New LED ballasted tube lighting fixtures with external drivers from LG Electronics are among the first to meet the U.S. Department of Energy's stringent new external power supply standards that took effect this year, LG Electronics USA announced.
By meeting the DOE's Level VI standard requiring a standby "no load draw" of less than 0.3 watts, LG's LED tubes and drivers help facility managers reduce energy consumption and associated costs, according to Sean Lafferty, head of LG's U.S. LED lighting business. "LG is leading the way with LED tube and driver efficiency to decrease energy usage in commercial spaces. And, unlike other such products on the market, ours features wireless controls for additional energy savings," he said.
Similar to LG's popular series of LED troffers and high bays, LG's ballasted tube and driver fixture (model 2-LED) features wireless controls configurable with LG's Sensor Connect system that allows a mobile app to customize light levels as well as occupancy and daylight harvesting settings. The 2-LED also can leverage the ZigBee® open standard protocol to connect to more powerful lighting and energy controls packages, such as ControlScope® from Daintree Networks®.
"LG's broad selection of Daintree certified products includes the only ZigBee wireless tube and driver on the market," said John Gordon, chief digital officer of Current, powered by GE, which acquired Daintree Networks Inc. this year. "ControlScope delivers energy savings on top of those provided by LG's wireless LED products, and offers enhanced levels of data, analytics and control," he said.
Lafferty explained that, in addition to ZigBee wireless dimming control, LG's external driver solution replaces the existing fluorescent ballast and does not bring line voltage into a potential point of contact for maintenance crew.
LG's introduction of the 2-LED is timely, because energy providers have begun restricting LED replacement fixtures. For example, New York-based Con Edison no longer accepts commercial retrofit plans that include "line voltage, ballast bypass" LED replacement lamps categorized as UL Listed Type "B" or Dual Mode Types "A" and "B."