With the increase in availability and better technology the market for “LED” Bulb replacements are priced better today and make the investment a wise choice. With all the choices I find many customers are not caught up with understanding the information for the available choices on the market. “Kelvin Temperature”, “Wattage Replacement”, “Lumens”, “Bulb Description”, “Life”, “Dimmable”, “Indoor verses Outdoor”, and “Warranty” are all relative key words that need to be understood.
“Kelvin Temperature” is best described as the color tone of light coming off the bulb. General choices are “5000 Kelvin”, or “Daylight”, “4100 Kelvin”, or “Cool White”, “3500 Kelvin”, and “3000 Kelvin” are relative to “Warm White” and “2700 Kelvin” is “Very Warm White”. “Daylight” is a very blue white color which is excellent for reading. “Cool White” is a little less blue and is excellent for Closets, Laundry Rooms, Pantries and Garage spaces. The “Warm White” color is excellent for all indoor living spaces such as the “Living Room”, “Dining Room”, “Bathrooms”, “Bedrooms” and “Kitchen”. Everyone looks great in “Warm White” light. The “Very Warm White” or “2700 Kelvin” is the color I recommend for outside. I compare candle light color to “2700 Kelvin”.
“Wattage Replacement” is on the label of most LED packages and is used to describe what regular “Halogen” or “Incandescent” bulb the “LED Bulb” replaces. “Satco” is a major supplier of LED bulbs and is located in “New York”, “California”, “Texas” and “Florida”. Their packages are clearly labeled and give all the important facts necessary for a great choice. Thirteen watts of energy being used by a “LED Bulb” compares to a seventy five watt “Halogen Bulb”.
“Lumens” is how much light or how bright the bulb is. 500 “Lumens” is compared to a 50 watt “Halogen” bulb. 1000 “Lumens” is compared to a 75 watt “Halogen” bulb. I always recommend it is better to have to much light and control it with “Dimmers” from “Legrand’s”
”Adorne” style of “Dimmers” than to have too little.
“Bulb Description” is so very important to understand. Descriptions such as “PAR 30”, “A19”, “BR20”, “T8”, and “MR16” are very common today. Each of these descriptions has a number. Divide the number by 8 and this will give you the diameter of the bulb. “PAR” stands for “Parabolic Anodized Reflector” and has a flat face.
The “A series” in “A19” is a description for a regular light bulb. “BR” stands for “Bulged Reflector” and has a domed face. “T” stands for tubular and is common with “Fluorescent Bulbs”. “MR” stands for multifaceted in “MR16”. The “MR16 LED bulb” is a very common bulb used to replace its “Halogen” counterpart found in “Recessed Lighting” from “Halo”, “Contrast Lighting”, and “Beach Lighting”. The “MR16 LED” bulb uses about 7 watts of energy and has a “Wattage Replacement” for a “50 Watt Halogen”.
“Life”, in “Hours”, stands for how long a “LED Bulb” will last. “100,000 Hours”, “50,000 Hours”, and “25,000 Hours” are common descriptions used for “LED” products. “100,000 Hours” will last about twenty seven years at ten hours a day. I find most “LED Bulbs” are rated for about “25,000 Hours”.
“Dimmable” is wonderful. Dimmers from the “Adorne” family of products that are described as “True Universal” will take all the guess work out of the questions used for purchasing the correct dimmer. You just need to choose what color, “White” or “Magnesium” and what “Style”. Dimmers will increase the life of the “LED Bulb”. As you lower the amount of light you will also exponentially increase the “Life” of the “LED Bulb”. Dimming a product to half way will increase the life of the “LED Bulb” twenty times its rated “Life”. It is a wonderful fact that “LED Bulbs” use so very little energy and increasing the “Life” by dimming the “LED Bulbs” will almost make purchasing them a one time investment.
“Indoor verses Outdoor” is important because not every “LED Bulb” is rated for “Outdoor” use. The “PAR” products are generally better suited for the elements. By reading the Label on the “Satco” package I look for it to read, “Indoor or Outdoor” and “Wet Location”. Wet location means the “LED Bulb” can get rained on. On the corners of your home you may find “90 Watt” / “PAR38” / “Halogen Bulbs” that need replacement. Look for the Label on the comparable “Satco” “LED Box” to read “15 Watt LED” / “PAR38” / “Indoor Outdoor” / “Dimmable” / “2700K” / “90W Replacement”. This is an example for comparison typical on “Satco” “LED Bulb Packages”.
“Warranty” in “Years” is a guarantee that the product is designed to last and that a replacement, “will be exchanged”, for a defective product. In the real world not everything is perfect. When customers ask about purchasing “LED Bulbs” I give the analogy of purchasing a brand new Automobile. Yes the Warranty is good for three years bumper to bumper, but when something goes wrong after two and one half years of driving you would not expect to be able to return the vehicle for a new one with the same year and model. The 2014 cars from yesterday are discontinued and the new 2017 cars are being introduced today. With “LED Bulbs” the same is true. A warranty of three years will not guarantee you can get the exact same “LED Bulb” as the one you purchased. Technology is creating better and better products today. Improvements will make yesterdays “LED Bulbs” obsolete and discontinued. My advice is to purchase a couple of spares and keep them in a place where you may one day need to replace a bad “LED Bulb”. Yes the new “LED Bulb” replacements have all the same information, but the “Lumens” may be higher than the one that you are replacing. In “Recessed Lighting” this could be important when you have nine “LED Bulbs” on the ceiling and one of them went bad after two and one half years.
As a comparison to all the “Light Bulbs” on the market today, “LED Bulbs” from “Satco” are worth researching and an excellent investment. My Experience is that very few come back being defective. The “Satco” products are easy to dim and “Customer Service” is excellent. As always thanks for visiting Lighting Miami
The post Your Guide to Buying Satco Led Bulb appeared first on Lighting Miami Style Guide.
