What is LED Classroom Lighting?
LED Classroom Lighting refers to a specific type of lighting that is designed for classrooms. This type of lighting is intended to provide optimal illumination for students and teachers alike, and it can significantly improve the learning environment in any classroom.
Many traditional classrooms are lit with fluorescent lighting, which can often be harsh and unflattering. This can make it difficult for students to focus and learn effectively. LED Classroom Lighting is designed to address these issues by providing more natural-looking light that is easy on the eyes. This type of lighting has been shown to reduce eye strain and fatigue, making it easier for students to pay attention and learn.
Why is LED Classroom Lighting Important?
The range of benefits that comes from implementing LED lights into your school lighting plan is almost limitless, from an improvement in student performance to the ability to replicate outdoor lighting to create a learning environment that is much more inviting for students. Here are a few of the top benefits of using LED lighting systems.
They Save Energy
LED lighting differs from fluorescent lighting in that it is totally recyclable and does not contain any mercury, which means that they are the most environmentally-friendly option for lighting up a classroom. It has also been proven that LED lights to use significantly less energy than any other lighting mode, so any school district that uses LED lights will be able to benefit from substantially-reduced maintenance and energy costs.
In the US alone, schools that are still using incandescent and fluorescent lightbulbs have to spend a lot more of their money compensating for the heat produced by these lighting fixtures – far more than they do on the lights themselves. But, the simple change to LED lighting solutions can work to promote significant savings. This cash can then be funded for other areas of the school that require more immediate attention.
Greater Performance for Students and Teachers
LED lighting offers another incredibly important benefit to schools – several studies have shown that LED lights can be adjusted to mimic natural light, which has been shown to boost student academic performance during the learning day.
If you have ever been in a classroom that is illuminated with fluorescent lights, then you know that these lights have a bad reputation for interrupting learning time when they break. This is a problem in and of itself, but when you factor in the trace volumes of mercury contained in these lights, the problem becomes much worse. If one of these fluorescent bulbs were to burst in the middle of a class, that section of the school would have to evacuate until all trace mercury has been removed from the site. This threat does not exist in the case of LEDs, since they are not constructed using any hazardous chemicals or materials.
As we have already mentioned, LEDs can have their color temperature adjusted in such a way that they produce white and blue light. This kind of light has a positive effect on productivity and concentration. Younger students in particular struggle in these areas, especially during morning classes. However, with the right color temperature and light levels, LEDs can have a positive impact on their biological rhythms, helping them fight off tiredness.
Better Flexibility and Lighting Controls
LED lighting can also improve the educational experience of learners even when they’re not in the classroom. For instance, with the recent shift into digital learning, many students are still virtually receiving a lot of education. One issue that disrupts online learning is the fact that fluorescent lighting is usually used when online learning materials are being recorded. If you’ve ever watched an online class, you know that these lights cause a highly distracting flicker throughout the video.
This flickering only becomes worse as the lights are dimmed. However, with the many recent advancements in LED lighting solutions, there is a full range of LED options that are ‘flicker-free’. Many of these options also come with features that allow for dimming and color adjustment.
But these features don’t just improve the quality of online learning. In fact, when a classroom is able to control its lighting, teachers will be able to match the color of the light temperature to certain times or daily activities. These adjustable presets can be changed to promote focus in activities that require students to pay closer attention. Likewise, they can promote a sense of calm during more relaxed activities, such as independent reading.
Even some of the simpler functions, like dimming, are being implemented in classrooms across the country.
It’s Good for Your Health
Not only are fluorescent lights wasteful and harmful to the environment, but they can also have some negative effects on your overall health and wellness.
The installation of LED fixtures will reduce the chances of students and teachers becoming exposed to some harmful chemicals, like PCBs – also called Polychlorinated Biphenyls. This chemical is considered a carcinogen and can cause damage to the nervous, endocrine, and immune systems of the body. This classification comes from the US Environmental Protection Agency. PCBs are frequently found in TI2 ballasts in the most common fluorescent light models.
While these components are all at risk of experiencing a rupture or leak, some are also known to release not-insignificant levels of PCBs during standard use, which, as we already know, is quite harmful to your health.
Of course, another far more familiar contaminant is found in this outdated lighting solution – mercury. Fluorescent lights are made up of a combination of mercury and inert gases, which the current passes via the glass tube. This contaminant can enter your body through your skin and lungs, though the exact method of entry will depend on how you are exposed to the contaminant.
