2. I’ve heard LED's are very energy-efficient – is this true?
Yes. LED's require very little electricity to power them up because they are extremely efficient. Their design converts approximately 90% of the electricity they consume into light. In a conventional light the figure is more like 10 – 15%, with the rest of the electricity effectively wasted in lost heat. LED downlights, for example, draw only 5 Watts of electricity to light up, compared to 50 Watts drawn by a traditional halogen downlights. That is a saving in electricity consumption of approximately 90%. Not bad when the cost of electricity is continually rising.

3. So what’s so good about converting to LED lights?
As well as being highly energy-efficient, some lights are suitable for retro-fit installation and new builds. This means they can be used to replace existing lights (especially inefficient halogens) and/or be installed into buildings being designed for the future. Emerald Planet lights are all thoroughly tested before they are released onto the market. They are all CE approved, ROHS compliant and all tested to meet minimum safety standards. They can be truly relied upon for longevity and for performance.

4. What’s wrong with other low-energy lighting?
The usual low-energy light technology on the market today is CFL – standing for Compact Fluorescent Light. These tend to be curly in shape and give off a blue-white light. In effect they are the same technology as the neon fluorescent tubes often found in offices or kitchens, simply engineered to fit into smaller fittings (hence “compact”). CFL technology is energy-efficient, as it uses less electricity than traditional lighting. However, CFLs contain mercury and other toxic materials in measurable quantities – they need these materials in order to work. They also tend to be made of glass and if they break they are a health hazard from both the glass shards and the mercury. This makes them expensive to handle and dispose of. In addition CFL lights tend to flicker and usually take time to come on, LEDs have none of these problems.

5. Do these lights flicker?
NO – LEDs do not flicker to the human eye. 6. How safe are LED lights?
Our LEDs comply with Restriction of Hazardous Substances legislation, and will not explode like incandescent bulbs, or shatter and spread powder throughout your kitchen like fluorescent tubes. Most streetlights and automobile utilize LED now, not only for their high brightness and low energy consumption but they seem to last forever.

7. How much power will I save using LED bulbs?
Our experimental LED house shows a saving of 80% on the cost of running lights, compared with a house lit with conventional halogen bulbs.

8. What color of light can LED emit?
Most LEDs are monochromatic. Light color is associated with the light wavelength. LEDs made with different semiconductor materials emit lights in different wavelengths. LED light wavelengths range from 400 nanometers (blue) to 800 nanometers (red). The colors of popularly available LEDs in the market are red, orange, amber, yellow, green, blue and white. Some of our lights can be customize to a color temperature or can be purchase with a remote control where you can set the color needed.

9. Why do they cost so much still?
They do not! Contrary to putting in a solar panel system that would take 20 years to pay off, we can spend $100-$500 to convert our lighting environment over to low consumption light fixtures and bulbs that will pay off lest than a year. The cost for LED has been reduced dramatically in this last year due to their huge production and wide variety of application. There are some specialty fixtures and bulbs that would still be considered expensive but most bulbs are about the same in cost as fluorescents, incandescent, halogen and compact flourescent. But the main concern in cost is not only the material but also in the efficiency and maintenance. The key concept is to "do it right once". Since most LED have 50,000 hrs of longevity, you can count on 10-15hrs of use in most application. So put in that LED light and have it hold in brightness and longevity but save you in utility bill "forever".

10. LED SMD Comparison: 3528 vs 5050

Some of our newest LED lights come in two varieties: a 3528 SMD version and a 5050 SMD version. But what does that mean?

SMD LEDs "SMD" stands for Surface Mounted Device and is a new breed of LED lighting technology that offers much higher light output than previous LED generations, while still using only a fraction of the power used by traditional light sources.

3528 SMD LED Specs
Number of Light Emitting Chips 1
Dimensions 35 x 28 mm
Power Consumption 0.08 watts per SMD

5050 SMD LED Specs
Number of Light Emitting Chips 3
Dimensions 50 x 50 mm
Power Consumption 0.24 watts per SMD

Summary: The 3528 SMD is a single-chip medium-output LED. The 5050 SMD is a larger, three-chip high-output LED that has approximately 3X the brightness of the

11. The light is listed as 300w using 50-6w bulbs, but it's stated that the driver only runs them at 50% capacity, so doesn't this make the fixture a 150w system? (50 bulbs running at 3w power) Interested in the light but I'm confused.

Good question. All LED out there, no mater what manufacture can only run at most 65% of the total capacity of the LED otherwise they will burn. The technology is currently that the LED chip are "driven" this high until better drivers are made to protect the LED chip for longer duration. You can run the LED 100% only for a few second, such as in flash application of a camera. So if you try to run you flash on your camera for only for a few minutes, it will burn, even though it is capable of producing a lot of light. LED are made the same way, driven at max 50% for full time use, 100% only very short time. We disclose all feature of our led, and even at 50% for over 50,000 hrs of use, it is still the brightest LED out there on the market. These units are currently use on SPS corals and giant clams with amazing growth at public aquariums with 36" tall tanks! 300w applies to the hardware but not the current usage. In the near future, much better driver will be available to switch out in these fixture for even brighter application for taller tanks.

FAQ on Safety Certification of Aquatop LEDs (May 21, 2012)

All electronic products for sale in the US need to be certified as safe. There are a variety of certifying organizations. The following discussion is intended to acquaint you with these certifications and answer your questions regarding Aquatop LED compliance. All Aquatop LEDs are currently CE and RoHS certified by the manufacturer and so stated on most of the packages that we carry. These certifications are EU (European Union) certifications.

