The true cost of a poor quality LED light

LED lighting has been around long enough now, at least 5 years, for people to understand them.  So, a
question, why do so many simply quote the wattage of the light they want?  Whilst LED lighting can be ordered in that way it is relatively meaningless.  A 100Watt flood light can deliver anywhere between 8000 lumens and 13000 lumens.  It is obvious therefore, that the light delivering 13000 lumens is far more efficient and cheaper to run.  Yes, it is likely to cost more but it is also more likely to have been properly designed with thermal management and beam control properly considered to allow for a long life. Good beam control will put the light where it is wanted rather than having lots of overspill and wasted energy.

A cheap light may well be an attractive proposition on the day it is installed but may well not last as long.  This means you may well pay to have it installed twice thereby increasing the costs, rather than decreasing them.  This rather contradicts the idea of LED being cheaper to run.  Apart from using less power to run, one of the key reasons for converting to LED is to reduce maintenance.

The true cost of a poor quality light has other factors besides use of power and maintenance.  What about the cost of lost production?  What about your staff?  Do they like working in poor or failing light?  What about safety?  If a light has failed it may have implications for health and safety.  Staff may not be able to see what they’re doing properly causing accidents which then falls back onto the company.

Often, when considering the time to recoup the cost of LED, I’m told maintenance doesn’t have a cost but that may simply be because broken lights are left broken for months leaving staff to work in poor lighting or in the dark.

Maybe it is time to consider lighting as an asset and learn more about it.  Maybe it is time to realise cheap may not be the best option and ask an expert for the true cost to upgrade your business.

How does the phrase go?  “The bitterness of poor quality lasts far longer than the sweetness of low price.”

For information on how to improve your lighting and which lighting products are the best options for your project contact Earlsmann Lighting.

Call 08456 434 740 or email sales@earlsmann.co.uk.