The 5 Most Efficient LED Wall Wash Fixtures
A listing of highly efficacious LED wall wash fixtures. Ranked by Lumens per Watt.
As lumen power density requirements challenge lighting designers and engineers, high-efficacy fixtures make it possible to include certain fixture types that otherwise may have been excluded if we were still living in a mainly fluorescent world.
Wall washing is a very popular and oft-appreciated architectural lighting practice that is sometimes squeezed out of a project due to lumen power density and/or budget constraints. We thought that compiling a shortlist of highly efficacious wall wash fixtures might help certain projects meet both their energy and design goals.
LED technology and fixtures are in a mode of continuous performance improvement. The bar continues to rise on the performance of LED packages, drivers and fixtures. As a result of these perpetual improvements, we decided to crunch some data in a valiant quest to discover the lighting industry's most efficacious LED wall wash fixtures.
Simply stated, Luminous Efficacy is the ratio of light output and power measured in Lumens per Watt (lm/W).
Efficacy is certainly an important consideration when selecting fixtures of nearly any type. But it should not be the sole consideration. Just like price, aesthetics, installation-ease, quality, warranty, manufacturer reputation and other factors are not typically the sole reason to decide on a fixture, efficacy is simply one measure of many when lighting decision makers evaluate their options. The decision makers determine how much importance and weight to apply to the efficacy factor in comparison to the other important considerations.
It should also be noted that there are often trade-offs to achieving high efficacy. Light distribution, glare, diode image, visual comfort and other factors may be negatively affected in fixtures with ultra-high efficacy. The best manufacturers have found effective ways to maximize efficacy while minimizing the impact of those potentially negative drawbacks.
All information was pulled from the DesignLights Consortium Qualified Products list in August 2020. We did not pull information from Energy Star, as Energy Star does not have a wall wash category, and combing through the recessed section for wall wash and/or asymmetric fixtures was not feasible.
The 5 Most Efficient Wall Wash Fixtures
(Among fixtures that were evaluated by DesignLights Consortium and earned a DLC listing)
|
|
116 lm/W Columbia Lighting CWW
CWW is a 3" high performance wall wash with a narrow aperture and a clean, finished appearance. CWW provides uniformity of 5:1 on vertical surfaces from ceiling to floor. Listed model: CWW4-50XWx-1WW-EDU Lumens: 2861 |
|
|
111 lm/W Self Electronics Flow
Lockable, IP65 aluminum alloy linear fixture with precision aiming adjustment: ±60° vertical rotation. Quick connects for easy installation. Listed model: FLOW-4540K 2660 Lumens |
|
|
104.2 lm/W Essentia by Cree
Essentia® Series Wall Wash Track LED, available in 2700K, 3000K, 3500K and 4000K, is an excellent choice for commercial, retail, restaurant and hospitality applications requiring high-output LED performance. Listed model: S-CT-WW-25L-40K-xx 3125 Lumens |
|
|
100.6 lm/W Contech PL Series
Listed model: PL4240KCA[1C,2C,3C][MV,MVD2][EM]-[B,P,S] Lumens: 4491 |
|
|
98 Lm/W Mark Lighting Slot 2 PSW
The Slot 2 PSW luminaires provide an unparalleled package of performance and features. Available in pendant, surface and wall mount, these luminaires offer superior efficacies, multiple lens and distribution options and integrated controls. In short, everything you need to light your imagination. Listed model: S2LDX U4 80CRI 35K 400LMF WW 1420 lumens |
Related Report:
Methodology
There is probably over a dozen different satisfying ways that we could have sliced and diced the data to come up with this list. We chose to keep the list relatively short and decided upon the following methods that we believe provide a useful snapshot for lighting professionals. Since all of the source information is publicly available for download, interested parties who want to do research beyond our list, can do so by visiting the DOE and DLC websites.
Source:
Information was downloaded on August 31, 2020 from the DesignLights Consortium Qualified Products List. If you have issues with the specifications that we cite on inside.lighting, please know that we pulled the data directly from the DLC website and the manufacturers' respective websites.
Information was gathered using the Reported Efficacy and Reported CCT of each fixture. Initially, we wanted to report only on fixtures that were actually tested by DLC, but doing so eliminated a large quantity of highly efficient fixtures from many reputable manufacturers.
Fixtures:
- Fixtures are full, complete LED luminaires; not retrofit kits.
- Classified by DLC as Primary Use: Wall Wash
- The fixtures must also be commercially available. (i.e. If a fixture was not cited on the manufacturer's website, we would exclude it.)
Color Rendering Index:
All fixtures must be greater than 80 CRI.
Color Temperature:
All fixtures must be less than 4250K.
Manufacturers:
Since inside.lighting primarily serves lighting professionals in the U.S. and Canada, we thought it would be prudent to list manufacturers that meet at least one of the following criteria:
- Manufacturer has a U.S. or Canadian office.
- Manufacturer's website cites U.S. or Canadian lighting agent partners
- Manufacturer's website cites U.S. or Canadian distributors or dealers.
- A Google search for the manufacturer name and "representative" returns results with North American agents that represent the product.
- A Google search for the manufacturer name and "distributor" returns results with North American electrical distributors that sell the product.
After consulting with Vode their 707 fixure was left off the list due to its primary use being something other than wall washing.
After consulting with Acuity Brands & Indy Lighting, one of their fixtures was excluded due to the fact that it is not yet widley commercially available.
Undoubtedly there are high-performing products from off-shore companies that possibly meet this eligible manufacturer criteria. North American OEMs likely sell them under different brand names.