Dimmers allow you to achieve the exact light level that you desire in a room and consequently alter the mood. There are various types of dimming options available, but the most popular are ‘phase control’ (or phase-cut) dimmers. Phase control dimmers work by chopping out parts of the voltage and reducing power to the light source. The two types of phase control dimmer available are ‘trailing-edge’ and ‘leading-edge’ and they work in different ways which ultimately affects their compatibility with certain light forms:

• Leading-edge: inductive loads (e.g. magnetic low voltage transformers), resistive loads (e.g. incandescent).
• Trailing-edge: capacitive loads (e.g. electronic low voltage transformers, LED drivers), resistive loads (e.g. incandescent).

However, as well as the above, there are also other differences between the two types of dimmers…

Leading-edge dimmers (TRIAC dimmers)

Leading-edge dimmer switches are cheaper and simpler than trailing-edge, and were used originally to dim incandescent and halogen bulbs or wirewound magnetic transformers. They use a ‘TRIAC’ (Triode for Alternating Current) switch to control power, and are sometimes called TRIAC dimmers.

Many existing leading-edge dimmer switches have a relatively high minimum load, which often rules out their use with modest LED or CFL lighting circuits. However, leading-edge dimmers are by far the most common dimming control in existence.

Trailing-edge Dimmers (Reverse phase dimmers)

Trailing-edge dimmers are more sophisticated than leading-edge dimmers. They provide a much smoother dimming control, absent of any buzzing noise, and is ideal for use in most premises.

A trailing-edge dimmer has a lower minimum load than leading-edge dimmers, making it a better choice for dimming modestly sized low-powered lighting circuits.

LED lights and dimming

Unlike incandescent bulbs, which are all dimmable by default, LED retrofit bulbs have a built-in driver in their base. The driver converts AC power to DC power and maintains a constant current to the LED. This is at odds with a phase control dimming system, since the driver attempts to compensate for the sliced-out portions of input voltage.

LED fixtures such as downlights usually include the LED driver, either of a ‘constant current’ or ‘constant voltage’ type, depending on the LED array design. In either case, the same issue arises: the LED driver or power supply will try to patch up the missing parts of input voltage.

However, LED compatibility problems can exist, and some dimmable LED driver designs will only work with selective dimming control systems. These problems can show up in a number of ways, including flickering, flashing, and dead travel.

How to avoid LED dimmer compatibility issues

For an LED lamp or luminaire to work with a phase control dimmer, the electronics of its driver must be compatibly adapted.

Leading-edge dimmer switches are sometimes called ‘incandescent dimmers’, because they were originally designed to handle the resistive load of incandescent light. Existing dimmer switches tend to have high minimum loads and may require multiple LED lamps in order to even have a chance of working.

For an increased chance of compatibility, trailing-edge dimmer switches tend to work better with the capacitive load of an LED driver. The Varilight V-Pro LED Dimmer 1 x 300W is from the award-winning V-Pro range. It has an industry-wide reputation for delivering one of the best LED dimming performances available.

Research & Investment

If you’re installing a dimmable LED circuit from scratch, it’s worth checking out the bulbs that you’re likely to use and then look for a list of tested dimmer switches. Most leading bulb manufacturers test their dimmable lamps with a variety of switches and publish lists of known compatible models.

Similarly, you can upgrade your existing dimmers and so avoid compatibility headaches. What’s more, such an investment is likely to extend the lifespan of the lamps you buy, giving you an added incentive.

Remember, also, that LED bulbs are more complex than incandescent, so sticking to the same model of bulb is advisable when you find a winning formula. Once you have everything working, the many benefits of LED dimming will become apparent, to you and your business!

Charles Barnett Managing Director

Charles started Lyco in 1995 with just 4 enthusiastic employees and has grown it considerably over the past 25 years. Charles is also the Managing Director of Lighting Direct and newly acquired Online Lighting. He now has a team of 50 lighting experts working on growing Lyco Group to be the UK leader in lighting for both businesses and homes. Away from the office he is a keen cyclist and is proud to have cycled 1017 miles from Lands End to John O’Groats to raise money for a new residential centre for adults with multiple learning difficulties.

