Lighting Facts is designed to ensure that the LED products you find on the market meet your expectations for performance. These products include LEDs for everyday lighting purposes, such as table lamps and outdoor light fixtures. They do not include flashlights, nightlights, or holiday lighting.
Participating manufacturers voluntarily pledge to report their products’ performance results. Those results appear on the Lighting Facts label, which those manufacturers must include on product packaging or in the product literature. Retailers and other industry buyers can then make informed purchasing decisions for their lighting inventory.
| Q: |
What’s on the Lighting Facts label? |
| A: |
The Lighting Facts label allows retailers and utilities to compare products to manufacturer claims
and to similar products. The label provides a quick summary of product performance in five areas:
- Lumens measure light output. The higher the number, the more light is emitted.
- Lumens per watt (lm/W) measures efficiency. The higher the number, the more efficient the product.
- Watts measure the energy required to light the product. The lower the wattage, the less energy is used.
- Correlated Color Temperature (CCT) measures light color. “Cool” colors have higher Kelvin temperatures
(3600–5500 K); “warm” colors have lower color temperatures (2700–3000 K). Cool white light is usually better for visual
tasks. Warm white light is usually better for living spaces because it casts a warmer light on skin and clothing.
Color temperatures of 2700 to 3600 K are recommended for most general indoor and task lighting.
- Color Rendering Index (CRI) measures the effect of the lamp's light spectrum on the color
appearance of objects. The higher the number, the truer the appearance of the light on objects.
Incandescent lighting is 100 on the CRI.
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| Q: |
Does the label denote that the Department of Energy endorses these products? |
| A: |
No. The Department of Energy does not approve or endorse the products or services offered by any company
that participates in Lighting Facts. The label is simply an industry tool to help retailers and other buyers evaluate
product performance against manufacturer claims.
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| Q: |
Will I see the label on lighting products? |
| A: |
You may see the label on product packaging, but in many cases it will appear on promotional
literature that your retailer, utility, or lighting designer would use to select the products they sell and promote.
For this reason, you may not be able to use it to comparison shop. |
| Q: |
So how can I be sure the LED products I buy are part of the Lighting Facts program? |
| A: |
Visit our partners page and note which manufacturers have committed to providing the Lighting Facts label,
and which retailers and utilities in your area select LED products based on the label. On the products page, you can also see
all the products that have been registered and approved to use the Lighting Facts label. Shop for your LED lighting products
accordingly. |
| Q: |
Why was the Lighting Facts label developed for LED lighting? |
| A: |
The rapid growth of LEDs has resulted in an increasing number of new products on the market.
While many of these products showcase the energy-saving potential and performance attributes of LED lighting,
under-performing products are also appearing in the market. Since bad news travels fast, such products could discourage
consumers from accepting this new technology. This occurred when CFLs were introduced, slowing market acceptance of these
products. DOE developed the Lighting Facts label to avoid this problem for LEDs. |
| Q: |
Isn’t this the sort of thing ENERGY STAR® usually covers? |
| A: |
While the Lighting Facts label and ENERGY STAR both make energy-efficient purchasing decisions easier and more transparent, the programs operate in different ways:
- ENERGY STAR was designed with consumers in mind. It sets a minimum performance level for qualifying products to help you choose the most efficient products. The ENERGY STAR label can be applied only to a limited group of LED lighting products.
- The Lighting Facts label is an industry tool to help retailers and other buyers choose wisely. It provides essential information to evaluate product performance against manufacturer claims. Armed with this information, retailers and other industry stakeholders can keep poorly performing products from reaching their shelves. The Lighting Facts label can be applied to any LED product for general illumination.
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DISCLAIMER: The Department of Energy does not approve or endorse the products or services offered by any company that participates in the SSL Lighting FactsCM program. As such, any company that participates in the SSL Lighting Facts program may not claim or imply that DOE approves or endorses anything other than its commitment to energy efficiency.