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Why LED Lighting Facts®? |
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The rapid growth of solid-state lighting has resulted in an increasing number of new products on the market for various lighting applications. While many of these products showcase the energy-savings potential and performance attributes of LED lighting, under-performing products are also appearing in the market. Such products threaten consumer adoption and could significantly delay widespread acceptance of this new technology. This occurred in the early days of CFLs, slowing market acceptance of these products. To avoid this problem for solid-state lighting, DOE urges luminaire manufacturers to pledge to report accurate and consistent product performance results through the LED Lighting Facts program.
Others in the supply chain—retailers, distributors, lighting designers and specifiers, utilities, and energy efficiency organizations—may also take the pledge to use products from participating manufacturers.
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Why should a manufacturer take the pledge? |
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Taking the pledge to test products and register them for a LED Lighting Facts label establishes a manufacturer as an industry leader in support of high quality products for LED lighting. Accurate and consistent reporting of LED product performance will increase consumer satisfaction and accelerate market adoption. |
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What is the LED Lighting Facts label? |
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Luminaire manufacturers who take the pledge agree to present the LED Lighting Facts label on product packaging or in product literature. All measurements must use results from product testing in accordance with IESNA standard LM-79-2008, Approved Method for the Electrical and Photometric Testing of Solid-State Lighting Devices. The label reports product performance results in five areas:
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Lumens
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Lumens per watt (lm/W)
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Watts at 120 VAC
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Correlated Color Temperature (CCT)
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Color Rendering Index (CRI)
Additional metrics related to reliability, product consistency, construction, and other characteristics may be considered in future editions of the label.
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Will the LED Lighting Facts label signal product quality to buyers? |
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While the label establishes a manufacturer’s commitment to disclosing product performance, the label itself is not a guarantee of quality. It provides the basis for buyer evaluation of product quality. |
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Which products can be labeled? |
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The label may appear only on LED lighting, which includes self-contained replacement lamps and full luminaire products, not packaged LED devices. |
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How is manufacturer-reported performance data verified? |
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So that DOE can verify the data on a LED Lighting Facts label, manufacturers are required to submit a copy of the IESNA LM-79 test report for each product. In addition, DOE monitors the accuracy of reported product performance, on a sampling basis, through third-party quality assurance testing. |
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From which laboratories will LED Lighting Facts accept LM-79 test reports? |
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Beginning in May 2012, LED Lighting Facts formalized the process for recognizing testing laboratories by allowing approved labs to be come program partners. Beginning on June 1, 2012, test reports submitted to LED Lighting Facts must come from testing laboratories listed on the LED Lighting Facts Approved Testing Laboratories list. The date of testing must fall within the valid accreditation dates listed for the approved testing laboratory. Specific requirements for becoming an LED Lighting Facts Approved Testing Laboratory, including recognized accreditations, are listed on the Information For Testing Laboratories page.
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Do manufacturers that make LED lighting have to join LED Lighting Facts? |
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No. The program is voluntary. However, those that join send a signal to buyers that they are committed to accurate reporting of their products’ performance. |
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Is there any cost to participate? |
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No. The program is free. |
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There’s already an ENERGY STAR® specification. Why does the industry need LED Lighting Facts? |
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LED Lighting Facts and ENERGY STAR were both developed to make energy-efficient purchasing decisions easier and more transparent, but the programs support LED lighting in different ways:
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ENERGY STAR sets a minimum performance level for qualifying products and is designed to help consumers differentiate among products based on efficiency. The ENERGY STAR label can be applied only to a limited group of general illumination LED lighting products.
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LED Lighting Facts requires essential product information be disclosed to help manufacturers and others in the supply chain validate their product performance claims. The program’s LED Lighting Facts label may be applied to any participating general illumination LED product.
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Both programs are voluntary, and any ENERGY STAR partner can also take the pledge.
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How do I create my labels? |
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Register on LightingFacts.com to establish an account. We’ll send a confirmation email, after which you may complete the online pledge form. Any time after you have completed the pledge, you may log on and submit products. Once your products have passed our verification process, you will be able to click the label icon next to any approved product to download a print-quality version of the label, complete with your product’s unique characteristics. |
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What information do I need to collect? |
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For each product, you will need the measurements from your IESNA LM-79-2008 test report (seeSample Test Report). Product testing must be done in accordance with the industry standardized test procedure (1 MB, PDF). |