The Lighting Research Center (LRC) at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute has been conducting evaluations of LED replacement lamps, a move to meet what LRC sees as a critical need for objective technical information regarding the many LED replacement options currently available. The center’s latest report takes a look at LED replacement lamps with a mogul base.
Mogul base LED replacement lamps are currently being marketed as equivalent replacements for incumbent high-intensity discharge (HID) lamps. There are 144 million HID lamps in the U.S., representing only 2% of the installed lamp inventory, but they consume 26% of lighting energy nationwide, according to LRC.
HID lamps are used primarily in outdoor applications such as roadways, parking lots and building exteriors, but are also used in commercial interior and industrial applications. For this project, LRC conducted market characterization and performance testing of mogul base LED lamps to support cost-effective retrofits for multiple types of lighting applications, from high bay and post top, to wall pack, yard light, and cobra head.
LRC recently completed Phase 1 of the project, and the resulting report provides details of the market characterization and pilot photometric testing of 18 representative mogul base LED lamps alone and in luminaires.
LRC also conducted a comprehensive survey of specifiers to identify key considerations for lamp selection and relevant luminaire performance characteristics for various lighting applications (e.g., light output, intensity distribution, size), to support the development of a performance testing plan, the results of which are also included in the report. Phase 2 is now underway, consisting of additional performance testing of mogul base LED lamps in representative luminaire types. The results of Phase 2 testing will be released as they become available.
LRC found that only 4 of the 18 lamps met the minimum DesignLights Consortium Qualified Products List criteria for retrofit kits when the lamps were placed in area lighting and roadway luminaires. The lamps tested in wall pack and high bay luminaires did not meet the applicable minimum efficacy criteria for retrofit kits.
The report is available free to the public (PDF format): Phase 1: Mogul Base LED Replacement Lamps
