Lighting Expert Cautions Landscape Lighting Professionals Against Premature Use of LEDs

Author: David Beausoleil

Mr. Beausoleil, an instructor at Rutgers University and founder of Cast Lighting, expresses his concern, “While LED lamps have great potential as an energy efficient, long-lasting light source in outdoor lighting applications, there are many problems with models currently available. The main issues are heat build-up, poor color rendition, undeveloped optics and a lack of quality standards. These new lamps have been rushed to market before all the bugs have been worked out. Landscape lighting professionals that use LEDs are risking their reputations since the lamps may not perform as desired and prematurely burn out.”

LEDs are miniature electronic lamps used for many years as indicator lights in computers and electrical devices. Their small size, long life and energy efficiency make them ideal for these applications. Recent research has broadened their use to include bright light sources in flashlights, street signs and brake lights on cars. Since individual LEDs are relatively dim, they are grouped in bundles to achieve a greater intensity of light. These new higher-output devices have pushed the limits of the technology and have yet to make significant inroads as dependable bright light sources in architectural lighting.

Despite the early stage of development, LED products dominated the recent Light Fair Conference held in New York City. This yearly industry event is the largest forum of lighting manufacturers in the world. LED versions of all commonly used incandescent lamps were found in many booths – most of them from Asian companies. In contrast to these offerings, LED researchers in pre-conference workshops explained in great detail the manufacturing obstacles that have yet to be overcome. Their best-guess estimate for when LED’s would be ready as bright light sources was 2 to 3 years.

Emphasizing the need for caution, Mr Beausoleil stated, “The early years of landscape lighting were plagued by poorly manufactured products. Because of this, lighting systems were failing prematurely and reputations were damaged. It’s taken many years for our industry to mature and for the products to reach a high level of quality. Lamp quality is especially important; my company, Cast Lighting, offers over 30 models of lamps, each of them precisely manufactured to achieve the patterns and intensities essential for the palette of the landscape lighting designer. When LED’s reach this level of sophistication, then we will offer them, too – but that’s a few years down the road.”