Lyco is delighted to announce the arrival of Soraa, the latest lighting brand to be added to our ever-growing range of LED lighting.

Hailing from California, Soraa is an innovative company that began producing high quality LED lighting in 2013. Brainchild of Nobel Prize Winner, Shuji Nakamura (dubbed the ‘father of modern LED lighting’), Soraa’s lighting solutions leverage science to produce a quality of light that is comparable to natural daylight.

Soraa prides itself on offering LED lamps that provide unprecedented colour performance and beam control in smaller, brighter, and more efficient ways than other bulbs. Soraa LEDs deliver a crisp, efficient beam, with quality distribution and glare control.

Colours are rendered much more vibrantly with Soraa compared to other artificial light sources because its spectrum offering is complete, matching or even exceeding the natural spectrum of daylight, but without any of the harmful ultraviolet radiation and continuous variations that come with natural light sources.

What makes Soraa unlike other LED bulbs?

Colour rendering

Soraa Vivid lamps offer a color rendering index (CRI) of 95 and R9 (deep red rendering) of 95, providing exceptional light emission in parts of the light spectrum that are missing from many first generation, Low CRI LEDs. Many features in our environment, such as faces, food, fabrics, and furnishings, contain complex hues of colour that don’t look quite right unless they are lit with spectrum light containing these essential colours.

Whites

Many conventional LEDs have slightly blue tinge, and as such, are not always able to render white materials completely accurately. As a result, white materials can look off-white or yellow under incandescent and conventional LED lamps, even those with a high CRI. Soraa has engineered its bulbs to render white materials with optical brightness using violet light, rather than harmful ultraviolet light, delivering a bright, white appearance that is optimal for illuminating fabrics, clothing, cosmetics, paper products, and appliances.

Energy efficiency

In addition to their high quality light output, Soraa bulbs make use of modern LED technology, making them an energy efficient choice when compared with traditional incandescent bulbs. Switching to Soraa LED bulbs can therefore lead to significant cost savings over time.

Hassle free dimming

Soraa LED lamps are designed to dim reliably and smoothly and have been tested with a wide variety of leading brand fixtures, dimmers and transformers to ensure full compatibility with most commercial lighting systems.

Minimal spill and crisp shadows

The three core components of directional lighting are the beam, the field, and the spill. Beam and field are considered as genuinely useful lumens while any lumens that fall outside of this quota are referred to as “spill.” Many traditional light sources, particularly halogens, project a significant amount of spill, meaning much of the energy consumed by the bulb is wasted.

Many modern LED designs incorporate accessories such as recessed trims and lenses which help to eliminate this spill. Soraa’s technology takes this a step further by delivering a circular beam, which results in minimal spill, soft transitions, and high centre-to-edge colour consistency.

How Soraa can work for your business

Lighting for museums and art galleries

The vivid colour, white light rendering, and directional beam with crisp shadowing provided by Soraa makes for an ideal light solution in settings where accurate definition is needed, such as illuminating artworks and artifacts in museums and galleries.

Lighting for hospitality

It’s no secret that poor lighting can have an adverse effect on customer experience within the hospitality industry – last year we conducted a survey that revealed nine out of ten consumers would be put off revisiting a bar, restaurant or hotel if the lighting was bad.

Soraa lamps can help alleviate this problem by offering complete control of beam, brightness, colour, and intensity, making it possible for business owners to showcase their venues in the very best light.

Lighting for retail and fashion

Directional display lighting and accurate colour rendering is an essential part of showcasing retail merchandise. The sale of products such as cosmetics, clothing, furnishings, and paints, for example, depend largely on customers’ ability to distinguish fine gradations in colour, which is only truly possible with perfect full spectrum lighting. Other products with optical brighteners, such as paper, appliances, and electronics also depend on perfect spectrum light to bring out their whiteness. Soraa is an ideal lighting solution in retail settings because its beam accurately renders colours and provides crisp shadowing, ideal for providing a clean and inviting display in and around retail environments.

