Full Line of Residential LED Lighting Arrives

In a press release, Jim Decker, a vice president for Progress Lighting, said, “Progress Lighting believes now is the time for LED systems to illuminate our homes and not two to five years from now like most industry analysts predict.” Manuel Lynch, president and CEO of Permlight, added, “We will make it known that this is the light source from now on.” Let’s take a look at these claims and what’s driving them.

Under California’s current Title 24 energy efficiency standards for buildings, high-efficacy luminaires—defined as those providing 40 lumens per watt (l/w) or higher—are required in most residential applications. Although metal halide lighting also meets this efficacy requirement, fluorescent lighting—primarily compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs)—has been until recently the only available technology suitable for residences. But fluorescents rely on mercury, a toxin and target of increasing regulation. With a rule enacted in February 2006 under California’s Title 22, both linear fluorescent lamps and CFLs are classified as hazardous waste, and it is illegal to dispose of them in household trash. LEDs do not contain mercury. This lack of mercury, and the reasonably high efficacy of Permlight’s Enbryten Down line of LED luminaires led BuildingGreen to recognize it as a Top-Ten product for 2005 (see