Kosnic Home | Find A Product | Case Studies | News & Events | Technology | Projects | About Us | Contact Us Search Home > News > LEDs: Friend or Foe? LEDs: Friend or Foe? News Exhibitions We ask Chris Johnson, proprietor of CMJ Electrical, about how LEDs are changing the electrical contractor's business. What's driven the demand for LEDs? Three years ago lots of CMJ's work was coming from installing halogen GU10 and halogen floodlights. At that time the availability of LEDs was poor and price of LED lamps was too high for our customers. The same customers are now coming back to us to replace their halogens with LEDs because the cost of energy keeps rising - they're looking for reliable, cost-effective long term lighting solutions. Do you have to educate customers about LEDs? We find now that customers ask for LEDs. It's a buzz word. They know that LEDs are cheaper to run, but what they don't know is that there are many different manufacturers of LEDs. We have to educate our customers to demand LED lamps that are reliable and will deliver the savings... I've lost count of the number of times people have said to me "but I can buy a GU10 LED for £2.50!". The danger is that these really cheap LED lamps won't deliver the quality of light or wattage equivalency that's required and they start to give LEDs a bad name. I always take a demo case of LEDs out with me - showing customers the difference between fittings, light output and colour temperatures is what works. Do you worry that the long life of LEDs will eventually do you out of a job? It did at first! But my approach is always to give the best service you can and fit the best product. An LED will still be working in three of four years, so we potentially lose revenue from maintenance visits. However, what I've found is that my customers are so over the moon with the energy savings of LEDs that I've got more projects as they realise the benefits. For example, I recently retrofit Triads, a designer clothes shop in Middlesbrough; the cost-savings in one store were so substantial in just one month that it convinced the owners to then retrofit all their other premises. What do you look for in a LED lamp manufacturer? First thing is the right product. Easy retrofit lamps that are affordable are what's driving my business at the moment. It's not just GU10s, but down lights, LED DD replacements and panel lights that can be retrofit. Because you're out all day on jobs, the second thing you're looking for is service - I use Kosnic because I know that I can call them up and get extra lamps or replacements the next day. The next thing is a good trade counter; I buy Kosnic through Edmundsons because they'll assist with generating the energy-saving calculations that demonstrate how customers can cap their energy costs. Sign up for our newsletter Sign Up Lighting Industry Association Terms and Conditions | Privacy Policy | Fluorescent Breakage | Product Warranty Form