High power lightingclass LEDs can run at impressively high temperatures. But there’s a limit to how much power LEDs can handle and it is essential that adequate heatsinking is provided to prevent overheating. Many LED lighting users are unaware of this so overheating of LEDs can occur all too easily unless prevented by good design!
What causes overheating?
LEDs that overheat will degrade more rapidly in terms of:
-Light output – so called ‘lumen maintenance’.
-Colour change with time
What causes overheating?
LED overheating can be caused by many rather obvious design factors such as inadequate heat sinking and excess LED power.
But a welldesigned LED luminaire can be equally overheated by installing it in an environment for which it was not designed…
So not cooking your LEDs can be as much about getting the design right as properly educating installers and end users.
LEDs that overheat will degrade more rapidly in terms of:
-Light output – so called ‘lumen maintenance’.
-Colour change with time
In extreme cases overheating LEDs can result in physical damage to the LEDs themselves, plastic lenses, wires, connectors, printed circuit boards, drive electronics etc.
