Evaluating the performance of LED based luminaires

In recent years there has been a significant increase in the use of LED based luminaires. Initially, there were no universal standards available to measure or compare the performance of LED based lighting products. This situation has been compounded by new and unproven entrants flooding into the market, some making dubious claims about their products’ performance. There is a lot of confusion among customers about which LED systems to choose. In this regard, the main challenge for the professional market is to improve the way users of LED based luminaires, such as specifiers, lighting designers, technical engineers and policy makers, evaluate the performance claims of different LED luminaire manufacturers when preparing lighting projects or tender specifications. Today they often compare – unwittingly – apples with pears.

This white paper is intended to bring clarity and to enable evaluation of manufacturers’ performance claims by explaining the different ‘initial’ and ‘over time’ performance criteria for LED based luminaires laid down in recent IEC performance standards.