Charles Barnett Managing Director

Charles started Lyco in 1995 with just 4 enthusiastic employees and has grown it considerably over the past 25 years. Charles is also the Managing Director of Lighting Direct and newly acquired Online Lighting. He now has a team of 50 lighting experts working on growing Lyco Group to be the UK leader in lighting for both businesses and homes. Away from the office he is a keen cyclist and is proud to have cycled 1017 miles from Lands End to John O’Groats to raise money for a new residential centre for adults with multiple learning difficulties.

Thinking about buying some new solar lights this winter but worried about how they’ll perform? Here are some top tips for getting the most from your solar lights when sunlight is limited.

How solar lights work:

Solar lights function by absorbing natural daylight via a panel of photovoltaic cells, which is then converted into electrical current by way of a rechargeable solar battery. The panels conserve the sun’s energy throughout the day, charging the battery in the light, and then when night falls, a photoreceptor is able to detect the darkness and the light activates.

In using the sun’s renewable energy, solar lighting is an extremely energy-efficient light source, helping homes and businesses to reduce their carbon footprints – and their utility bills.

Do solar lights work in winter?

Whilst direct sunlight will provide the best conditions for solar products, as it is less diffused through clouds, solar panels actually use energy from daylight, not sunlight per se. This means, no matter what time of year, solar lights charge in exactly the same way – as long as the solar panel receives enough daylight to power up the batteries to a point that the light can function. But there are a number of differences between daylight in the summer and daylight in the winter which means you may not always get the same result.

Firstly, during the longer summer days, you could expect a solar panel to receive charge for as long as 12-14 hours, but in the winter, the days are much shorter, so this timeframe reduces significantly – sometimes to as little as six hours – and even then, the quality of those daylight hours is arguably weakened as there are typically more overcast days. Even on a cloudy or rainy day, the panels are still working hard, and there are three key ways to maximise the efficiency of solar lamps during winter:

1. How you position the solar panel

Whatever the season, the sun will be at its strongest point at noon, so it is a good idea to position the panel to ensure that will receive the most charge during this time.

2. Remove obstacles

Light rays can become obstructed by shadows from buildings, bushes, and trees. Take some time to look around outside your premises to locate the most suitable position for your solar lamps, and clear blockages where possible.

3. Switch lights off during the day

A lesser known fact is that solar lights will continue to charge while turned off. To ensure maximised energy output, consider turning them off during daylight periods.

Choosing a solar light

Solar lights are available in a wide range of styles and can be used for many different purposes. For example, if there is a pathway to your premises that you want to illuminate, solar lamps can be faced downwards to mark the parameters. Solar spotlights mounted to the wall are an excellent way to enhance security, as they have a bright focused beam and can be adjusted to illuminate specific areas. And if you’re looking for a more ambient light or atmospheric feel to your outdoor space, soft accent solar lights dotted around outdoor spaces can be used to highlight a water feature, statue, or sign.

Lyco also stocks a wide range of solar powered floodlights and spotlights with built-in motion sensor (PIR) security features. A PIR ensures that the light only turns on when movement is detected nearby, preserving charge and ensuring that no energy output is wasted. To find out more about solar lights for your home or business, browse our wide selection here.

Charles Barnett Managing Director

Charles started Lyco in 1995 with just 4 enthusiastic employees and has grown it considerably over the past 25 years. Charles is also the Managing Director of Lighting Direct and newly acquired Online Lighting. He now has a team of 50 lighting experts working on growing Lyco Group to be the UK leader in lighting for both businesses and homes. Away from the office he is a keen cyclist and is proud to have cycled 1017 miles from Lands End to John O’Groats to raise money for a new residential centre for adults with multiple learning difficulties.

You may have heard a lot a talk about lumens recently, but what are they and why do they matter?

In most simple terms, lumens are a measurement of light. More specifically, they are used to measure the total amount of light (or brightness) produced by a single light source. Increasingly, light bulb manufacturers are using lumens on their packaging, to help consumers make more accurate decisions about the type of bulb they need.
Historically, it has been watts that have provided this information, but with bulbs becoming more energy efficient due to the increased adoption of LED technology, wattage is becoming a far less accurate or relevant metric in lighting – modern LED bulbs can produce equal (or more) amounts of light using less power than their traditional equivalents. For example, most would assume that a 6.5W LED bulb would produce less light than a 50W halogen bulb, but because the low energy LED bulb is capable of producing a higher light output while using far less power, this isn’t always the case.

