29 Nov MR-16 halogen Vs. MR-16 LED
By Michael Gambino
Recently LED’s ( or Light Emitting Diodes) have become the focal point of greatly heated debate within the landscape lighting industry. Some of the major players have invested big with the design of proprietary fixtures with integral LED technology while others have offered LED retrofits for their existing product line (This is the action I have taken). Some are yet to offer any kind of LED and are waiting to see what happens before making a commitment.
I recently did a head to head comparison of a 12 volt 20 watt MR-16 halogen lamp in my “Milano” spreadlight style fixture against an 12 volt MR-16 3 watt halogen lamp in the same fixture. Photos (see below) were taken a few minutes apart with the same exposure duration and same aperature settings on the camera .
The results are predictable. The halogen is brighter and whiter however depending upon the application and the desired effect the LED is pretty impressive considering it only consumes 3 watts compared with the 20 of the halogen. That might not sound like much for one fixture but considering the energy savings over a larger number of fixtures that make up a system the cost of operation can be significantly reduced.
Of course this new LED technology is in it’s infancy and mostly unproven in outdoor applications over a long term. Over the course of this year I have been experimenting with LED’s on projects mostly in down lighting applications. So far there have been no call backs for premature failure. It is only fair to say that LED has probably only been installed in maybe 2-3 % of my fixtures this year.
In addition to energy savings , LED’s are purported to last for a much longer time than halogen lamps. I have found that most halogens outlast their estimated average lamp life in hours. However as they approach the end of their estimated average lamp life they tend to lose their color rendition and light output significantly diminishes. Therefore I recommend replacing them close to or before that time so the system remains looking as good as it should. But what about LED’s which cost significantly more than a halogen bulb.
Is this what will happen to LED’s as they age? Generally speaking the LED industry is stating that LED’s will lose up to 30 percent of their lumens or usable light output before burnout. Are clients going to expect LED’s to last every bit of their estimated lifetime? And how are they going to feel about replacing them before they have burned out because they are no longer producing an effective qty and or quality of light?
It is regarding this issue and a few others that I have decided to tread very lightly into the LED landscape lighting arena. There are just too many unknowns right now to jump into this 100 percent. The other main issues I have found are light output and color. In my spreadlight test the LED proved to be much less bright and white in light color compared to what the industry is calling its halogen equivalent. I have found that even those LED’s that “on paper” have the same color temperature as a halogen lamp do not have the same color rendition. Are these numbers being fudged? Otherwise how can that be? I have an article coming out in Watershapes magazine very soon that talks about how the industry is really pushing this new technology without fully testing and proving it in landscape lighting applications over the long term. I will post it under the articles heading on my website after it hits the newstands.
That being said, so far I have found them to be sufficient where a soft , long lived (we’ll see) lamp is needed. Where a greater level of light is needed I am sticking with the proven halogen lamp for that application.
Major developments have already been made with this technology. Some manufacturers are already in their third generation lamps. Only time will tell whether LED becomes the defacto standard lamp of the low voltage landscape lighting industry. Until then I will keep offering the finest materials I know available to create dramatic and effective landscape lighting systems.
Gambino "Milano" 3 watt MR-16 LED Spreadlight
Gambino "Milano" 20 W MR-16 halogen spreadlight
Stay tuned.
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