With the release of Cree's new parking garage LED luminaire, and Acuity's Peerless brand introduces a cylindrical feature, GE Lighting's LED troffer takes the indoor LED lighting cake.
Illumination in Focus reported the addition of the Lumination BT series of fixtures from GE Lighting specifically designed for retail and office settings on T-grid ceilings. While this series is deeper than previous models – at 3.5 inches – its simpler design reduces the cost, giving businesses the ability to benefit from all of the environmental and economic advantages of a commercial LED lighting fixture without increasing the cost of replacement.
"Many businesses desire the efficiency and aesthetic benefits of LED lighting technology but have been on the fence about an upgrade given its higher investment cost," said Eric Stevenson, global product manager at GE Lighting. "GE's new Lumination BT Series recessed troffer is an affordable, all-in-one lighting system that still boasts a modern, fashionable fixture design – helping today's architects and lighting designers achieve their goals for maximum workplace productivity: energy efficiency and maintenance savings."
A game changer?
Available in 2-by-2-foot and 2-by-4-foot fixtures at 3,500K and 4,000K correlated color temperatures, the Lumination BT is a one-for-one replacement, allowing businesses to replace fixtures on an as-needed basis while improving the aesthetic appearance of their office or store. Previous products have employed GE's light guide technology known as Intrinsx. However, in their new series, GE opts for a simple planar panel that is lit from from behind with LEDs, cutting cost while still providing uniform, glare-free light. GE has mostly relied on leasing edge-lit light guides such as Intrinsx that it leases from Rambus. The licensing fee is side-stepped, however, by utilizing a simple back-lit panel, reducing costs all around.
All Lumination BT fixtures are rated for 50,000 hours of operation and feature a five-year warranty. A 4-step MacAdam ellipse specifies the color maintenance. The color rendering index is 80 with an R9 value greater than 0. The system efficacy is 97 lumens per watt. The Lumination BT series rounds out GE Lighting's offerings and is expected to improve the light quality at thousands of retail centers and offices across the United States and the world as conventional fluorescent troffers are replaced.
As innovation continues, the solid state lighting industry will continue to gain larger portions of market share as technology improves product performance and costs continue to improve.
