LedRise LED Lighting Blog

Casambi, a pioneer in Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) wireless lighting control, has teamed up with LED technology specialist Seoul Semiconductor to offer lighting designers precise control of LED strips, modules and luminaires that use the new SunLike technology that matches the spectrum of sunlight. For the first time, this development puts true human-centered lighting in the hands of designers.

Users can use Casambi's Bluetooth-based wireless control system and app with products that include SunLike series LEDs to precisely adjust the light level, knowing that the spectrum reflects real sunlight, a key ingredient for Human-centric lighting

Human-centric lighting describes lighting designed to work with the natural rhythms of the human body. It is based on the well-known fact that the human eye recognizes the presence of a certain wavelength of blue light in the spectrum of sunlight and derives the time of day from this. In this way, light helps to regulate our sleep-wake cycles and other physical rhythms and has a significant impact on our mood and well-being.

Human-centered lighting takes advantage of this effect by adjusting its brightness and color temperature during the day to mimic natural light.

Casambi allows control of the lights through a timer or a variety of presence/movement sensors and daylight sensors. It can control lights that change colour temperature over a very wide range, and designers have the freedom to configure dimming and create scenes or animations for the application.

Lines of light are a new trend for interior lighting, especially because of the possibility to build a personalized installation. The iluminated lines can be place on walls or ceiling, in the form of recessed, surface or suspended lighting fixtures.

These lighting fixtures are made with an LED strip inside an aluminum profile that has a translucent white cover, can be many meters long, installed in patters or geometric shapes. 

Compared with indirect cove lighting, also a popular trend in lighting design, lines of light are more energy efficient but can have greatly increased glare. For this reason direct lighting with lines of light should be designed with care and almost always be dimmable. 

Let's see how we can achieve the best results with lines of light.

Cove lighting with LED strips has become increasingly popular in recent years as it offers a subtle and sophisticated lighting approach that can transform the mood and ambiance of a space. By utilizing LED strips hidden within a cove in the wall or ceiling, a seamless line of light can be created that illuminates surrounding surfaces and reflects into the room, creating a soft and gentle glow similar to natural light from a hidden window. In this blog post, we will explore the benefits and techniques of using LED cove lights in lighting design.

Advantages of LED Cove Lighting

LED cove lights are a versatile and energy-efficient lighting solution suitable for a wide range of interior spaces, including living rooms, bedrooms, kitchens, lobbies, restaurants, and retail spaces. The flexibility in design is one of the significant benefits of LED cove lights, as they can be installed in various shapes, sizes, and colors. This allows for endless possibilities in creating unique and captivating lighting designs that can be customized to meet individual preferences. LED cove lights also come with dimming capabilities, which allow for greater control over the intensity and mood of the light.

Another significant advantage of LED cove lights is their energy efficiency. Compared to traditional lighting sources such as incandescent or fluorescent bulbs, LED lights consume less energy and have a longer lifespan. This not only reduces energy costs but also lowers the environmental impact of the lighting system.

Factors to Consider for Cove Lighting Installation

Several factors need to be considered when installing LED cove lights, such as the location of the cove, the type of LED strips to use, and the color temperature of the light. Working with a professional lighting designer or electrician can ensure that the installation is done correctly and efficiently

The new Color Tunable Series from Nichia are game-changing single surface, tunable white LEDs that allow the user to smoothly transition color temperature from warm white to cold white.

The series are ideal for many applications, such as commercial, retail spot lights and residential downlights. Retail stores can change the light color based on their display or objects in it. Families will be able to change the color temperature of their home to best suit their natural biological rhythms.

Nichia’s color tunable LEDs are available in the standard 757 package and chip-on-board (COB).

Nichia 2-1 Tunable White 757 LED 2700-6500K

The game changing NF2W757G-MT in the standard 757 package use a new patented technology to allow smoothly transition from warm white 2700K to cold white 6500K. The significant innovation is its ability to accomplish color tuning under a small, single light emitting surface (LES), thus achieving superb color uniformity with high color quality, up to 90 CRI. The 2-in-1 tunable white 757 enables thinner, sleeker optical designs, eliminating the need for bulky mixing chambers.

