New CREE CR High Efficacy troffer series that hits 130 lm/W

http://ledsmagazine.com/news/10/1/20
Cree announced the CR Series High Efficacy (HE) troffers that deliver 130 lm/W system-level efficacy including the driver, and that are now rated for 100,000 hours of life.

More info here:
http://illuminationinfocus.com/news/4/1/8

Learn a new word a day, keep the brain bugs away.

What is a troffer?

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Very impressive. I also like the fact that Cree is finally offering 5000K (and 90 CRI!) for their product lines. I know what I'll be using when it comes time to replace my existing T8 fluorescent fixtures (probably in 10 years or so). By then Cree's LED troffer will probably be past 200 lm/W.

What's interesting if I do the numbers for replacing the 4x32 watt T8 fixture in the kitchen (5000K, probably ~8000 fixture lumens, 108 watts at the ballast) with a pair of Cree's 5000K troffers with the HE option (115 lm/W), I cut the power usage to 89 watts. It doesn't sound like a lot, but this light is on maybe 12 hours per day. In a year this would save about $25 at our present rates. Over the fixture's 23 year lifetime it would save $575. This is nearly equal to the purchase price of a pair of troffers.

For not-24-hour-use, it still seems to me that LED has more important selling points than only power savings. Quality of light, control over distribution, instant-on, and low-maintenance are more important to me than $25/year at home. In a factory, it'll be $50/year per fixture, which adds up to a pretty penny.

For the near term, I think the big selling target is new installations or planned replacements. They are making it an easy decision for new builds, and if a reno is being done, again, it is an easy decision now unless up-front capital cost is the over-riding issue. Depends on who is paying the electrical bills and what market the building owner is catering to.

Semiman