What Do We Really Know about Light?

To coincide with the International Day of Light, results of a recent
international consumer study conducted by LEDVANCE show that there is
still a lot of confusion about lighting technologies.

WILMINGTON, Mass.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–#Bluetooth–What do consumers know about lighting technologies? Or rather: what
do they think they know? Do they know their watts from their kelvins and
lumens? What do they think about the biological effects of light? A
representative survey of consumers around the world, with over 3,000
surveyed in North America, shows that there is still a considerable lack
of knowledge surrounding a number of different aspects on current and
future lighting technologies. On the International Day of Light,
LEDVANCE wants to help put an end to this confusion. In North
America, LEDVANCE LLC offers a wide range of SYLVANIA LED luminaires for
various applications, intelligent lighting products for Smart Homes and
Buildings, one of the largest LED lamps portfolios in the industry, and
traditional light sources.

UNESCO has declared May 16 as the International Day of Light, with the
aim of making a global audience aware of the importance of light and
lighting technologies. How do consumers rate their own knowledge of
light? What causes the greatest confusion? And how open and up-to-date
are they with regard to future issues of lighting technology? A recent
representative survey conducted by Research Now on behalf of LEDVANCE
answers these questions.

ÔÇ£Although light bulbs are considered as a commodity category product, we
generally undervalue the importance of lighting to our daily life and
well-being. At LEDVANCE, we try to communicate more on the lighting
benefits of our products since human beings spend a lot more time under
artificial lighting,ÔÇØ explained Wolfgang Mailaender, Head of Marketing
for the United States and Canada, LEDVANCE.

Mailaender further explained, ÔÇ£With choice can also come confusion as
demonstrated by the fact that our survey discovered that a majority of
Americans and Canadians, 77 percent and 69 percent respectively, have at
some time bought a lighting product for their household that was the
wrong fit, shape, size, and/or light temperature. Our goal is to make it
simpler for consumers to pick the right SYLVANIA light for the right
application, whether itÔÇÖs LEDs, Smart LEDs or traditional. The good news
is that people are turning to long-life, energy-efficient LED products,
and in turn, saving energy and resources and helping to preserve our
planet.ÔÇØ

Lack of knowledge about measurement units

Even though a majority have bought the wrong lighting product that they
needed, most consumers think they are better informed than they really
are. 71 percent of consumers in the United States and Canada responded
that the advantages and disadvantages of different lighting technologies
ranging from (smart) LEDs to classic incandescent lamps are completely
or at least sufficiently clear to them.

When questioned on relevant measurement units such as the ones that have
been printed on lamp or luminaire packaging for quite some time, the
wheat was soon separated from the chaff. 77 percent of respondents in
the United States and 80 percent in Canada were still able to correctly
assign watts to energy consumption. Kelvin and lumen, on the other hand,
which are important measurement units in the LED world, were only
identified by about half ÔÇô 58 percent in both the US and Canada and 58
percent in the US and 61 percent in Canada, respectively ÔÇô as
indications of color temperature and luminous flux.

According to Dr. Oliver Vogler, Head of Strategy and Marketing at
LEDVANCE, this is a problem because ÔÇ£the color temperature and its
kelvin value provide information about the light color ÔÇô ranging from
daylight white (from 5300 K) and cool white (3300 to 5300 K) to warm
white (up to 2700 K). The luminous flux given in lumens tells you how
much light the lamp gives out. So for energy-efficient LEDs, the crucial
value for brightness is no longer watts, but lumens.ÔÇØ

Germany finished behind every other country when it came to identifying
these measurements with only 33 percent of all respondents correctly
assigned all the units. The British, French, Swedish, Americans,
Canadians, Brazilians and Chinese on the other hand achieved between 40
and 50 percent. The Italians were top with 55 percent.

Shopping list surprises
If you are wondering which lighting
technologies consumers are looking for at their local DIY store or on
the internet, you would not be surprised to find LED technology ÔÇô either
with or without smart functions ÔÇô high on the list. 58 percent of
Americans and 55 percent of Canadians look for LED, and 31 percent and
26 percent look for Smart LED products. What is surprising, however, is
that old technologies still feature prominently with

• Halogen selected by 19 percent of both Americans and Canadians,
• Fluorescent selected by 26 percent of Americans and 21 percent of
  Canadians, and
• 18 percent of Americans and 16 percent of Canadians still stocking up
  on Incandescent light bulbs.

Human Centric Lighting: urgent need for information

Human Centric Lighting (HCL) ÔÇô or ÔÇ£the right light at the right timeÔÇØ ÔÇô
is one of the major trends right now in the lighting industry, and there
is plenty of hype surrounding it. It is scientifically proven that
artificial light that closely simulates the changes in natural daylight
can help make a valuable contribution to establishing and stabilizing
human day/night biorhythms, which can help boost our sense of well-being
and improve our health.

In response to the question on the biological effect of artificial light
on the human body, the majority of U.S. and Canadian respondents (around
72 percent) indicated however that they either did not believe it or
knew nothing about it. Nevertheless, two thirds (66 percent) saw an
advantage in using artificial light to stimulate body and spirit
according to their individual needs. People are therefore generally
open-minded about HCL. 62 percent of the respondents, for example,
indicated that the biological effects of light would have a major
influence on their purchasing decisions if they knew enough about it.
However, that is obviously not yet the case.

In conclusion, Vogler added, ÔÇ£At LEDVANCE, we consider it our
responsibility to provide more information on the huge contribution that
good light can make on the well-being of each and every one of us.ÔÇØ

For more information go to https://www.ledvance.com/news-and-stories/stories/international-day-of-light/.

ABOUT THE LEDVANCE INTERNATIONAL CONSUMER STUDY
The
international consumer study was conducted on behalf of LEDVANCE by the
renowned international market research institute Research Now at the end
of 2017 and the start of 2018 in a total of nine countries throughout
the world ÔÇô Germany, Great Britain, France, Italy, Sweden, USA, Canada,
Brazil and China. The online survey was based on a representative
cross-section of the ÔÇ£online populationÔÇØ in age groups from 18 to 60,
with different levels of education and income and from the various
regions. In the United States and Canada, over 3,000 were surveyed.

ABOUT LEDVANCE
With offices in more than 50 countries and
business activities in more than 140 countries, LEDVANCE is one of the
world's leading general lighting providers for professional users and
end consumers. Having emerged from the general lighting business of
OSRAM GmbH, LEDVANCE offers a wide-ranging assortment of LED luminaires
for a broad spectrum of application areas, intelligent lighting products
for Smart Homes and Buildings, one of the largest LED lamps portfolios
in the industry, and traditional light sources. Since March 2018, the
leading Chinese LED lighting company MLS is the sole owner of LEDVANCE.
In March 2017, LEDVANCE was acquired by a consortium, consisting of MLS
and the investment firms IDG Capital and Yiwu. In fiscal year 2017,
LEDVANCE achieved a turnover of around 1.9 billion Euro. Based on an
agreement with OSRAM, LEDVANCE will continue to use the trusted OSRAM
brand for many of its products (SYLVANIA for the USA and Canada).
Further information can be found at www.ledvance.com.

Contacts

LEDVANCE LLC
Glen Gracia, 978-395-7902
Corporate Media
Relations
[email protected]