Nichia 2-1 Tunable White COB LEDs 2700-5000K

The Nichia COB 2-1 Tunable White Series are available in two sizes, 24x19mm (NVCWJ024Z-V1MT) and 19x16mm (NJCWL024Z-V1MT), and make posible to build lighting fixtures with adjustable color temperature from warm white 2700K to pure white 5000K.,Nichia's color tunable COB provides a smaller light emitting surface and better color mixing than other options on the market. 

The NCSU434C is a high-performance UV-C SMD LED with a typical radiant power of 110mW and 280nm wavelength. Its small size, 3.5mm x 3.5mm, and high radiant flux make it an excellent choice for smaller and more dense designs, and its 120-degree viewing angle and dimensions make it ideal for disinfection and sterilization applications.

One of the significant advantages of Nichia's UV-C LED technology is its germicidal efficacy, capable of deactivating a wide range of pathogens in the UV-C band (100–280 nm), including the SARS-CoV-2 virus. This makes it an ideal choice for use in water, near-surface, and air disinfection systems. Nichia also prioritizes both radiant flux and lifetime in the development of its LEDs, ensuring effective germicidal dosage over time. The company guarantees a minimum 10,000-hour reliability at L70 and realistic high temperatures for its UV-C LEDs, ensuring long-lasting and dependable performance.

In addition to its exceptional performance levels, the NCSU434C is also an environmentally friendly option. Its innovative design, coupled with Nichia's commitment to sustainability, makes it an ideal choice for customers seeking to replace traditional mercury lamps with energy-efficient LED systems. Nichia promises to continue to develop not only deep-ultraviolet LEDs but also higher-power ultraviolet LEDs with improved performance to help solve various social issues and assist in achieving a mercury-free and carbon-free society through energy conservation.

The information below is extracted from the research paper: "Fluence (UV Dose) Required for up to 99% disinfection from Viruses, Bacteria, Protozoa and Algae"  that can be downloaded also on our website at the links below:

PDF: Fluence (UV Dose) Required to Achieve Incremental Log Inactivation of Bacteria, Protozoa, Viruses and Algae

Germicidal action of UV radiation

The effectiveness of sterilization or disinfection with UV light depends on the exposure, time, wavelength and irradiance.

• Exposure or fluence (sometimes called dose) is measured in mJ/cm² (where 1 mJ/cm² = 10 J/m²)
• Exposure time is measured in seconds (s), minutes (m) or hours (h)
• Irradiance is the flux of radiant energy per unit area, in other words how much of the UV radiation power (measured in W = 1000 “miliwatts” mW = 1.000.000,00 “microwatts” μW ) reaches the surface. Irradiance is measured in mW/cm² or W/m² (1 mW/cm² = 10 W/m²) and is dependent on the radiant power, distance and dispersion of the radiation emitted by the lamp source.

Many studies that show the effectiveness of UV light in disinfection or sterilization present in their findings the inactivation of virus or bacteria for a given Exposure in an amount of time, for a given UV wavelength. However, it is difficult to centralize or build a database with so many variables. The most common solution to this problem is to present the fluence required to achieve a log reduction from 1 to 5.

 Log reduction explained

"Log reduction" is a mathematical term (as is "log increase") used to show the relative number of live microbes eliminated from a surface by disinfecting.  For example, a "5-log reduction" means lowering the number of microorganisms by 100,000-fold, that is, if a surface has 100,000 pathogenic microbes on it, a 5-log reduction would reduce the number of microorganisms to one, equal to 99.999% kill rate.

Human Centric Lighting (HCL) is an illumination specially designed to have a positive physiological and/or psychological effect on humans. It consists of adjusting the colour and intensity of the light throughout the day using adjustable white LED lighting solutions.

