FAQs

Q: What does LED stand for?
A: LED stands for Light Emitting Diode. A light-emitting diode (LED) is a semiconductor light source. When a light-emitting diode is forward biased (switched on), electrons are able to recombine with electron holes within the device, releasing energy in the form of photons. This effect is called electroluminescence and the colour of the light (corresponding to the energy of the photon) is determined by the energy gap of the semiconductor.

Q: Why is LED lighting so energy efficient?
A: LED’s are extremely efficient. They convert approximately 90% of the electricity they consume into light. In a conventional light the figure is more like 10 – 15%, with the rest of the electricity effectively wasted in lost heat.

Q: What about other forms of low-energy lighting?
A: The most commonly used low-energy light technology on the market today is CFL – (Compact Fluorescent Light). These tend to be curly in shape and give off a blue-white light. The technology is the same as the neon fluorescent tubes found in many offices or kitchens, engineered to fit into smaller fittings (“compact”). CFL technology uses less electricity than traditional lighting, however they contain mercury and other toxic materials. They are also made of glass and broken CFL’s are a health hazard due to glass shards and mercury. This makes them expensive to dispose of. LED’s have none of these problems.

Q: Do your lights meet the specifications and recommendations?
A: All our products come with a detailed specification sheet and all our products will have the RCM Mark.

Q: Do these lights flicker?
A: LED’s do not flicker to the human eye.

Q: Do the LED’s come in different shades of white light?
A: Yes, they can be ordered in Daylight – Cool white – Warm white.

Q: What are the advantages of LED’s compared with conventional incandescent lights?
A: there are several obvious advantages LED’s have over traditional incandescent light bulbs, they are as follows:

• Low power consumption – energy saving
• Long lasting
• Fast switch times
• Simple to use
• Crisp, sharp light

Q: Why should my organisation switch to LED lighting?
A: LED lights use up to 75% less electricity than traditional forms of light. An LED lighting solution will reduce your business’s energy costs significantly over time, lessen your impact on the environment, and provide a safer light source for your staff and customers.

Further savings are attained through LED’s longer lifespan (50,000 hours, up to 5 times as long as most light sources). Longer lifespan means less money spent changing and maintaining lights. LED’s lack of infrared radiation (heat) also means a reduced load on your building’s air-conditioning, resulting in additional efficiency and savings.

Q: Will LED lighting help to reduce our carbon tax?
A: Less electricity = less coal use = less carbon. By using significantly less electricity LED lights will reduce your organisation’s carbon footprint.

In addition the components of LED lights are totally recyclable. This means no more specialised recycling processes (and associated charges), as well as no toxic and harmful chemicals both in the workplace and in our landfills.

Q: Are LED’s safe?
A: LED’s are incredibly durable, do not contain any harmful chemicals, and do not generate significant UV radiation as other light sources do. These facts alone make them a safer option for your staff and customers.

Q: How much do we know about LED technology?
A: Firstly LED technology has been around since 1960. In fact, most indicator lights, calculators, alarm clocks, traffic lights and mobile phone displays use LED lights, and have for years. The catch was that LED lights were available in almost every colour except blue.

The reason we are hearing so much about LED now is that in the mid-1990s a scientist, Shuji Nakamura, from Nichia chemicals created an LED chip which emits blue light. The relevance is that with blue light we can create white light, either by combining blue, red and green, or by applying a yellow phosphorous coating to the chip.

Once white LED light was possible the next obvious step was to use it for general illumination purposes. And since its discovery scientists and lighting companies have dedicated their resources to making it viable for the general market.

Hi-Semicon offers high quality LED lighting solutions for long term efficiency and low carbon output.