Ultimately, lumens just make more sense, as choosing a light bulb should come down to the light produced, and not the energy consumed in doing so. As a helpful pointer, many modern LED bulbs will be accompanied by an approximate equivalent watt specification on their packaging, but it will likely be some time before lumens are accepted as the ‘go to’ lighting metric amongst consumers.

Lumens Vs. useful lumens

When comparing lightbulbs, it is not enough to look at lumens and watts alone. This is because lumen levels are measured differently between different styles of bulb. For directional bulbs, such as spotlights, some of the light produced may be ‘wasted’, but is still counted in the total lumens rating. But, for non-directional bulbs such as candle, globe, or ball shape, the lumen output is measured in all directions.
In a bid to make light bulb comparisons more straightforward, a new useful lumens rating was introduced which only measures the light that is released in a 90° cone from the centre of the bulb, ignoring any light that is split or ‘wasted’. This measurement is more accurate for spotlights in particular as the light is only emitted in one direction.

How many lumens is enough lumens?

Every room will have its own lighting needs depending on size, ceiling height, colour scheme, the amount of natural light coming into the room, and how the space is used. Therefore, there’s no optimum lumen level, so to speak. However, the below cheat sheet provides a useful introduction into the ideal lumen level for various settings:

To assess a light bulb in terms of its energy efficiency, wattage remains a vital statistic. However, in order to gain a true understanding of how bright a bulb will shine, the answer lies in lumens.

Charles Barnett Managing Director

Charles started Lyco in 1995 with just 4 enthusiastic employees and has grown it considerably over the past 25 years. Charles is also the Managing Director of Lighting Direct and newly acquired Online Lighting. He now has a team of 50 lighting experts working on growing Lyco Group to be the UK leader in lighting for both businesses and homes. Away from the office he is a keen cyclist and is proud to have cycled 1017 miles from Lands End to John O’Groats to raise money for a new residential centre for adults with multiple learning difficulties.

As the name suggests, dusk to dawn lighting is a form of lighting that operates from sunset to sunrise – a built-in photocell automatically switches them on when darkness falls, and off again at when light is detected. Dusk to dawn lights are a great way of improving the security of a property, whilst simultaneously minimising energy consumption, whilst also removing the burden of having to manually switch them on and off every morning and evening.

Getting the right lighting for the job

When choosing dusk to dawn lighting it is crucial to ensure that you select the right solution for the task at hand, but that isn’t to say that they can’t look the part too. Dusk to dawn lights are available in a wide range of styles, with something to suit every exterior. The Edit Coastal Half Lantern is a great choice for subtly illuminating doorways or exterior walls, and, due to its traditional design, works particularly well with period properties. Dusk to dawn floodlights and spotlights on the other hand, provide more high-powered, functional solutions, which are better for illuminating large spaces such as gardens, driveways, or the exterior of a commercial premises.

Improve your security with dusk to dawn lighting

As well as creating the illusion that a property is occupied at all times, some dusk to dawn lights also come with built in PIR sensors, which act as an extremely effective burglar deterrent, due to the fact that they are able to detect movement from up to 10 meters away and have a detection range of 180 degrees. Used alongside one another, wall lights and spotlights can significantly improve security, and provide peace of mind for the property owner, even when they’re elsewhere.

Greater energy efficiency

Dusk to dawn lights not only come in a wide range of styles and perform a variety of practical functions, most are now equipped with LED technology, making them an extremely cost effective and environmentally friendly option. Additionally, as dusk to dawn lights only turn on when triggered, there’s no risk of leaving them on accidentally and wasting electricity unnecessarily. The vast majority of dusk to dawn lights come with an override switch that allows for manual operation which, for those who like full control over their lighting, is the best of both worlds.