The U.S. is way behind the EU in migrating from incandescent lighting to LED lighting. As a consequence, most LED manufacturers have EU certification at this time and very few have certification from a US Nationally Recognized Testing Laboratory (NRTL). The manufacturer for Aquatop LEDs has applied for UL certification for many of the bulbs listed on our website. The certification process normally takes 3 – 6 months. We will provide an update on this Website when Aquatop LEDs receives certification from one of the OSHA approved NRTLs.

[Interestingly enough, neither Costco, Home Depot nor Lowes LED bulbs list any certification on most of the LED bulbs they carry. We called one of the Costco suppliers and he stated that he simply repacks the bulbs coming in from China into those typical plastic wraps for Costco.]

UL, CSA, ETL and CE: What’s the Difference?
If you look on the product boxes of lighting products, you’ll often see a silk-screened certification mark or logo such as UL, CSA, ETL or CE. What do these certification marks mean?

Basically they are stamps of approval. Aquatop LED products with those logos meet rigorous standards for electrical safety and electromagnetic emissions. The acronyms are spelled out below:

UL: Underwriters Laboratories Inc.
CSA: Canadian Standards Association
ETL: Originally a mark of ETL Testing Laboratories, now a mark of Intertek Testing Services.
CE: Conformance European (Communaut Europenne or Conformit Europenne)

Are all product certification marks the same?

In the U.S., organizations are accredited by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) as Nationally Recognized Testing Laboratories (NRTLs) to test and certify electric and gas products to the applicable U.S. standards and codes. Because these NRTLs meet the same qualifications and use the same standards, their certification marks are regarded as equivalent by regulatory authorities. Thus, the CSA (Canadian Standards Assn.) mark and other qualified marks are considered to be equivalent.

What certification does a manufacturer need to sell products in the U.S.?

In America’s voluntary certification system, manufacturers are free to choose which third-party certifier they would like to use for product certification. State and municipal regulations may specify that the certification organization must be a Nationally Recognized Testing Laboratory (NRTL), but they do not specify which NRTL or which mark to use.

What is the CE mark, and what is its purpose?

The European Commission describes the CE mark as a "passport" that allows manufacturers to circulate industrial products freely within the internal market of the EU. The CE mark certifies that the products have met EU health, safety and environmental requirements that ensure consumer and workplace safety. All manufacturers in the EU and abroad must affix the CE mark to those products covered by the "New Approach" directives in order to market their products in Europe. Once a product receives the CE mark, it can be marketed throughout the EU without undergoing further product modification.

If an Aquatop LED product is stamped CE, the product does not emit excessive radiation (microwave or RF), and is not overly sensitive to picking up radiation. Here are some examples of tests that electronic devices must pass to earn the CE mark:

EN 55103-1:1995 Electromagnetic Compatibility Product Family Standard for Audio, Video, Audio-Visual and Entertainment Lighting Control Apparatus for Professional Use, Part 1: Emissions
EN 61000-3-2:1995+A14:2000 Limits for Harmonic Current Emissions (equipment input current <=16A per phase)
EN 61000-3-3:1995 Limitation of Voltage Fluctuations and Flicker in Low-Voltage Supply Systems Rated Current <=16A
EN 55103-2:1996 Electromagnetic Compatibility Product Family Standard for Audio, Video, Audio-Visual and Entertainment Lighting Control Apparatus for Professional Use, Part 2: Immunity
EN 61000-4-2:1995 Electrostatic Discharge Immunity (Environment E2-Criteria B, 4k V Contact, 8k V Air Discharge)
EN 60065: 1998 Safety Requirements Audio Video and Similar Electronic Apparatus

In summary, the certification marks on Aquatop LED products are your assurance that the product meets rigorous standards for electrical safety and electromagnetic emissions. It poses no shock hazard (except as noted on the product or in the manual), and it will not cause electromagnetic interference with other devices beyond a certain distance. You can use the product with confidence.

Does OSHA accept the "CE" mark or accept equipment certified by foreign testing organizations?

According to OSHA’s Website, the CE mark is unrelated to the requirements for product safety in the US. It is a generic mark used in the European Union (EU) to indicate that a manufacturer has declared that the product meets requirements in the EU for product safety. In the US, under OSHA's NRTL requirements, the product must have the specific mark of one of the NRTLs recognized to test and certify these types of products.

Does OSHA participate in mutual recognition or similar agreements?

At this time, OSHA does not participate in any such agreements but previously OSHA participated in the 1998 Mutual Recognition Agreement (MRA) between the United States (US) and the European Union (EU) through the now suspended Electrical Safety Annex. Under the terms of this MRA, European laboratories were allowed to submit applications to OSHA for recognition as an NRTL, which OSHA would have processed under its normal procedures. The US/EU MRA did not change OSHA's NRTL application process but only provided a mechanism to address a provision in OSHA regulations that requires OSHA to consider policies on "reciprocity," in determining the eligibility of foreign-based organizations for recognition.

What does the RoHS certification on Aquatop LEDs mean?

RoHS refers to the EU’s ‘Directive on the restriction of the use of certain hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment’, commonly referred to as the Restriction of Hazardous Substances Directive or RoHS), adopted in February 2003 by the European Union.[1] The RoHS directive took effect on 1 July 2006, and is required to be enforced and become law in each member state. This directive restricts the use of six hazardous materials in the manufacture of various types of electronic and electrical equipment. RoHS is often referred to as the lead-free directive, but it restricts the use of the following six substances:

1. Lead (Pb)
2. Mercury (Hg)
3. Cadmium (Cd)
4. Hexavalent chromium (Cr6+)
5. Polybrominated biphenyls (PBB)
6. Polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE)

PBB and PBDE are flame retardants used in several plastics.