What is LED Light?

What is LED Light?

light-emitting diode (LED) is a two-lead semiconductor light source…

Modern LEDs are available across the visible, ultraviolet, and infrared wavelengths, with very high brightness…

LEDs have many advantages over incandescent light sources, including lower energy consumption, longer lifetime, improved physical robustness, smaller size, and faster switching. Light-emitting diodes are used in applications as diverse as aviation lighting, automotive headlamps, advertising, general lighting, traffic signals, camera flashes, and lighted wallpaper. They are also significantly more energy efficient and, arguably, have fewer environmental concerns linked to their disposal…

One of the key advantages of LED-based lighting sources is high luminous efficacy. White LEDs quickly matched and overtook the efficacy of standard incandescent lighting systems...

From Wikipedia - The Free Encyclopedia

What are the COBs?

“…COBs containing arrays of light-emitting diodes have made LED lighting more efficient. LED COBs include a layer of silicone containing yellow Ce:YAG phosphor that encapsulates the LEDs and turns the blue light of the LEDs into white light. The COB is usually built on an aluminum PCB that provides good thermal conductivity to a heatsink..."

From Wikipedia - The Free Encyclopedia

LED Advantages

  • Efficiency: LEDs emit more lumens per watt than incandescent light bulbs. The efficiency of LED lighting fixtures is not affected by shape and size, unlike fluorescent light bulbs or tubes.
  • Color:LEDs can emit light of an intended color without using any color filters as traditional lighting methods need. This is more efficient and can lower initial costs.
  • Size:LEDs can be very small (smaller than 2 mm) and are easily attached to printed circuit boards.
  • Warmup time:LEDs light up very quickly. A typical red indicator LED achieves full brightness in under a microsecond. LEDs used in communications devices can have even faster response times.
  • Cycling:LEDs are ideal for uses subject to frequent on-off cycling, unlike incandescent and fluorescent lamps that fail faster when cycled often, or high-intensity discharge lamps (HID lamps) that require a long time before restarting.
  • Dimming:LEDs can very easily be dimmed either by pulse-width modulation or lowering the forward current. This pulse-width modulation is why LED lights, particularly headlights on cars, when viewed on camera or by some people, appear to be flashing or flickering. This is a type of stroboscopic effect.
  • Cool light:In contrast to most light sources, LEDs radiate very little heat in the form of IR that can cause damage to sensitive objects or fabrics. Wasted energy is dispersed as heat through the base of the LED.
  • Slow failure:LEDs mostly fail by dimming over time, rather than the abrupt failure of incandescent bulbs.
  • Lifetime:LEDs can have a relatively long useful life. One report estimates 35,000 to 50,000 hours of useful life, though time to complete failure may be longer. Fluorescent tubes typically are rated at about 10,000 to 15,000 hours, depending partly on the conditions of use, and incandescent light bulbs at 1,000 to 2,000 hours. Several DOE demonstrations have shown that reduced maintenance costs from this extended lifetime, rather than energy savings, is the primary factor in determining the payback period for an LED product....

From Wikipedia - The Free Encyclopedia

Lumen vs Flux

  • The lumen (symbol: lm) is the SI delivered unit of luminous flux, a measure of the total quantity of visible light emitted by a source per unit of time. Lumens are related to lux in that one lux is one lumen per square meter…
  • The lumen can be thought of casually as a measure of the total "amount" of visible light in some defined beam or angle, or emitted from some source. The number of candelas or lumens from a source also depends on its spectrum, via the nominal response of the human eye as represented in the luminosity function.
  • The difference between the units lumen and lux is that the lux takes into account the area over which the luminous flux is spread. A flux of 1000 lumens, concentrated into an area of one square metre, lights up that square metre with an illuminance of 1000 lux. The same 1000 lumens, spread out over ten square metres, produces a dimmer illuminance of only 100 lux. Mathematically, 1 lx = 1 lm/m2.

      From Wikipedia - The Free Encyclopedia

LED Light Fixtures

An LED lamp is an electric light that produces light using light-emitting diodes (LEDs). LED lamps are significantly more energy-efficient than equivalent incandescent lamps and can be significantly more efficient than most fluorescent lamps. Commercial LED lamps have a lifespan many times longer than incandescent lamps…

light fixture is an electrical device containing an electric lamp that provides illumination. All light fixtures have a fixture body and one or more lamps. The lamps may be in sockets for easy replacement—or, in the case of some LED fixtures, hard-wired in place.

Fixtures may also have a switch to control the light, either attached to the lamp body or attached to the power cable. Permanent light fixtures, such as dining room chandeliers, may have no switch on the fixture itself, but rely on a wall switch.

Fixtures require an electrical connection to a power source, typically AC mains power, but some run on battery power for camping or emergency lights. Permanent lighting fixtures are directly wired. Movable lamps have a plug and cord that plugs into a wall socket…

Lighting or illumination is the deliberate use of light to achieve practical or aesthetic effects. Lighting includes the use of both artificial light sources like lamps and light fixtures, as well as natural illumination by capturing daylight.

Indoor lighting is usually accomplished using light fixtures and is a key part of interior design. Lighting can also be an intrinsic component of landscape projects…

AC vs DC in Canada

Direct current (DC) is the one-directional flow of electric charge. An electrochemical cell is a prime example of DC power.

Alternating current (AC) is an electric current that periodically reverses direction and changes its magnitude continuously with time in contrast to a direct current (DC) which flows only in one direction.

The abbreviations AC and DC are often used to mean simply alternating and direct, as when they modify current or voltage.

Direct current (DC) (red line). The vertical axis shows current or voltage and the horizontal 't' axis measures time and shows the zero value.

Alternating current (green curve). The horizontal axis measures time (it also represents zero voltage/current); the vertical, current, or voltage.

From Wikipedia – The Free Encyclopedia 

What are minimum lighting requirements in Ontario?

Find out it online at THE ONTARIO BUILDING CODE: MINIMUM LIGHTING REQUIREMENTS

What are the energy code for buildings in Canada?

Related links for your search: 

Canada’s national energy code | Natural Resources Canada

National Energy Code of Canada for Buildings 2017