Dusk to dawn lights provide an array of benefits to homeowners and owners of commercial premises alike. To discuss the best lighting options for your property or premises, speak to our experts today.

Charles Barnett Managing Director

Charles started Lyco in 1995 with just 4 enthusiastic employees and has grown it considerably over the past 25 years. Charles is also the Managing Director of Lighting Direct and newly acquired Online Lighting. He now has a team of 50 lighting experts working on growing Lyco Group to be the UK leader in lighting for both businesses and homes. Away from the office he is a keen cyclist and is proud to have cycled 1017 miles from Lands End to John O’Groats to raise money for a new residential centre for adults with multiple learning difficulties.

LEDs have become the most efficient source of lighting available, using up to 90% less energy than incandescent lighting and 60% less than fluorescent lighting. However, LED lighting has not always been the cost-efficient alternative that it is today, with the first LEDs costing around $200 each. Since the first visible LED was created in 1962 the technology has grown rapidly, with LED lights becoming an extremely popular lighting solution in recent years.

So, what exactly are LEDs and how could you benefit from installing them throughout your business premises?
A Light Emitting Diode (LED) is an electrical light source that only allows an electrical current to flow in one direction. LEDs contain two conductive materials that are placed in contact with each other – once electricity is applied to the diode, the atoms in one material become charged with energy. This energy is then released in the form of electrons into the other conductive material – this release of energy is what creates light. The process of generating light is what distinguishes LEDs from traditional lighting, as regular incandescent bulbs produce light by creating heat.

Benefits of LED Lighting

LED lighting boasts various benefits when compared to traditional solutions.

• Energy-efficiency: LED bulbs are far more energy efficient when compared to the traditional alternatives with energy savings of 80-90% over incandescent or halogen technologies and up to 50% in comparison to fluorescent lamps.
• Longer lifespan: LEDs last 2 or 3 times longer than fluorescent bulbs and over 50 times longer than incandescent lamps. The typical lifespan of an LED is up to 50,000 hours, further slashing replacement and maintenance costs.
• Instant light: many fluorescent lights can take a while to ‘warm-up’ and reach their full brightness, however LEDs light up immediately.
• Eco-friendly: LED technology has the potential to dramatically reduce carbon emissions as around 20% of the world’s electricity is used on lighting, so finding a more energy efficient solution will reduce this. Additionally, as LEDs don’t contain mercury, disposal of the bulbs is much easier and cleaner.
• Lower heat output: unlike filament bulbs, an LED lamp does not project infrared heat in its beam, making them more suitable for lighting heat-sensitive items like artworks or food. As LEDs emit less heat they are also ‘safer’ than traditional bulbs, reducing the risk of fire caused by high temperature bulbs.
• Added durability: LEDs are a solid state form of lighting, meaning they are able to withstand lower temperatures and higher levels of vibration and shock in comparison to incandescent or fluorescent lamps.

Replacing traditional lights with LEDs

Retrofit LED bulbs look like traditional incandescent or halogen lamps, and can be used in the same fittings as traditional bulbs. These types of LEDs are suitable for a majority of scenarios, however, close attention needs to be paid to the heat dissipation of the bulbs, especially when being used in enclosed light fittings. Alternatively, speciality LED light fittings can be designed with non-replaceable LEDs, as due to the extended lifespan of LED bulbs they do not need to be replaced regularly. In these scenarios the whole fitting is replaced once it comes to the end of its lifespan. These fittings can be designed to achieve the highest level of efficiency possible, as they are custom designed to the building to reduce the amount of wasted light.

How much can you save by converting to LEDs?

When comparing LEDs to traditional lighting technology, the increased energy efficiency and extended lifespan result in a substantial long term savings. As previously mentioned, LEDs use up to 90% less energy than incandescent (including halogen) and 60% less than old fluorescent lighting, resulting in instant energy cost savings. On top of this, the extended lifespan of LED bulbs means they need to be replaced far less regularly, further reducing any additional maintenance costs. Investing in a full LED conversion may seem daunting initially due to the investment required. However, the subsequent savings will mean any initial investment is soon repaid. Our blog post on the savings that can be made by converting to LEDs includes a great example of exactly how much a business could save by making the switch.

