Our luminaires are designed to last a long time and therefore require energy-efficient solutions. Luxo, as part of the Glamox Group, contributes to the improvement of the environment by delivering good products that save energy for the end user.
As much as 90 percent of a luminaire’s impact on the environment derives from the energy consumed, whereas production, transport and recovery account for a mere 10 percent. That is why we are determined to be a forerunner in the development of the best solutions: Better lightsources, efficient reflectors, new optics and modern control systems make for good luminaires that save energy when the products are in use.
Environmental Policy
Our goal is to produce energy-efficient products using energy-efficient lightsources, manufactured through energy-efficient and environmental-friendly processes. Several of our production units hold the ISO 14001 environmental approval. Our environmental routines are integrated in our quality systems.
The most important environmental aspects of our operations are:
Energy consumption related to the end user’s use of our luminaires
Product lifetime, choice of materials and recyclability of products
Consumption of energy and materials in product manufacture
Transport of raw materials, semi-finished goods and finished products
Waste from operations
Statutory Requirements
Luxo satisfies the RoHS Directive (Restriction of the Use of Certain Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Equipment) which aims to restrict the use of hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment. We do so through careful choice of electric components and suppliers.
Our products satisfy the WEEE Directive (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment) which requires products to be developed and designed to facilitate materials or energy recovery.
Official approvals provide security for our customers, and prove that our lighting systems are first class.
They are also a recognition of the fact that we are never satisfied with what we have achieved so far, but seek perfection in the performance of our products.
Special lighting leads to enhanced durability and stability of the materials and electronic gears in use which leads to special demands and requirements. Standards and rules issued by international authorities cover these extended requirements in design and functionality, and outline the most sophisticated design process that often results in a complex type approval procedure.
UL/cUL Mark
The UL/cUL mark designates our products as having met the requirements outlined by the National Electric code. Such products bearing the mark have been tested and approved by the Underwriters Laboratory and Underwriters Laboratory of Canada.
CE and ENEC Marks
Each luminaire that leaves our production includes the CE mark. The CE mark indicates that the manufacturer guarantees that the relevant requirements for health and safety expected of the product are fulfilled. Furthermore, all major luminaire series from Luxo, have ENEC certification. ENEC certification is a common certification agreement for lighting equipment, that is accepted in the whole CEN area.
As a result of the high demands placed on the quality and durability of its products, the Glamox Group operates modern assessment and testing laboratories in Norway and Germany for the simulation of a wide variety of environmental conditions.
Environmental test centers in Bremen, Germany and Molde, Norway
These institutes have earned an excellent reputation in the lighting industry, and possess licenses from institutions such as the European Norms Electrical Certification (ENEC), the BSH Bundesamt für Seeschifffahrt und Hydrographie (the German Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency) and Germanischer Lloyd (GL).
Third party testing
Given their significance and reliable simulation and testing methods, our laboratories are also used by external firms and organizations. The test reports of our laboratories are accepted e.g. by Germanischer Lloyd (GL), Lloyd’s Register (LR), Det Norske Veritas (DNV), Bureau Veritas (BV), Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB) and many more.
Luxo’s quality policy is laid down in the primary control documents of the Glamox Control System, in compliance with the ISO 9001 quality standard.
Most of our production units and testing facilities have certified quality systems according to ISO 9001. Our quality policy includes all of the following important aspects of our activities:
Quality in product development and construction
Quality in the selection of suppliers and components
Quality in manufacturing
Quality in testing and certification
Quality in logistics and product shipment
Quality in customer care and complaints handling
Environmental policy
The Glamox Group also has an environmental policy, and several of our production units hold the ISO 14001 environmental approval.
Luxo aims to sell LED luminaires with single LEDs, LED modules and LED drivers with the best possible quality. We also strive to provide customers with the quality they want, nothing more, nothing less. By doing this, we provide a good cost/benefit ratio to our customers.
Our engineers are among the world’s leading experts on LED technology
We use their expertise to design and manufacture innovative products with low energy consumption and long life. Equally important is our experience and know-how about the design of optics and thermal control, so that the products will perform to standard over a long period of time.
How we work with LED
Quality
We always use the best quality LEDs for our products, from the best manufacturers.
Color
Particular attention is given to the color temperatures and color rendering qualities of the LED lightsources we use.
Heat management
High power LEDs require more precise current and heat management than traditional lightsources. Our know-how of thermal control has significant influence on the lifespan of our products.
Glare control
LED products often have problems meeting glare requirements. Our engineering skills ensure that our LED products always meet or exceed relevant national and international standards.
While LEDs do not have a full color spectrum, we must pay special attention to their color quality and color rendering capabilities.
LEDs may contain less red wavelengths which can cause poor rendering of red colors. It is possible to avoid this by using special materials when producing the diodes. This is why one must pay special attention to the LED’s color rendering index (CRI) which is often expressed as Ra.
When LEDs are produced, they are formed with many different colors or color temperatures. The International Commission on Illumination’s (CIE) color diagram is used to create a binning structure, i.e. groups of diodes that share the same color characteristics. LED suppliers offer different bins of LEDs to luminaire manufacturers. The fewer bins the higher cost.
