News & Views

The Lighting Council of Australia has prepared a guide to assist consumers select safe, suitable, good quality LED lighting products.

LED Buyers Guide explains safety, brightness, efficiency, colour, compatibility, lifetime and installation – all critical aspects when choosing LEDs. The Guide also provides consumers with general lighting tips as well as cost comparison charts on the average annual operating costs of LED lamps compared to the traditional incandescent and compact fluorescent technologies.

The guide provides independent advice using plain language at a time of significant change in lighting technology and the lighting industry.

Lighting Council Australia's CEO, Bryan Douglas, said that switching to LEDs is one of the fastest and easiest ways to cut energy bills.

‘By replacing the five most common incandescent or halogen lamps, households can save around $70 - $90 per year’, he said.

Mr Douglas recommends that consumers familiarise themselves with a few key aspects of LEDs, all of which may be found in the guide.

‘Asking retailers some important questions and looking for key information on packaging will improve the purchasing experience’, he added.

Mr Douglas cautioned that while the technology has developed rapidly in recent times and there are now excellent products available, the fact remains there are many sub-standard LEDs in the Australian market.

'Sadly there are also many sub-standard suppliers peddling LED wares – particularly on the internet - who know little and care less about Australia's regulatory environment for lighting products', he said.

‘There are also many products in the market which fail to meet the performance claims of their suppliers and in these cases we encourage consumers to approach the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’, Mr Douglas said.

The Guide, which is intended for all consumers and installers of LEDs, is in PDF format and may be downloaded from Lighting Council Australia’s website or click here to download.