A bright future for LEDs

LED lights are an energy efficient, long life, eco-friendly alternative to traditional lighting. For businesses looking to reduce their long term energy costs and carbon footprint, LED is the way forward.

Charles Barnett Managing Director

Charles started Lyco in 1995 with just 4 enthusiastic employees and has grown it considerably over the past 25 years. Charles is also the Managing Director of Lighting Direct and newly acquired Online Lighting. He now has a team of 50 lighting experts working on growing Lyco Group to be the UK leader in lighting for both businesses and homes. Away from the office he is a keen cyclist and is proud to have cycled 1017 miles from Lands End to John O’Groats to raise money for a new residential centre for adults with multiple learning difficulties.

When it comes to office design, lighting should be one of the biggest considerations – if not the biggest – because it has the potential to affect so many different aspects of working life. From improving employee health, wellbeing, and productivity, through to reducing energy consumption and maintenance costs, choosing the right lighting can have a significant impact on a business’s bottom line, not to mention the happiness of its workforce.

However, it’s not always as simple as just replacing one type of lighting for another; different areas of an office may require different lighting configurations depending on the type of work that happens in that workspace, and how often the lights are used, for example:

Office reception lighting

Office entrances or reception areas are where visitors – and potential customers or clients – get their first impression of a company, so it’s important to make it a good one. The lighting used in a reception will help set the tone for the entire office or building, and a key factor in creating that vital first impression made on any guests.

Using simple, minimalist light fittings will help create a highly corporate feel, whilst using bold colours and quirky lamp shades can help bring about a fun and laid back atmosphere. Lighting can also be used to highlight important areas within a business’s premises, such as the reception desk and walkways, in order to help guide visitors through the building.

The use of shape and colour creates a sense of fun in this example. Credit: officesnapshots.com

Office meeting room lighting

Flexibility is crucial when selecting lighting for meeting rooms, as these are typically rooms with multiple uses; from delivering presentations, through to more intimate one-on-ones, meeting rooms need lighting that flexes with employee’s needs. Having the ability to adjust the light levels through the use of dimmers or separate parts of the room using split lighting will allow whoever is using the meeting room to make sure the lighting is fit for their purpose.

Office floor lighting

The office floor is where the majority of staff spend most of their time, so making sure that the lighting is just right should be a high priority. The ideal lighting for office workspace is natural daylight, so lighting solutions that mimic and enhance natural light should be used where possible.

There are two crucial aspects to consider when choosing lighting for an office – background lighting and task lighting. Background lighting should be arranged to reduce overhead glare, which can be dazzling and lead to health issues such as headaches. To combat this, lighting should be evenly dispersed throughout the office space, whilst being careful to minimise shadows.

Task lighting should be adaptable so that employees can personalise light levels to fit their individual needs. It has been found that giving employees the ability to control their own lighting can decrease stress and boost job satisfaction. Adjustable desk lights give employees full control over their lighting ensuring that it can be tailored to suit their needs.

LED Lighting

We’ve previously highlighted why converting your office lighting to LEDs makes business sense. An LED installation can improve energy efficiency by up to 60% when compared to traditional fluorescent lights. There is also the equally important matter of longevity. LEDs have a lifespan of approximately 50,000 hours, far exceeding that of a regular bulb, further reducing maintenance time and costs. LEDs are the perfect option for lighting an office as they provide a brighter, clearer light in comparison to fluorescent tubes.

When designing the lighting for your office there are many different aspects to consider. If you are looking to upgrade the lighting in your office contact us today to see how we can help.

Charles Barnett Managing Director

Charles started Lyco in 1995 with just 4 enthusiastic employees and has grown it considerably over the past 25 years. Charles is also the Managing Director of Lighting Direct and newly acquired Online Lighting. He now has a team of 50 lighting experts working on growing Lyco Group to be the UK leader in lighting for both businesses and homes. Away from the office he is a keen cyclist and is proud to have cycled 1017 miles from Lands End to John O’Groats to raise money for a new residential centre for adults with multiple learning difficulties.