Even worse, if the tube were to shatter suddenly, all personnel nearby would be at risk of mercury contamination. Any learner who is still receiving instruction under this outdated lighting method is having their health be put at risk on a daily basis.
Lower Maintenance Costs
Schools are constantly looking to make the most efficient and effective use of their money, and every single classroom, bathroom, office, and hallway requires good lighting. Schools that still work with fluorescent lights may find their maintenance workers spending a significant amount of their working time replacing these lights, especially since the number of bulbs that must be replaced in fluorescent can reach thousands.
But, because LEDs have a much longer lifespan and are also just more efficient, maintenance crews can spend much less time replacing or maintaining bulbs, which can help the school save a lot of money in the long run.
What Are the Different Types of LED Classroom Lighting?
It goes without saying that there is not just one kind of LED lighting option. Here are some of the most common LED solutions that you can install in your classroom:
Classroom Lighting
When it comes to LED lighting in schools, it’s most commonly found in the classroom.
Classroom lighting plans should use plenty of natural light, then supplement this with artificial lights when necessary. Incorporating natural lights into a learning environment can provide a range of benefits to teachers, students, and administrators.
Common LED classroom lighting solutions include ceiling lights like economical strip lights and utility wraparound fixtures. Pendant architectural lights and recessed troffer lights are also very common LEDs found in schools and offer a range of benefits.
Library Lighting
School libraries are unique in that they require indirect lighting for more open areas and direct lighting for reading and working areas.
Library lighting should facilitate quiet, private reading for studying or recreating while also having the versatility to work for hosting activities like a reading group or club. Therefore, libraries require lighting solutions to provide a comfortable and productive atmosphere for all users.
An effective lighting scheme for the library should also make use of as much natural lighting as possible, and lighting should be as unobtrusive as possible. Warmer tones also work well in libraries, as they can facilitate a feeling of calm and peacefulness as learners read and study.
Hallway and Stairwell Lighting
A lighting area that is often overlooked, but is perhaps the most important in a school, is the lighting in a hallway or stairwell. Good lighting in the school halls will make those hallways easier to navigate and much safer, as students will not have to struggle to see where they’re going between classes.
A good stairwell light will make the environment friendly and safe. Most corridors do not have a lot of room for you to work with, so lighting fixtures must be small enough to fit into the hallways properly while still being large enough to provide sufficient illumination.
What to Consider When Buying LED Classroom Lighting
It is clear that classroom lighting is of the utmost importance when creating an effective learning environment. Here are some things that you should take into consideration when purchasing LED lights for classrooms:
Think About Positioning
Position a classroom’s lighting fixtures in a way that is beneficial both to students and to teachers. You don’t want to have excellent lighting over the board where the teacher provides instruction, only to have the rest of the classroom bathed in a dim light that makes it difficult for learners to read and write, and thus to concentrate as well.
One problem that we often encounter in classes that use recessed fixtures is that the wall on which the instruction board is mounted is not illuminated. Putting a 4-foot recessed fixture so close to any wall is quite a challenge, which is why this problem arises.
One of the best alternatives to recessed lighting is track lights. This is particularly true for the track lighting that spreads illumination to all of the most important areas of the classroom. This kind of light also prevents the risk of detracting from the overall lighting needs of the learners. When accent lighting is placed to the sides of this area, it becomes a powerful LED lighting tool, especially in classrooms where track lighting is not an option due to limited space.
Accent lighting positioned at the sides of this area will be one of the more effective LED lighting applications in the classroom, especially when there is not enough space for track lighting.
Consider the Space
Suspended lighting is only truly effective in rooms with ceilings higher than 9 feet. Otherwise, the lighting may create a dark, recessed with shadowed areas at the outer edges of the light spread. To avoid this, make sure that the fixtures are as high up as possible. Alternatively, choose a larger light spread, and you should be able to avoid this problem.
When you’re choosing the mounting type for your LED light, you’ll need to consider the room’s space first. Recessed and surface-mounted lighting works well in classrooms, as they can help make the space feel larger. They also offer learners plenty of illumination, helping them see their work and writing properly so as not to hinder their learning.
