LED Recessed Lighting in Architectural Applications
The nature of LED technology allows numerous possibilities in application. The robust characteristics of solid state lighting make them a great maintenance saving alternative. An added feature is their environmental friendliness. For architectural LED lighting design, such features as the ability to control color change or shift have become quite popular. For specifications that are non-traditional, light emitting diodes could be the only choice, depending on the application.
Cove lighting, wall washing, exterior grazing, sign and display, and backlighting are just a few of the architectural applications where LED lighting makes sense. There are many application solutions available, recent technological developments have produced LED recessed lighting, which outperforms existing comparable down-lighting.
As mentioned above, LED recessed lighting retrofits have become quite popular. Due to their directional nature, the LED's naturally point the light in the direction it needs to go. A recessed light no longer needs to be designed to take incredibly diffuse sources and reflect them downward. When taking entire luminaire performance into consideration, LED's can even outperform CFL's in efficiency for recessed lighting applications.
There are many advantages in retrofitting incandescent, fluorescent or some other type of recessed light fixture:
- Installation is quick and easy, as the unit retrofits into the existing fixture
- The maintenance cost and efficiency can be greatly improved over incandescent and fluorescent down lighting technologies
- The robust nature and long life of the LED's compared to existing technologies make them a great choice for commercial and residential applications
Though it's more costly to install LED recessed lighting, the long-term savings offsets this initial investment. It is our goal at Greenlight Initiative to identify SSL technologies with an ROI of three years or less. Architectural LED lighting will become a staple in any project that wishes to meet the latest in energy standards and LEED certified lighting projects.
