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LED (Light-Emitting Diode) Lighting is rapidly becoming the Number One choice of astute, energy and eco-conscious people the world over and a US competition recognises and celebrates the best-of the best in this exciting, fast-growing industry.

Checking Out The Competition

The Lighting for Tomorrow competition has been held annually since 2002. Hosted by the International Lighting Market in Dallas Texas, it has concentrated primarily on providing manufacturers with the opportunity to ‘push the envelope’ as far as LED lighting is concerned. Whilst the 2016–2017 event will continue to feature LED lighting, it will also introduce a newly emerging facet in the shape of OLED (Organic Light-Emitting Diode) technology.

OLEDs represent the next generation of LED lighting technology, and are used to create digital displays in devices like televisions, computer monitors, mobile phones and hand-held games consoles. In addition, a great deal of research is being lavished on the development of white OLED devices for use in solid-state lighting for domestic and commercial applications.

One of the main thrusts of the competition is the promotion not only of high quality, innovatively-designed lighting products, but also encouraging designers and manufacturers to pursue energy-efficiency, and to build it into their products.

The most exceptional amongst the contenders will gain greater exposure for their brands and products amongst industry leaders and consumers alike. The chosen few are then given saturation promotion by Lighting for Tomorrow for a full calendar year following the event.

Everyone’s A Winner With LED Lights

The 2015 competition continued to build upon the momentum achieved during the previous thirteen years, bringing together lighting control products to include stand alone, system, and whole-house devices. The judges awarded bonus points for the sustainability of all products, as well as for lighting designed to meet the needs of the growing elderly population.

In the highly competitive LED lighting market, it’s difficult to imagine how the entrants continue to out-perform those from the previous years, however, they do seem to manage.

Indeed, at the 2014 Lighting For Today competition, Ohio company GE Lighting introduced a ground-breaking 100 Watt LED Replacement Bulb that was the industry’s first general purpose LED to achieve 100 lumens of brightness per watt.

Requiring just 16.8 watts of power, it achieved an enormous 1673.2 lumens and a CRI (Colour-Rendering Index) of 81.6 which means the quality of its light very closely resembles that of natural light, a much sought-after commodity in the world of illumination sources.

But, despite being a fantastic achievement, it’s not only GE Lighting’s LED that’s hugely frugal power wise. LEDs in general are up to 90% more energy-efficient than traditional incandescent light bulbs, requiring only a fraction of the electricity to produce the same luminosity.

Products other than super energy-efficient bulbs win prizes in the Dallas competition too. In 2015 an inventive company from Connecticut called Legrand won with an ingenious dimmer switch that was perfectly designed to cater to the requirements of LED bulbs.

The Tru-Universal SofTap Dimmer was designed with a pioneering micro-movement functionality, which allows the user to turn lights on and off or dim them with a simple ‘tap’ of the finger. Its Tru-Universal dimming functionality automatically adapts to any load or combination of loads attached to it.

Along with the energy-efficiency of dimmable LED bulbs, their ability to be used in conjunction with a dimmer switch such as this is another of their features that will enable you to save money on your fuel bills. You’ll gain full control over their intensity, thus ensuring that you only use as much electricity as is absolutely necessary.

Dimmers also benefit the bulbs themselves, introducing the electrical current more gradually than a rocker switch and making certain that the LED bulb achieves its full life-expectancy.

In comparison with traditional incandescent bulbs, LEDs have extremely long working lives. At 50,000 hours an LED is likely to still be going strong in 17 years, whereas an incandescent bulb will need replacing several times during the course of each year.

The Lighting for Today competition in Dallas, Texas, brings incredible new designs to an industry that’s already surging forward at an amazing rate of knots. The technology is progressing so fast that many of these ideas and innovations have already crossed the pond and are being used every day a lot closer to home.

So, if you’d like to find out more about LED lighting, why not call us on 0116 321 4120?  Or you can send an e-mail enquiry to cs@wled.co.uk if you’d prefer.