11 Most Efficient LED Troffers
A listing of highly efficacious LED troffers. High Lumens per Watt.
ESCOs, energy rebates, legislation, advancement in LED chip performance and good ol' competitive leapfrogging are among the factors that contribute to a continuously rising bar of LED troffer performance. As a result of these perpetual improvements, we decided to crunch data and analyze complex spreadsheets in a valiant quest to discover the lighting industry's most efficient LED troffers.
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, individual 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, aesthetics 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.
We feared that a simple list of most efficacious fixtures would yield a collection of 6500K troffers with 70 CRI. In order to avoid that gruesome outcome, we decided to limit our Top 11 list to 4000K 2x2 and 2x4 troffers that are cited on the DesignLights Consortium Qualified Products List.
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157.7 lm/W Illumisoft EcoWing V Series
Listed model: EW-V-24-48-22W-XX-35L-CT41-D-120-XXXX |
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155.6 lm/W Elite Lighting: Oracle
Listed model: 24-OSMT-LED-5000L-DIM10-MVOLT-40K-85 |
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152.8 lm/W H.E. Williams: HET Series
Listed model: HETG-S24-L60/840-A-(MX48W)-DIM-UNV |
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151.7 lm/W RAB Lighting: SWISH
Listed model: SWISH2X2-19N/D10 [blank, /MVS] [ blank, /LC. /LCS] [blank, E2] [blank, /CP] |
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150.5 Lm/W LumenFocus: FFL
Listed model: FFL 2R 24 MD UV FA 840 [Blank, ESXSR] OOO |
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150.4 Lm/W Etherium Lighting: ETH Flat Panel
Etherium Flat Panel delivers cutting-edge performance with high energy savings and continuous dimming capability. The slim profile, sleek design produces eye catching, uniform light output and no-glare illumination, enhancing spaces in multiple applications. Listed model: ETH-K05-30W-H-4000K |
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150.2 Lm/W Lithonia Lighting: SPANL
Listed model: SPANL 2x4 4000LM 80CRI 40K SVL [MVOLT, 120, 277] SLD [ALL OPTIONS] |
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150.0 Lm/W L.A. Lighting: GSL320 Listed model: GSL320-4HE-4L-[All door frame options]-FFA-[TP,Gasket options]-[Battery Pack, Sensor Options]-1DRDM(XXX)-UNV-2/840 |
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149.8 Lm/W Columbia Lighting: Versify
Versify Architectural Edge-Lit balances clean, streamlined architectural elements with high performance, creating understated but effective illumination to complement offices, schools, public areas and medical spaces.
Listed model: VSY24-40VLHEG-[ED, ED1, EDD]-347-[ALL OPTIONS] |
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149.7 Lm/W AmLED: TFS Series
Listed model: TFS2X2-26(40P) |
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149.4 Lm/W H.E. Williams: LT LED Troffer
Listed model: LT-24-L64/840-AF-(L55)-DIM-UNV |
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 DesignLights Consortium (DLC) website (www.designlights.org).
Source:
Information was downloaded on June 1, 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. The DLC does not test every permutation of every fixture, but they do require testing from independent labs on fixtures that are representative of the manufacturer's fixture family.
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 the DOE and DLC, but doing so eliminated a large quantity of highly efficient fixtures from many reputable manufacturers.
It's quite possible that fixtures that are not listed with the DLC or Lighting Facts outperform the fixtures cited above. These two sources cast the largest net over the LED troffer category.
Fixtures:
- Fixtures are full, complete LED troffers; not retrofit kits.
- They are also 2' x 2' or 2' x 4' fixtures. We excluded other shapes and sizes.
- The fixtures must also be commercially available. (i.e. We excluded at least one fixture because a specification sheet could not be found on the manufacturer's website.)
Correlated Color Temperature:
The criteria for the Correlated Color Temperature (CCT) is as follows:
4000K Class: Reported CCT is between 3750K and 4250K.
We initially intended to create a list of 6 fixtures at 4000K and 5 fixtures at 5000K. We found that most of the 5000K fixtures were already cited on the 4000K list which made our list redundant and less useful.
Eligible 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.
Undoubtedly there are high-performing products from off-shore companies that do not meet this eligble manufacturer criteria. North American OEMs likely sell them under different brand names. We tried inquiring with certain off-shore companies asking which manufacturers re-sell their products in North America, but they either (1) did not respond or (2) did not fully understand our line of questioning, presumably due to a language barrier. As a result, some of the following companies had high-performing products that are not included in the list: Shenzhen Mason Technologies, Xiamen Yankon Energetic Lighting Co., Ltd., Guangdong Mason Technologies Co., Ltd., Sunzhou RUNLUX Electric Ltd., Shenzhen Bbier Lighting Co.,ltd, Torshare Ltd., Komka Green Lighting. Cooper Lighting Solutions Metalux HBL fixture was not included because it is marketed as a high bay linear (HBL) fixture and not as a troffer.