waste.
- The replacement should help reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
How much does it cost the consumer?
When choosing a bulb, we might tend to choose halogen bulbs which are often the cheapest. But this calculation isn't necessarily rational because an LED bulb has low energy consumption and a longer lifespan, which allows for significant savings in the medium term. On average, LED technology saves up to 85% on lighting bills, according to a study reported by Les Echos.
Moreover, the price of LED bulbs has dropped significantly, which further closes the debates on the transition.
ADEME encourages the use of LEDs!
While halogen bulb lighting will soon disappear in Europe due to the ban, LEDs are developing gradually worldwide. Indeed, European consumers will have the choice between LEDs or energy-efficient compact fluorescent lamps.
ADEME has already made its choice as the agency recommends the use of LEDs, which are more expensive, especially for certain models, but this is explained by their better quality. There is a real boom in the LED market as it was worth 18.5 billion euros in 2016 and is expected to reach 30 billion euros in 2020.
ADEME therefore recommends LED lighting for individuals, but also advises adding motion detectors that vary in intensity depending on the time of day when LEDs are installed in commercial buildings or industrial buildings.
LEDs for energy savings!
The many advantages of LEDs quickly make it clear why they are widely favored. Indeed, their lifespan of approximately 40,000 hours makes them absolutely more efficient than all other bulbs, including halogen lamps and compact fluorescent lamps which have approximately 2,000 hours and 8,000 hours of lifespan respectively.
This great longevity gives LED bulbs time to be very cost-effective, even considering their not-so-cheap price.
Another example regarding the investment that LEDs represent is the following: for a set including electricity consumption and purchase cost, equivalent to a 60 Watt incandescent bulb, an LED costs 20 euros over 10 years, 25 euros for a compact fluorescent, and 80 euros for a halogen.