School of Light: Acronyms and Technicalities Explained!
When we read lamp descriptions and come across acronyms and technicalities, we often feel confused and cannot understand whether the lamp we have fallen in love with is really the right one for us.
In reality, those acronyms and that language conceal clear and simple concepts, you just need the code to decrypt them! Keep reading this article to get the hang of it and never hesitate again in front of a data sheet!
In the right light, at the right time, everything is extraordinary.
Glossario
Energy Efficiency Class
Light bulbs and luminaires have an energy label that defines the electricity consumption of that item.
The energy classes are differentiated by indicators from A++ to G, thanks to which it is easy for the consumer to understand the electricity consumption of each light bulb or luminaire. A++ indicates the energy class with the lowest electricity consumption and G the one with the highest consumption.
For lamps without an integrated light bulb, the consumer can choose the energy class of his or her lighting fixture. For example, he or she can choose a good-quality LED bulb to achieve optimum illumination and low energy consumption at the same time.
CRI
The colour rendering index (CRI) is a value from 0 to 100 that indicates the ability of a light source to naturally render the colours of an object hit by light. The higher this value, the more naturally the colours will be rendered. Ideally always try to choose light sources with a CRI higher than 90.
DIMMABLE
A lamp is defined as dimmable when it is possible to vary the intensity of the light at will, increasing or decreasing it in order to create different atmospheres within the same environment.
A necessary element of this type of lamp is the dimmer, i.e. an electronic regulator through which the light intensity can be varied. The dimmer can be integrated in the lamp or be external and can be controlled via a button, knob or touch sensor.
Luminous Flux
Luminous flux refers to the amount of light emitted by a light bulb or luminaire in a specific unit of time. A lamp with a high luminous flux will therefore be brighter than a lamp with a low luminous flux.
Kelvin
Kelvin (K) is the unit of measurement used to determine the colour of a light source, thus indicating its colour temperature. Depending on the temperature you will have a warm white light or a cold white light:
2700K: very warm white light, ideal for rooms designed for relaxation.
3000K: warm white light, pleasant and not too intense
4000K: cold white light, ideal for rooms where visibility is very important.
LED
LED lighting is replacing conventional fluorescent and incandescent light bulbs, thanks to clear advantages in terms of energy consumption and quantity of light produced.
Not only does LED technology produce a brighter, more intense light with lower energy consumption, but it also has a much longer lifespan (up to 100,000 hours) than traditional light bulbs thanks to the elements it consists of, avoiding fragile glass and filaments.
WATT
The watt, in lighting, is the unit for measuring the power of light produced by the light source. It is not a measure of light intensity: an LED bulb with a few W can produce the same amount of light as a conventional 40W bulb.
LUMEN
The lumen (lm) is the unit of measurement of the luminous flux emitted by a light source, thus measuring its intensity. Lumen is an indispensable factor in the choice of a light source and should always be taken into account when you want to understand the amount of light needed to illuminate a room: a bedroom, for example, will need 300/400 lumens per square metre, while a living room will need 400/500 lumens per square metre.
RGB
RGB lights are LED lights composed of 3 coloured sources: red, green and blue. The peculiarity of these lights is that by mixing these three coloured sources at will, it is possible to obtain practically any colour, so that the atmosphere of the room where they are placed can be varied at will.
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