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You say you are a manufacturer of "Scotopically
Enhanced Full Spectrum Lamps". What does Scotopically Enhanced mean?
A light source is Scotopically
enhanced if it contains more blue in the spectrum. The added blue
content activates a visual response that heightens the sensation of
brightness and adds to visual clarity. This allows a light source that
is scotopically enhanced to be much more energy efficient than those
deficient in blue spectrum. The space will appear brighter even
though it is possible to utilize fewer lamps thereby reducing energy
consumption. For a
detailed overview, please follow this link:
Scotopically Enhanced Lighting.
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Can you explain in more detail exactly what it means
when a lamp is considered Full Spectrum? I have looked at the
information you have describing Color
Rendering and Kelvin Temperature, but it
is still not clear to me what makes a lamp full spectrum and why it
costs more than a cool white lamp.
For a lamp to be classified as
Full Spectrum the widely accepted criteria within the industry is that
the lamp must produce energy in a Kelvin Temperature range of at least
5000K and have a Color Rendering Index (CRI) of at lest 90. The energy
produced by the lamp is therefore more like natural sunlight. A light
source can be precisely measured by determining the energy produced at
each wavelength in the visible spectrum on a nanometer (nm) scale. The
visible spectrum on a nanometer scale ranges from 400nm to 750nm, as shown
below:
Visible Spectrum
Therefore, the color scale as
viewed through a Prism would appear as follows:
When a lamp is measured to
determine it's Spectral Energy Distribution (SED), also referred to as
Spectral Power Distribution (SPD), if energy is produced in all ranges
of the visible spectrum it is considered Full Spectrum as shown in the
following SED example.
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What capabilities do you have to provide custom lamps for my specific application?
Can you provide samples?
LES manufacturers lamps for
numerous special applications. Custom phosphor blends based on customer
specifications for fluorescent products is a primary focus of our
business. Samples are available subject
to applicable R&D expenses.
Follow this link for additional
custom lamp manufacturing information:
Custom Lamps.
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Are there minimum quantities required when ordering
lamps?
Yes for all custom and Private
Labeled products. We do offer and maintain in stock a few select
products for end users and distributors that are available in smaller
quantities. Links to those products are found on the left side of
this page.
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My company currently purchases lamps from another
manufacturer but they are not private labeled with our name. We would like the lamps to be
produced with our name in order to capture any repeat/lamp replacement business. However,
our volume does not meet your minimum requirements for Private Labeling.
Are there any options available for us.
Yes. We currently have other
customers that fall into this category. As long as the lamp we are
producing for other customers is not a proprietary phosphor blend or
product, we can combine multiple orders for the same product and provide
each customer with their own private label. Minimum quantities under
this arrangement for most linear fluorescent products would then be 3,000
units per customer with a total of 10,000 units per order. Production schedules would
be subject to reaching the 10,000 total unit minimum.
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What type of engineering testing/analysis is available to your
customers?
LES offers a full range of
engineering services from the development of custom phosphor blends
based on customer specifications to lamp analysis in order to determine
the lamps Spectral Energy Distribution (SED).
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I am currently purchasing lamps from another
manufacturer for a special application. We want our lamps shipped to us
in a configuration other than the standard 25-30 lamps per case as this
requires us to repackage the lamps upon arrival to our warehouse. Can
you provide custom packaging to accommodate our needs?
Absolutely, subject to minimum
production run quantities. No matter if it is
2, 3, 4, 6, etc. lamps per individual case, this could be done. The next
issue would be to determine how many individual cases you would want
packaged in each "master" carton. Ideally, it would be a quantity that
would still allow the master carton to be lifted manually. Therefore for
instance, if packaged 2 units per case, there would be 15 cases for a
total of 30 units per master carton. The configuration is entirely up to
you and we can design the packaging around your needs. There may be some
initial tooling expense to engineer the appropriate box configuration,
but those would be one time charges.
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Do you offer custom packaging/art work for Private Label
products?
Yes for most lamp types. Design
and appropriate art work film must be provided by the customer. Please contact us
for further details.
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I'm considering placing an order for a Private Label
product. How long does it take for the product to be delivered?
It depends on the lamp type and
quantity,
but on average, approximately 30 to 45 days post receipt of Purchase
Order and confirmation of acceptance of final proof of the actual label.
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I use a large quantity of T12 Cool White lamps for
general lighting purposes. I have heard that these can be replaced with
full spectrum T10’s in the same fixture. Do you manufacture full
spectrum T10’s and would there
be any savings in cost?
Yes in most cases. However, a
T10 lamp with a quality full spectrum phosphor will always cost more
than a T12 lamp with a cool white phosphor. This is partially due to the
higher color rendering ability of the full spectrum T10 tri-phosphor blend
which costs more to produce. The real savings can be calculated as a
result of the ability to replace four cool white T12 lamps with only two
full spectrum T10's. In doing so, not only is the quality of the light
source improved thereby reducing eye strain, increasing worker
productivity, and improving the light source's ability to render colors
accurately, etc., energy savings can be immediately realized. For
additional information relative to your question, please follow this
link to our T10 lamp ES950T10, or the link found
on the left hand side of this page.
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I have noticed that there is a big difference in the
rated lamp life for linear fluorescent lamps sold by various lamp
manufacturers. Why is it that some show a lamp with a rated lamp life as
high as 44,000 hrs and others show a life of only 20,000-24,000 hrs for
the same lamp. Is there really that much of a difference between
manufacturers?
This is an important question
that we are asked quite frequently. The short answer is no there is not
that much difference between the lamps produced by various
manufacturers. But there is a big difference in how lamps are
marketed. Some manufacturer's/distributors take the approach that by marketing an
extremely long lamp life their sales will increase but the return rate,
will average only about
5%. To cover the cost of any potential returns, the price of the lamp is
increased. Therefore the buyer is not necessarily paying for an improved
product but rather a clever marketing approach. Do the math and it becomes
clear. Take a fluorescent lamp that is sold as a 44,000 hr lamp. If that lamp was
operated 12 hrs per day, and let's pick an arbitrary number of days per
year of say 300 days, at 44,000 hrs the lamp would last for 12.2
years! (12 X 300 =
3600 hrs - 44,000 hrs / 3600hrs = 12.2 yrs)
Theoretically, the lamp my be a quality product
in all other respects. But, assuming a fluorescent lamp is still operating
at 40,000 hours, all the lamp is doing
is "getting you out of the dark" at that point. The spectral
energy produced by the lamp will have deteriorated long before that length
of time. If you are paying more for a lamp to begin with because of the
enhanced phosphor blend that makes it a full spectrum lamp, why then use an
extended lamp life as a primary reason to purchase that product? Rather,
the lamp should be judged based on it's spectral energy characteristics
not if it will "get you out of the dark" 34,000 to 44,000 hours later.
There are things that can be engineered into the
lamp to enhance lamp life. Quality phosphors, proper gas mixtures, quality
filaments and cathode guards, all components found in lamps produced by
LES. However, we believe that for our long term business success and the
ultimate satisfaction of our customers it is important not to embellish
the life hours of our products.
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