HCL supports human health, well-being and performance by considering and properly planning the implementation of a lighting system according to the desired visual, emotional and above all biological effects of light. Human Centric Lighting focuses on the needs of people for their living, leisure and working environment. The study is based on the properties and effects of natural light, a dynamic source of changing tone and brightness that changes throughout the day and seasons. 

A combination of white LED light sources, usually warm white (2700K) and cold white (6500K), is used to provide adequate human-centred lighting. This solution is also called Tunable White lighting. By adjusting the intensity of each individual, bright or dull white light with a hue between 2700K and 6500K can be achieved. It is a new way of using and implementing artificial light, corresponding to the changes of natural light and research on the effects on humans.

The positive health effects of the uniform spectral power distribution of the SunLike LEDs from Seoul Semiconductor have been confirmed in two independent studies, by universities from Switzerland and South Korea.

The new SunLike technology brings a major improvement to the LED spectral power distribution (SPD) which now mimics the SPD of the sun within the bounds of the human visual range. The SunLike LEDs LEDs use a three-phosphor mix and a violet emitter to achieve the SPD. Seoul has said that the LEDs can be used in a variety of applications including in human-centric lighting or lighting for health and well-being where tunable lighting can be applied to improve human well-being.

A study published by the University of Basel in Switzerland titled “Effect of daylight LED on visual comfort, melatonin, mood, waking performance, and sleep” found that volunteers had better visual comfort, more alertness, and happier moods associated with exposure to SunLike LEDs  compared LEDs. 

The university published the research in the Journal of Lighting and Research Technology. Professor Christian Cajochen led the research team investigating what they referred to as LEDs with a daylight spectrum.

Careful design of the lighting for your home will ensure that the right amount of light is where and when needed, switched on conveniently. Lighting should avoid over-lit areas, and give control and flexibility to create lighting effects for different situations. Well-designed lighting will be inherently easier to use and will function in an energy-efficient way.

The best approach to home lighting design is to use three levels of lighting: general lighting, task lighting and accent lighting. By combining these three levels, the recommended lighting level for each room or activity should be obtained, as below: 

The three levels of lighting

General lighting should ensure a sufficient minimum level of light in the room. There are plenty of LED light sources that can be used for this purpose: LED modules, strips, luminaries or spotlight. Decide on the desired illuminance level (lux). In living rooms and bedrooms in particular, give a certain degree of flexibility (through control settings/dimmers) so that occupants can raise or lower the general lighting around the set level. Design for the upper end of the Lux ranges in homes with elderly occupants, which generally appreciate a higher level of general lighting. A minimum level of general lighting is required for safe movement in the home, especially on the stairs, but sufficient general LED lighting is considered important for general well-being.

Workplace lighting is needed for certain activities at home, such as reading, preparing food and working from home. LED lamps must be carefully selected, correctly positioned and controlled. Recommended are LED spot lights and high flux LED modules. Lamps or sockets are needed in the right places to ensure flexibility in the availability of work and accent lighting. Depending on the task, LED workplace lighting may be required at different levels. The color rendering of the light is also very important for some activities, we recommend LED lights with CRI 97 or more.

Accent lighting contributes to the ambiance of a house and is usually done with LED spots and strips. As with workplace lighting, LED luminaires (or sockets) are placed in the right places to emphasize architectural features, furniture and ornaments. Accent lighting is a more personal matter, and depending on the circumstances, spotlighting or floodlighting can be useful.

For each of these levels of lighting, controls can provide a range of lighting options. So in an living room there could be separate controlled circuits for:

• general lighting 
• task lighting (typically positioned under the wall units) 
• accent lighting 

Similar control patterns can be considered in other rooms, with dimmers providing a different lighting atmosphere in salons, dining rooms and bedrooms. Advanced controls, sometimes controlled by a mobile phone or a tablet app, that allow remote adjustment of the amount of light and its color are increasingly popular. Lighting is establishing itself as a lifestyle statement, and houses with new and innovative lighting systems are perceived as a marketing advantage.