The very first statement in this document is marketing hype.
LED's, at least the ones available today, are not very efficient. A typical LED that I've run across in the last year runs about 20 lumens per watt, half as efficient as a compact fluorescent, and 1/4 the efficiency of a T-8 linear with electronic ballast.
Oh, yeah, there are LEDs in the lab that rate 200 lumens per watt, but you and I can't buy one.
There are a few manufacturers selling LED fixtures that are creeping up into the 70-80 lumen per watt range. This is *almost as good* as a garden variety T-8 lamp, which can exceed 90 lumens per watt.
None of these people hyping LEDs are telling the whole truth about efficiency - it is simply Greenwash to compare LEDs to incandescent bulbs - which are almost never used in new commercial facilities anymore. Most commercial facilities are using T-5 or T-8 linear lamps, or compact fluorescent downlights. Compared to those, most LEDs available today are poor choices. Expensive too!
This situation is changing, and will change soon. We're likely to see an LED fixture on the market exceeding 100 lumens per watt, but I am not aware of any that are available commercially today. If anyone can point me to one, I'd be pleased to know about it and spec it!
Lawrence Lile
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