l.e.d. myths

There is a lot of cheap rubbish out there when it comes to l.e.d. products, especially the kits of deck lights and so-called "l.e.d. spotlights". Vendors of these typically low power units have propagated “urban myths” about l.e.d. products for the sake of selling cheap boxed products to a gullible public. Myth one is that l.e.d's are always cool to the touch. Cool l.e.d. units are only cool because they are low power – once you get up to 1 watt and above, l.e.d.’s produce considerable heat in continuous operation and the design of housing has to be large enough and incorporate thermal conduction features to dissipate the heat away. The trendy demand for smart stainless steel housings doesn’t help this technical challenge as stainless steel is a poor dissipater of heat: brass and aluminium housings with ribbed exteriors do a better job of ensuring reliable long term performance.

Myth 2 is that “l.e.d. spotlights” can light large features. This myth, about the existence of “powerful” l.e.d. spotlights, was based on crude products using clusters of low power l.e.d.’s, which in reality have a very limited “throw”. While higher power l.e.d.s (with a price tag to match) have been making a mark in architectural lighting, it wasn’t until this year’s Chelsea Flower Show that a major UK show garden was so comprehensively lit using nothing but l.e.d lighting - the Australian Garden designed by Dean Herald and with lighting by ME Lighting of Sydney. They used over 50 l.e.d. lights, uplighting trees and plants, downlighting the outdoor kitchen and seating areas, lighting paths and steps, - even lighting the spectacular glass dining table waterfall feature from the inside – something you couldn’t contemplate doing with any form of lighting requiring lamp replacement. While the uplighting of the trees didn’t quite reach the punch of a 50w halogen spotlight, the 5 watt l.e.d. spotlights were probably close to being a 35w halogen equivalent and gave a pleasant ambience, especially with use of a clever filter lens to provide a warm white output to counter the reservations that l.e.d. lighting has a very cold appearance. Reliable warm white l.e.d.’s and a choice of beam angles are also becoming available in other suppliers’ products, particularly 1w underwater and recessed lights. These new products from ME Lighting and Megabay will be available soon from Lighting for Gardens

You charge a fee? !!*!$$$!! ?

Although my business, Lighting for Gardens, is mainly concerned with supply of quality garden and outdoor lighting from around the world, I still do a lot of design work to help clients who want a creative garden lighting system without the guesswork. Most clients are happy to pay a modest fee, starting at £100 plus VAT for a small garden, for what I call professional lightscaping - creating that very different night time garden which a bit of imagination and a lot of experience can achieve. But sometimes I get the "You charge a fee? !!*!$$$!! ?" reaction from people who don't understand the amount of work involved, or who don't appreciate that producing a quotation for equipment supply means doing almost a full design first. "Other suppliers will provide a free design" is usually a try-on, as most people worth their salt in my business will charge a fee of some kind, and where its true all I can say is that the phrase "you get what you pay for" has a lot going for it. What I've got going for me is 15 years' experience of designing garden lighting systems - achieving garden lighting effects beyond a client's imagination in most cases, but learning from mistakes in my early years when I achieved my omelettes only by breaking a few eggs. So that's what you are paying for. And the fee does something else - its not a lot of money, but its enough to weed out the time wasters, the wishful thinkers who think you can light a garden for £100 without having to lay any cables) and the brain pickers - the latter being that noxious breed who lead suppliers or designers on with the lure of possible business purely for the purpose of collating information which can be used for the DIY job, or the bloke round the corner they can pay cash to.