The Pros & Cons of LED-Integrated Lighting Fixtures

In addition to creating conventional fixtures to be used with replaceable light bulbs and linear tubes, many fixture makers have begun integrating LEDs directly into their products as they have grown to dominate the general purpose lighting market.

In 2017, LED-integrated fixtures, also known as luminaires, or LED-ready fixtures, accounted for 70% of the market for general-purpose lighting fixtures. (used with separate LED bulbs or tubes). The latter accounted for the majority of sales of LED fixtures in that year, but by 2022, LED-integrated fixtures will overtake LED-ready kinds and become the norm.

While incorporating LEDs into fixtures has many advantages, it also brings up some new issues that the lighting industry may need to address in order for consumers to embrace LED-integrated fixtures more widely.

How the Market for Lighting Fixtures Has Been Revolutionized by LEDs

Since about a century ago, light fixtures and light sources have been produced as two distinct products for the majority of general lighting uses. Due to the brief service lives of the most popular light sources for a very long time—such as incandescent bulbs, fluorescent tubes, and the like—this made perfect sense in Edison's time and even a little bit into the twenty-first century. That is, short relative to LEDs.

In addition to being energy efficient, LED lighting is innovative due to its astoundingly long lifespan. LED lighting is typically estimated to last 50,000 hours or more, which could theoretically translate into decades at the same rate of use. In contrast, incandescent bulbs typically last only around 1,000 hours, or barely a year with several hours of use each day. (Because LEDs don't abruptly burn out like filament bulbs do, it can be difficult to compare the service life of two completely different technologies. An excellent explanation of LED service life can be found in this blog article.)

Many of us still find it difficult to imagine a light that could last for many years, but that is exactly why LEDs are revolutionizing the lighting business. LEDs enable lights to be installed and left on for a very long time, more like a furnace or roofing, as opposed to being consumed as frequently as many other domestic supplies. It makes sense to hardwire a light source into the fixture as a fixed component if it can last that long.

Manufacturers Have Many Justifications for Including LEDs in Fixtures

Manufacturers of light fixtures should be eager to incorporate LEDs into their goods for a number of important reasons, in addition to the obvious one of "because they can," including:

added value for the fixture and potential for novel designs

optimization of the illumination source

Lighting fixture manufacturers have a strong incentive to incorporate LEDs because doing so can increase the worth of their goods. Combining the worth of the light source and the fixture can result in a sizable net gain as long as LEDs can be effectively incorporated into production without substantially increasing production costs.

The addition of LEDs opens up a wealth of brand-new design possibilities for fixtures. Fixtures have historically been sized to fit large bulbs and tubes due to necessity. However, because LEDs are small and can be integrated into modular units, a wide variety of novel styles are possible. Huey, Dewey, and Louie from Studio Job is just one example of what new designs for decorative fixtures may be on the horizon, but among the more realistic possibilities, many manufacturers have started to stress the slim profiles of some of their fixtures, like:

Furthermore, by incorporating LEDs into fixtures, makers have the opportunity to optimize the compatibility and performance of all the product's parts, including the light source. Given the complexity of the technologies used by LED lighting, which frequently includes smart control capabilities, many fixture manufacturers optimize how the LEDs interact with the remainder of the fixture.
 

Some Potential Issues with LED-Integrated Lighting Still Exist

The increasing popularity of LED-integrated fixtures has some possible drawbacks, particularly for consumers:

Fixtures have expiry dates because of LEDs.

Replace failing LEDs could be challenging.

Consumers may be dissatisfied with the current guarantee coverage.

Although incorporating the light source into the fixture can be seen as giving the fixture an expiration date, LEDs may prove to last as long as a furnace or roof. As long as they are prepared to keep changing the bulb, consumers typically view their light fixtures as more or less permanent installations with unlimited service lives. Therefore, there is some danger involved in buying an LED-integrated fixture. Product flaws and failures do occur, even though it might potentially last decades without needing maintenance. In addition, when an LED eventually fails (whether after many years or only a few), the entire fixture it was integrated into may become ineffective.

So what happens if an LED light accidentally dims after five years due to an LED failure? Electricians frequently provide light source replacement and fixture repair services, but given how varied the LED lighting market is at this point and how little it resembles the standardization of the traditional light bulb market, it may be difficult to find a replacement LED module at a reasonable price. In truth, replacing just the light source will probably be more expensive than doing so for the entire fixture.

Even if you are able to locate reasonably priced repair services and a replacement module, many fixture warranties are only valid for a maximum of five years (and those that do can significantly increase the initial cost of the fixture), which may leave consumers responsible for the cost of fixing an LED-integrated fixture. In reality, this isn't any different from the warranties that are typically included with furnaces, roofing, and other large expenditures. It may be challenging for consumers to accept that they will be responsible for an LED-integrated fixture that doesn't last for its full service life because it differs from the type of upkeep that general purpose lighting has needed for the majority of the last century.

Energy-efficient LED lighting is assisting us in making significant advancements, and it has a lot of promise to be more practical and aesthetically pleasing than lighting from the Edison era. Given how quickly the market has undergone a revolution, it is still unclear how broadly consumers will embrace fixtures with LED integration.
 

Flat Panel Lighting Led

Feature:

● 0-10 volt dimming

● 80 CRI

● Damp location rated

● 50,000 average rated hours of use

● Suspension kit available

● Surface mount frame kit available

● Drop ceiling installation (T-bar grid)

Specification: