--Wait...why are we cheering?
Because LEDs have quality advocates!!!!
--Um, is that a reason to celebrate?
From someone in the business to someone reading my blog, my answer is a great big YES!!!!!!
Here's why.
We need truth (and consistency) in advertising. If they say I get 100 pepperonis on my large pizza, I don't want 45.
Right now, an LED product can give you its stats (it's this bright, it uses this many watts, it is this color temperature, and has this CRI), but it doesn't have to tell you how they came up with those numbers, they aren't required to send to a third party for testing, heck, they're not even required to tell you any of that information to begin with. And as a consumer, what are you to do? You can spend lots of money to buy lots of products to see which are the best. You can read mfg. websites and really try your best to make an informed decision. You can just wait 10 years and see if this new fancy-schmancy technology will last and what products have risen to the top (PS. where this may even sound logical, think of the energy savings you could have saved by then).
Lighting Facts, SSL Lighting Advocates has established a voluntary pledge that manufacturers can take and use the Lighting Facts trademarked label on their products that pledges that they used the correct methods to obtain the information shown on the label. The label shows lumens, efficacy, watts, correlated color temperature (CCT) and color rendering index (CRI) — as measured by the new industry standard for testing photometric performance, IES LM-79-2008.
They say it best, "For the solid-state lighting (SSL) market to grow, consumers must have confidence that the product they are buying is well designed and performs to their expectations."
http://www.lightingfacts.com/
If you're interested in LED lighting, or you are solicited by someone selling LED lighting, ask them if the mfg. has pledged to use the testing methods as outlined by Lighting Facts, look for the mfg. name on the website, we need to work together to be sure you're receiving quality product, you're comparing comparable information, your decision is an informed one based on good information. It's a great website, it discusses further the anatomy of the Lighting Facts label, I would encourage everyone interested in LEDs to check it out. I guarantee you'll read something that is new to you, something you wouldn't have know to look for, something you didn't know could vary among products.
Lastly, it's important to note that very big and major LED manufacturers have signed on to this, they want to be among those making, testing, and delivering quality products. I don't believe this Lighting Facts label to be insignificant, in fact, it's a huge LEAP in the right direction for LED advocacy.
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