Remember That LEDs Are More Expensive
The components that are used to construct LEDs are pretty costly – drivers, circuit boards, and even yellow phosphor, which is a rare-earth compound. This means that they’re going to cost you slightly more than a standard fluorescent light. Still, with the advances being made in technology and also the growing popularity of LEDs, these prices are dropping steadily.
Keep in mind that there’s a lot of variation when it comes to the quality of LEDs, which also means that there will be some variation in the pricing. Try to find LEDs that offer the best brightness and color temperatures over time, preferably from a reputable manufacturer.
They Aren’t Without Their Disadvantages
As we have mentioned previously, despite the fact that it is more expensive to install LEDs, your school will be able to make this investment back fairly quickly thanks to their efficiency.
The earlier models of LEDs received a lot of backlash for their poor color accuracy and over-diffusion, though in recent years, they have seen a lot of meaningful improvement. IT’s much easier to acquire luminaires that are omnidirectional, where LEDs point the light at reflective surfaces or through high-quality lenses to provide a diffused, even glow that permeates an entire space.
The bottom line is this – if you’re working on a budget, then LEDs may not be the best option for you, as they can be fairly expensive to acquire and install. But, the investment is often paid back in just a few years.
Use LEDs!
LEDs are, undoubtedly, the best option for lighting up classrooms. We can’t deny that it definitely costs a little more to install them initially. However, LED lights to provide a tenfold return on investment thanks to their negligible utility costs, the longevity of their fixtures and bulbs, and the fact that maintaining them is almost never necessary.
While there is no denying that they are a little more costly than other lighting solutions, they pay the investment back tenfold in the improved longevity of the fixtures and bulbs, lowering utility costs, and the almost non-existent maintenance needs.
But it isn’t just the fact that they are so cost-effective that makes them desirable for classrooms – it’s their cool white color temperature. Cool white artificial light is very similar to natural light from the outdoors in terms of its color temperature. We will discuss how it has been proven that natural light is the most effective form of illumination for classrooms.
Its ability to improve alertness and mental clarity in ways that artificial lighting with a warmer temperature cannot achieve.
How LED Classroom Lighting Affects the Learning Environment
It has been shown that LED lights are incredibly effective in classrooms when compared to other light options, as they can produce a much higher light quality than fluorescent and incandescent fixtures. They have a consistent output and lower costs, which means that they are an attractive option for schools that either want to improve upon their legacy technologies or update to more advanced learning tech.
As the pedagogical world grows in its understanding of ADHD and other problems with learning, we know that concentration is a crucial aspect of educational achievements. LEDs are capable of providing the kind of illumination that assists students in focusing when it is time to learn, as well as when working on their homework both in and out of the classroom.
LEDs are able to improve memory recall for those who are more focused, thanks to the fewer distractions that these bulbs provide. Studies have also shown that cooler color temperatures can make some tasks easier – too much warmth in light could cause students to struggle to recall information.
On the other hand, Cooler light promotes thinking strategies requiring total comprehension, which works well when learners practice specific exercises, like logic puzzles, word games, and problem-solving.
How LEDs Benefit Teachers
LEDs can also help teachers facilitate effective teaching and learning in the classroom, as they offer instructors the ability to adjust lighting depending on their individual goals for the classroom. Recently studies have shown that LED lights that mimic natural sunlight increase student cognitive performance significantly. It was shown to help them adjust more easily when it comes time for nighttime activities like sleepovers.
Moreover, since cool-toned LEDs are able to boost concentration and cognitive function in students, they make teaching vastly more effective in the long run. Teachers may not have to battle as much to get learners to concentrate on the material when those learners are already more aware and ready to receive information.
Why Choose LED Classroom Lighting from RC Lighting
At RC Lighting, we’re passionate about helping you unlock the full potential of your space through stunning lighting. We are able to provide you with a full range of lighting solutions, including premium-quality LED lights for classrooms and schools.
As one of China’s leading architectural LED lighting manufacturers and suppliers, we strive to deliver your lighting fixtures on time, within budget, and with an exceptional level of quality. So, if you’re in need of excellent LED lights for your classroom, give us a call, and we’ll be happy to help.
Wrapping Up
IT’s clear to see that LEDs are the way to go when it comes to the future of classroom lighting. While they may be slightly more expensive, their benefits more than makeup for the cost. IF you require premium-quality LED lights for your classroom, contact us today, and we will guide you through all of the world-class options we have available.
