10 Considerations when buying LED track lighting

Here are our Top 10 Considerations when buying LED track lighting.

This article is part of a series our series to help you distinguish quality products from poor products, and what questions to ask yourself before going ahead with a purchase. We are also happy to help over the phone on 0333 123 5464.

1. Track type

The vast majority of lighting tracks are standard Global tracks which the track lights we stock are manufactured for.

Ensure first that your tracks are standard before progressing as non-standard tracks may persuade you to switch to a different style of lighting.

2. Location

Location will ultimately decide which style of track lighting you go for.

Our range of Verbatim LED track lights can be split into two: sleek at a premium price, and chunkier at a cost-effective price.

If you are purchasing lighting for a shop window or for a very high-end store, you will probably opt for the sleeker, premium track light. In contrast, if you are specifying for a ceiling light you can go for the more cost-effective option as no one will oversee the fitting.

You will also want to take note of the location when deciding whether to go for the accompanying accessories. Track lights used to spotlight products will benefit from a narrower beam angle, whereas spotlights for general lighting will not need to be so tailored and are unlikely to need accessories.

3. Flexibility

The Verbatim range of track lighting comes with the option of a number of compatible accessories. Whether you want to reduce glare, or narrow a beam angle, you can achieve this without changing the whole light. Even better, you can do this several times over the lamp life which provides flexibility over the long life of an LED.

4. Beam angle

LED is much more ‘directional’ in nature than traditional light sources. Most LED bulbs will have technology to spread the light across a large area, but don’t get caught out by an LED spotlight with a narrow beam angle which doesn’t work for you.

Alternatively, you can turn this to your advantage as narrow beam angles can be very useful at highlighting a feature or product.

For more information on beam angles see our LED Jargon Buster.

5. Colour temperature

Picking the right colour temperature is a very personal decision as it helps set the atmosphere of a room. Simply, the colour temperature is the colour the light from the lamp looks.

Traditional metal halide lighting comes in at quite a high colour temperature so if you are looking to mimic this as close as possible then go for 4000K and above. However, if you are looking for a warmer light then 3000K will have a much more comforting glow.

6. Lamp life

LED is a brilliant option if you value product lifespan. Traditional metal halide will typically last 15,000 hours, while LED can significantly outlast these with 35,000+ hours. This means you only need to buy one over the time you would need two or more traditional track lights.

7. On/off time

Like lifespan, on/off time is a benefit common to all LED, however this is particularly pronounced when compared to traditional metal halide track lights.

Consider when weighing up whether to switch to LED the benefit of instant switching from off to full-brightness and back again.

8. Disposal

When LED track lights come to the end of their long life, they do not suffer from the same disposal draw-backs as metal halide lamps.

We encourage you to recycle any used LEDs but you will not need to take special disposal measures as LED contains no harmful mercury; they should be suitable for standard electrical recycling.

9. Colour shift

Before metal halide lamps reach the end of their comparably short life their colour temperature can change.

If you carefully designed your lighting environment in the first place, why should you want that to be compromised over time? LED does not suffer from this problem, even over their significantly longer life.

10. Efficiency

Lastly, LED is slightly more efficient than metal halide so you get more light from the power put in. This is because LED does not waste any of its energy producing waste wavelengths such as UV or Infra-Red.

LED only produces light in the visible spectrum so the power you are paying for is going to the purpose you need it for.

See our full range of LED track lights here.