LED Light Bar: Important Terminologies Explained

These days, it is quite common to see an LED light bar sitting on top of 4X4s, off-road vehicles, boats, and farming/construction equipment. After all, this piece of lighting device is more versatile and powerful than ordinary halogen lamps. Its energy efficiency is also a huge come-on for many buyers and users. Although they may be a bit more expensive than ordinary lighting devices, LED light bars are still a huge hit for many vehicle and farming/construction equipment owners because of the advantages they bring.

Meanwhile, if you're switching to LEDs after using ordinary lighting devices for so long, you might be unfamiliar with certain terminologies that you haven't come across to before. To help ease your confusion, this article will provide you with some simple explanations so you can better understand how LED lamps work and to ensure that you'll get a light bar that meets your expectations.

LED. LED stands for light emitting diode, a semiconductor light source. LEDs produce the "electroluminescence effect," which occurs when electrons recombine with holes within an LED lighting device and release photons. Today, the use of LEDs is not limited to the manufacturing of an LED light bar. They are also used in a wide variety of applications, including aviation and automotive lighting, advertising, and general lighting.

Lumen. When you purchase LED light bars, one of the things you'll notice in their product description is the term "lumen" (lm). For those who didn't know, lumen is basically the measure of the total "amount" of light emitted by a light source. To put it simply, it tells you how bright an LED light is. So if you're choosing between two light bars with lumens of 10,000 and 15,000, respectively, the latter is obviously brighter than the former.

Flood and spot illumination. Buyers who purchase an LED light bar usually come across the terms "flood" and "spot." In a nutshell, these terminologies are the style of illumination an LED light is capable of producing. When light bars feature spot illumination, they can produce further-reaching light. On the other hand, when the product description tells you that the CREE LED light bar offers flood style illumination, the device is more capable of lighting up a wider area.

Operating voltage. Operating voltage is the amount of electricity you need to power up the LED light bar. So if a unit that has lower operating voltage, it means that the lighting device uses up less energy when it is switched on. Identifying the operating voltage of an LED is something you should do as it gives you an idea on how energy-efficient a particular LED lighting device is.