US / European Made Lighting Product Versus Far East Made? Which is better?

21 Jan 2020

Lighting Manufacturers today have a mixed offering of Light Bulbs, Indoor and Outdoor Fixtures from Far East and US / Europe.Made in EU. There is no manufacturer that exists today who can offer all the products from a single continent or origin. The reasons are many. The basic light source that any fixture or bulbs uses, the LED chip are abundantly prodcuced and competitive in the Far East, all due to the scale they have had over the years, right from the LED revolution started in the early 2000s. Most of the big players in the LED chip manufacturing are based in the Far East. But the point here to debate is who gets the best fixture that meets the global benchmark of lighting efficacy, deliver longer lifetime at a given lumen depreciation set point and lower failure rate of less of 0.1%. We have seen manufacturers in the Far East and Europe / US claiming to sell their Luminaires especially the Outdoor ones at 5 years and extend them to 10 years if the project / specifier insists. It is when a claim is raised you come to know of the challenges you face to get your fixture replaced or refurbished. Ones that do it hassle free with minimal documentation are the ones to watch out for and trusted. LED fixtures are manufactured in all locations of the globe, however, the cost of manufacturing for a given spec or product will be the same for everyone, unless there is a huge R&D burden on the product. So it is about keeping the product at a reasonably competitive level and test them on very stringent standards that will allow a manufacturer to stand by his warranty claims. Many a times we see a disconnect as in 5 years many things change with a manufacturer.