DLC Announces New Technical Requirements for LED Lights

The DesignLights Consortium recently announced their final technical requirements for LED lighting manufacturers to qualify their LED lighting products on the DLC Qualified Product List. The DesignLightsConsortium, a collaboration of utility companies and regional energy efficiency organizations throughout the United States and Canada, is a leading resource for high-quality, energy efficient commercial lighting design and performance information. The DLC publishes its Solid-State Lighting Qualified Products List (QPL), a listing of LED luminaires that meet strict energy efficiency and performance criteria, administered by the DLC. LED lighting manufacturers listed on the DLC QPL meet the preliminary requirement for utility incentive eligibility from DLC member firms.

The new technical requirements are the result of many months of discussion with DLC members, lighting manufacturers and other industry experts. The updated requirements insure that the QPL listing will continue to be a valuable resource for companies searching for high performance LED lighting. One change under the new requirements is a revised policy for Four-foot LED Linear Replacement Lamps, LED Tube lights that replace T8 fluorescent lamps. These products will all be categorized under the Four-foot Linear Replacement Lamp classification. In the past LED Tube lights could be classified under the Retrofit Kits classification.

Top Performing LED Tube Lights

The technical requirements are intended to evaluate the performance of the lamp itself and in a reference 2x4 troffer. One of the most important technical requirements for bulb performance is for System Light Efficacy. The DLC requirement for bulb performance is ≥ 100 LPW and in situ performance-≥ 85 LPW. RedBird LED, an Atlanta based LED Tube light manufacturer, has the highest commercially available lighting efficacy for this category on the DLC QPL list. Their Cardinal LED Linear products have Installed efficacies (the ratio of light-output to power consumed) up to 110 lumens/watt, making them some of the most energy efficient LED lighting products available today.

For more information on the DesignLights Consortium and the QPL please visit their website at www.designlights.org.

To receive information on the RedBird LED Cardinal Replacement Lamps please click here.