Quality of LED Standing Lamps Varies, especially in Optical Performance and Lifespan

- Consideration of performance and price needed -

    LED lighting* is known to have high energy efficiency and long lifespan, attracting a lot of consumers. As its popularity grows, LED standing lamps for home with different functions and prices have been introduced in the market. Now, consumers tend to choose the LED lamps rather than fluorescent lighting fixtures. But they do not seem to have sufficient amount of information.

* Light Emitting Diode, or LED, is a two-lead semiconductor light source which emits light when activated.

    Korea Consumer Agency (www.kca.go.kr) conducted quality tests on major functions of the most preferred 12 LED lighting products, including optical performance, lifespan, electrical safety, and resistance to electromagnetic radiation for the sake of consumer’s rights to know and their opportunities to make more resonable choices.

    The result shows that different products have different qualities in major functions, such as luminous efficacy, a measure of how well a light source produces visible light, and colour rendering, a quantitative measure of the ability of a light source to reveal the colors of various objects faithfully in comparison with an ideal or natural light source. In particular, some lamps have 20% lower brightness after 2000 hours of use, not satisfying Korean Industrial Standards (KS) which require 90% of brightness to the initial level.

    There were no such products that have safety issues, including leakage current and conduction. However, some of the tested products did not meet the electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) standards, showing abnormal response to external electromagnetic waves.

    □ Disparity in optical performance of products

    ㅇ (Luminous Efficacy) Lumens per watt. According to the study, Lotte Shopping’s OP-9378, BackSan L&T’s ELX-7300, and 3M Korea’s 3M LED 7500 have relative excellence, six products including DBK’s DS-200LS, LLUCEX’s LE-200 are at decent level, and Diasonic’s DL-97TH, Prism’s LSP-M08, Hanil Garam’s ST5000 are at moderate level.  

     ㅇ (Colour Rendering) in terms of colour rendering, or how accurate a "given" light source is at rendering colour when compared to a "reference" light source, Diasonic’s DL-97TH and 3M Korea’s 3M LED 7500 are at excellent level, nine products including Lotte Shopping’s OP-9378 and Samjung’s SL-830 are at decent level, and Hanil Garam’s ST5000 do not satisfy the KS.

     ㅇ (Illuminance) The Illuminance test was conducted to measure brightness of a surface in 40 centimetre distance from the light sources, considering the condition that people put standing lamps above table or desk. The result indicates that all the tested products have brighter light than 600 lx, which is not below KS’s illuminance recommendation standard*, but do not meet the standard for lightening nearby space.

* KS’s illuminance recommendations : 600lx ∼ 1,500lx

    □ Some products have longevity issues

    ㅇ (Lifespan) In durability study, brightness of the lights was checked after 2,000 hours of use. It turns out that Samjung’s SL-830 and Homeplus’s HB-100 have more than 20% lower brightness compared to the initial performances, dissatisfying the KS.

⇒ The manufacturers voluntarily announced their plans to increase the products’ lifespan.

    □ One product fails to meet the electromagnetic compatibility standards, but all the products do not have safety issues

    ㅇ (Resistance to electromagnetic waves) when checked if any kinds of abnormal motions due to external electromagnetic waves occur, BackSan L&T’s ELX-7300 is switched off by itself. It has not even got the EMC certification.

⇒ The KCA will notify the dissatisfying product to the organisation in charge of EMC, and the manufacturer has announced that it will suspend the sale of the product.

    ㅇ (Safety) No products tested have safety issues as to whether electricity leaks at parts where users touch, or if the products fall down when the surface is tilted at 6˚.

    Comparative information on prices and qualities of LED standing lamps will be provided to consumers via www.smartconsumer.go.kr as part of “Government 3.0“ plans. 

<Cautions>

□ Lamps with light less brighter than recommended illuminance level would better be used with other lighting fixtures.

□ Breakdown and additional damage can be caused if lamps fall down. Do not put the lamps on tilted surface.

□ Do not give massive shock to lamps.

□ Do not directly look at the light sources, otherwise it will affect the eyesight.

□ Fix the tommy screw to adjust the angle of lamps.

□ Attach paper or put towel around the light source so that the heat from the source does not come out.

□ Use the given adapter only.

□ Do not touch lamps with wet hands or polish them with wet towels.

□ Put lamps far away from combustible substances as they can be heated during the use.