Some binning systems relate to the human eye’s color sensitivity via a model called MacAdam ellipses. The ellipses are mapped onto the binning structure in the color diagram and their size corresponds to the LED’s color tolerance. The size is measured in steps. The more steps, the bigger the tolerance and the easier it is to spot a difference in color. Generally, a 3-step ellipse is considered a good color tolerance. Most Luxo luminaires comply with a 3-step tolerance.
One of the advantages of LED is that all the light is emitted in one direction. This entails fewer reflections inside the luminaire since we normally want the light to go downward only. If we need a light distribution that goes both up and down, the LED is less suitable compared to e.g. a T5 fluorescent lamp.
Conventional lightsources cast a lot of light backwards, which may be lost in the optics design of a luminaire. The LED, on the other hand, emits all light in one direction.
The performance of LED is often measured in terms of lumens per watt or efficacy. With luminaires with fluorescent tubes, the efficiency is explained using the LOR or Light Output Ratio. The LOR would measure how efficient the optics are. For these luminaires, the installed power in watt is often used as a measure on the luminaire’s light output. LED luminaires, however, usually use the rated luminaire lumen to determine the luminaire’s light output.
The rated lumen value from an LED module may give an inaccurate picture of how many lumen you actually get from the luminaire. When documenting an LED luminaire, Luxo always lists the lumen value out of the luminaire, the so called rated lumen, luminaire. When you compare this lumen output with a T5 luminaire you must take the rated lumen from the T5 lamps and multiply with the Light Output Ratio (LOR) of the luminaire (see figure).
One should pay special attention to the difference between rated lumen, luminaire and rated lumen, lamp, which is measured on the LED module. Previously, LED manufacturers listed the lumen output at a junction temperature of 25 degrees, or so-called cold lumens. The junction temperature is measured inside the diode itself. Today, a more common denomination is to use hot lumens, i.e. lumens measured at an ambient temperature of 25 degrees, which correspond to a much higher junction temperature.
A Light Emitting Diode (LED) generates light in a semi-conductor material, which is an electronic component. Using the right materials, a diode may produce visible light of various wavelengths.
White light is created by either using a blue diode or “chip” and adding yellow phosphor on top, or by mixing light from one red, one green and one blue diode (RGB). The use of phosphor conversion is the most commonly used method in the lighting industry, due to its high efficacy and flexible production method. The phosphor can be added directly onto each diode, or as a remote phosphor plate on top of a mixing chamber. This method creates a particular color spectrum or spectral power distribution for the LED depending on the phosphor layer.
LED is not a new invention and most of us are familiar with LEDs being the red or green signal markers on your Wi-Fi or television. These are referred to as low-power LEDs. During the last couple of years “high power” LEDs, i.e. LEDs operating at powers of around 1W, have reached a level of cost and performance that make them attractive to the general lighting industry.
Market studies forecast that in 2020, nearly 50% of all new and replacement lightsource unit sales will be based on LEDs. Since LEDs are more expensive than conventional lighting, the value of the LED sales will be even higher.
Currently, LED lightsource efficacy levels are around 160 lm/W (lumens per watt) compared to a compact fluorescent lightsource which produces an average of 50-70 lm/W. The LED itself is expected to yield around 200 lm/W within the next ten years (Sources: McKinsey and Osram).
The spectral power distribution (the amount of light emitted at each wavelength) of the LED incorporates the blue light from the chip and the yellow phosphor.
The chart above illustrates the development in efficacy (lm/W) over time for conventional and LED lightsources. Whereas fluorescent tubes are expected to reach a maximum of 120 lm/W in 2020, LEDs may reach around 200 lm/W. (Source: Osram)
The ability to place the light exactly where it is needed is a hallmark of a Luxo task light. The flexibility of the lamp head makes it easy to adjust our task lights for your personal needs.
It is the combination of arm and head movements that determines the degree of flexibility in a task light. Each of our task lights offer one, two or a combination of all three of the head movements below. These lamp head movements help you direct light where you need it, without moving the task light itself.
Our history of lighting for the individual began with the development of the L-1 task light in 1937. The freedom of movement, and the ability to place the light exactly where it was needed, forever changed the way task lights work.
L-1 was designed by Luxo’s founder, the engineer Jac Jacobsen, and is still in production today. The lamp arm is balanced by springs that work on the action and reaction principle of human arm muscles.
Modern range of arm-based task lights
Naturally, our range of products has been vastly expanded since those early days. However, the philosophy and knowledge from the development of the L-1 is still maintained in our modern products. Today, our range of task lights and other arm-based luminaires comprises a wide variety of arm technology, most notably with internal or external springs. They all have perfect balance, and careful ergonomics built into them. In fact, the aesthetics of the arm designs may be considered a quality in their own right.
The ability to place the light exactly where it is needed is a hallmark of a Luxo arm. The flexibility of arm and lamp head means that it is easy to adjust Luxo task lights for your personal needs. The arm construction ensures that the lamp head will always stay in the right position without drifting.
