FAQ-www.hofoled.com

What is an LED?: LED stands for Light Emitting Diode. No filaments heat up, as in traditional lights. Instead the light is created by a cleverly designed tiny electronic chip.

Weve heard LED are very energy efficient and saving – is this true?: Yes. LEDs require very little electricity to power them up because they are extremely efficient. Their design converts approximately 90% of the electricity they consume into light. In a conventional light the figure is more like 10 – 15%, with the rest of the electricity effectively wasted in lost heat. Our HOFOLED downlighters, for example, draw only 5 Watts of electricity to light up, compared to 50 Watts drawn by a traditional halogen downlighter. That is a saving in electricity consumption of approximately 90%. Not bad when the cost of electricity is continually rising. All hofo lights are LED-based and all are highly energy-efficient.

How can we trust your company Hofoled ?: As well as being highly energy-efficient, our hofo LED lights are suitable for retro-fit installation and new builds. This means they can be used to replace existing lights (especially inefficient halogens) and/or be installed into buildings being designed for the future. Hofo lights are all thoroughly tested before they are released onto the market. They are all CE approved, ROHS compliant and all tested to meet minimum safety standards. They can be truly relied upon for longevity and for performance. That is why they carry 3 years guarantees – unlike most of the competition.

How about CFL compared to LED ?: The usual low-energy light technology on the market today is CFL – standing for Compact Fluorescent Light. These tend to be curly in shape and give off a bluey-white light. In effect they are the same technology as the neon fluorescent tubes often found in offices or kitchens, simply engineered to fit into smaller fittings (hence “compact”). CFL technology is energy-efficient, as it uses less electricity than traditional lighting. However, CFLs contain mercury and other toxic materials in measurable quantities – they need these materials in order to work. They also tend to be made of glass and if they break they are a health hazard from both the glass shards and the mercury. This makes them expensive to handle and dispose of. In addition CFL lights tend to flicker and usually take time to come on – causing health and safety issues. LEDs have none of these problems.

How can we say that these lights long lifetime last 50,000 hours?: Our lights actually last for much, much longer than 50,000 hours, but after that the light output begins to look a bit less than it was. It is accepted that the human eye will begin to notice a difference when the light output decreases to about 70% of its maximum. Using tested mathematical formulae, our technical team calculates when that 70% point is in hours – and that is the length of time we say our lights will last for.

Do your lights can replace/fit existing fittings easy?: Certainly. All of Hofo LED’s mains downlighter bulbs have GU10 or E27 screw fittings which fit standard fittings. Our MR16 (or GU10) low voltage bulbs also fit standard fittings. Our LED flouroescent lamp replacement tubes fit standard batons.

Why are LEDs so much more expensive than regular light bulbs?: The main reason is that LEDs are built using complex engineering, expensive tooling and solid materials e.g. aluminium and ceramics. Our hofoled lights, for example, are engineered to last for 5 - 10 years. They use one eighth of the power of today’s halogen downlighters or fluorescent tubes – and it is the design and engineering that ensures the savings in running costs.