FAQ

LED lighting is dimmable however not all LED lamps or bulbs are dimmable, so it is important to find out if it is dimmable before you buy it. In many cases LED lighting also require their own electronic dimmers.  Standard dimmer switches often have a minimum power of ~50W, but LED lights tend to have lower wattages than the standard bulb. This results in the LED light being unable to connect to that dimmer switch and it will not reach the minimum power required. This can cause the lights to start to flicker or overheat.

The average Irish household spends around 11% of their electricity bills on lighting.  By switching your halogen light bulbs to energy efficient LEDs, you can cut this cost by nearly  80%.. For each light bulb replaced with an LED light source, you will see immediate savings on your energy bill. While LED lighting can be a little more expensive than standard halogen bulbs, that cost is offset by a massive reduction on your energy bills. According to Electric Ireland, you could save around €7 for every light bulb you change to an LED powered light source. Check out our About LED’s page for more information on how our products can save you more than this forecast!

LED light sources use up to 85% less electricity than standard light bulbs with 95% of that energy being converted to light and only 5% wasted as heat. Not only does that energy efficiency save money on your bills, it also reduces your impact on the environment.

All LED chips can last more than 100,000 hours, but that has no bearing on the lifespan of the luminaire itself.

Drivers / transformers that accompany the LED light and provides it power can have a life span anywhere between 10,000 to 50,000 hours. It’s important to check the life span and warranty with your supplier before buying your LED lighting. 

All of Pleolight products come with 5 year warranty.

LED lighting can last up to 20 times longer than standard incandescent & halogen bulbs. This in turn has a very positive effect on the environment.

As LED lighting (in particular LED chips) last much longer than the aforementioned bulbs, this means they need to be replaced less often than traditional bulbs.The fact that fewer lights are needed means that fewer resources will be required for manufacturing, packaging and transportation. 

They are also mercury free, making them more environmentally friendly all around.

An LED driver / transformer is a self contained power supply that regulates the power required for an LED. LED chips are low energy, lighting devices that have a long lifespan and low energy consumption, this requires a special power supply. Without the correct LED light driver / transformer, the LEDs would become hot and unstable resulting. This results in failure and bad performance in the LED chip. To ensure the LEDs function perfectly the LED driver / transformer is required to supply a maintained constant amount of power to the LED.

Switches:

There are three primary reasons why LED lights can flicker. The fault could lie in the LED chip, in the wiring, or in the current regulation.

Dimmer Switches:

The primary cause of flickering LEDs can be as simple as using non-dimmable LED chips on dimmer switches. It is a simple but commonly overlooked problem. The fix is also as simple, just replace the non-dimmable LED lights with dimmable LED lights.

All of Pleolights downlighters are dimmable with Triac or Dali systems.

The most common cause for this is if the circuit has tripped. If the LED light has already worked before, the LED chip may be broken. As mentioned above the LED chip powered spotlights have a life cycle of 100,000 hours, making them unlikely to be the fault. Ensure the wiring to the driver / transformer is correct and then test the driver / transformer. All of Pleolights products come with a 5 year warranty.

LED lighting that has a yellow / amber hue tends to have a low colour temperature value. All of our downlighters come with a colour temperature of 2700K which is a warm white.

If your LED lighting is too bright, your product probably has a very high lumen output. All of our LED downlighters are dimmable which can means you can adjust the brightness of the products using a dimmer. 

Are LED lights waterproof?

The waterproof property of LED lighting is measured using the IP (Ingress Protection) rating.

This standard defines the levels of sealing effectiveness against “ingress” i.e. intrusion from foreign bodies such as dust, dirt and liquids. 

The rating consists of the letters IP followed by two digits, the higher the number the better the protection.  Sometimes a number is replaced by X, which indicates that the enclosure is not rated for that specification.

IP65   First Digit – Solids

The first digit indicates the level of protection against the ingress of solid foreign objects, from tools or fingers that could be hazardous if they came into contact with the electricals or moving parts, to airborne dirt and dust that could damage circuitry.

IP65   Second Digit – Liquids

The second digit indicates the protection of the equipment inside the enclosure against various forms of moisture (drips, sprays, submersion etc).

There are concerns that exposure to LED lighting might cause eye problems. However, this is not a concern for the average user. You’d have to be exposed to extremely high levels of LED light to potentially be in any danger of eye disease. The average LED bulbs uses the same amount of blue light that our smartphones, computers, and tablets use. If you’re fine with using electronics, then your light bulbs should be perfectly fine as well.

LED lights are entirely safe. They do not radiate any radiation, such as ultraviolet rays. LED’s also do not cause any fire hazards, this is because LED’s use only 10% of its energy into heat. 

IP rated LED lights can generally be placed anywhere, but the places where they showcase their functions are places which are known to have water, dust and moisture present in most times. These areas would be the outdoors, swimming pool, saunas, bathrooms and laundry rooms .

Colour Rendering Index (CRI) is the measurement of how colours look under a light source when compared with sunlight. The index is measured from 0-100, with a perfect 100 indicating that colours under the light source appear the same as they would under natural sunlight.

Colour temperature is the appearance of light provided by a light source. Varying on the light source the colour temperature can change. Colour temperature is measured through kelvins. The colour temperature can range from a warm light (2700k) to a crisp daylight light(5000k), depending one what feeling you want an interior to feel.

LED lights do grow hot but they are not dangerous. Although LED lights do produce heat they are significantly less hot then normal light bulbs. If the LED is abnormally hot to touch make sure the LED is not faulty or if the driver used with the LED is correct. All of Pleolights LED downlighters have a state of the art heat sink at the rear, helping to cool the LED chips so the LED chips can provide a continuous high output.

LED lighting can be purchased here in Pleolight. We have a wide range of LED powered fixtures from downlighters, LED strip, outdoor fixtures to lighting to state of the art 48V magnetic track lighting. Feel free to contact us below for further information on our product range and any upcoming projects that you may need lighting for.