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Tuesday, May 12, 2015

Volunteer-Reporting The Evolution Of LED Downlighting Luminaires

I believe in and support sales of, LED lighting that is most efficient, beaming down at us, downlights, not point-source bulbs. A downlight uses energy about twice as efficiently as a point-source bulb. A downlight should not be recessed, and it should have widest beam angle. A downlight must no longer be related to a dumb can. No more can lights! Don't promote then LED downlights that are bulb-socketed, demanding a light can or a holder of any kind.

Lights that meet these requirements are collected at my Pinterest page Residential LED Downlighting . In volunteer service to a wished public following I have fired up my LED lighting test lab to check out a new light I found yesterday at a Lowe's store. I was looking for my usual Sylvania 70732 purchase. I expected to find that I identify as Sylvania 70732 Mod 3, and did so. Beside those was a new stack, a packaging that will be called Sylvania 75094. Here is the new offering at lowes.com. Lowe's calls it Model #: 75094. Model #: 70732 is discontinued.

A  brief photo report of this latest Lowe's evolution is at my Picasa Web Albums:
A New Sylvania Ultra LED Recessed &Surface Mount Kit, Sylvania 75094 
Sadly, I have found an important manufacturing error, new in this third and very substantial attempt at product improvement. The error prevents tight mounting against a ceiling where installed on a junction box. I will continue to buy these lights, and will very easily nip the lug with side cutters for all installations on a junction box. Most users will be unaware of the problem and will just be unhappy with the gapped installation. The manufacturer must change the heat sink molds.

Please see more detail of the 75094 manufacturing error, added to my post reviewing Model 70732, and now Model 75094, here:
http://energyconservationhowto.blogspot.com/2013/05/review-sylvania-led-disk-light.html 



I have more to report. 

Glimpse lights, never improved, are now directly sold by Lighting Science, at very good pricing. Their 4" Glimpse at 450 lumens, 9.5 watts ,  is still the best direct equivalent in task illumination, to a 100-watt point-source bulb. Buy this even though it is prone to collect bugs , and like 6" Glimpse, starts with a delay.

The Lighting Science price for the 4" Glimpse is $24. I will buy a needed dozen, reluctantly. I want these improved.



The beautiful Nicor DLS-10 , the improvement upon 6" Glimpse lights, is discontinued! Upset, I have bought only one each, of "replacement" DLS4 and DLS56 lights, for study. My observations are in a Picasa Web Album :



































DLS4 is a cute little light, but at 600 lumens is too bright, inferior to 4" Glimpse in small closets and hallways, where 450 lumens is ideal. Perhaps DLS4 is a winner for main-area lighting, with reduced spacing between lights and easier-to find symmetry. More lights of lower intensity, give better illumination. I like the simple packaging. The Nicor DLS56 is evidently made in the same factory as Sylvania 75094.



















The DLS56 will be an important competitor to the Sylvania 75094 lights now in Lowe's stores. One DLS56 virtue is absence of backside lugs that interfere with mounting on a junction box. Prefer the Nicor DLS56 too, for better dimming range. The Nicor DLS56 retains all of the better virtues of Sylvania 70732 mod 3. The DLS56 and 75094 have identical cost, so let DLS56 take sales away from Lowe's/ Sylvania until 75094 heat sink molds are fixed, probably through the remainder of 2015. I wonder whether the 75094 dimming range can be restored to that of 70732 mod 3.