[Nhcoll-l] [EXTERN] Re: LED lights in collections

Tue Jan 28 15:15:11 EST 2025

Question on this subject – our museum uses Phillips MASTER LEDtube InstantFit HF T8 bulbs in old fluorescent light ballasts. The building was converted from ancient 80’s GE fluorescent tubes (that emitted a significant amount of UV light) back in 2018.

I’ve noticed that posters I’ve put on the wall near these new lights have faded significantly in the last 4 years, despite our collections spaces having no other light sources and no windows. It could be that the poster inks are not light fast, but this thread made me wonder if the LED bulbs are doing the damage.

I can’t find a spec sheet that quantifies the amount of UV or IR emitted by these bulbs, but I see that Phillips’ marketing language claims that the bulb “Emits virtually no UV rays or IR”.

Anyone know whether these bulbs actually emit UV that will damage materials over time?

Best,
Nate

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[The Ohio State University]
Nathaniel F. Shoobs
Curator of Mollusks
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From: Nhcoll-l <nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu> on behalf of Angela Hornsby <horns076 at umn.edu>
Date: Thursday, January 23, 2025 at 3:44 PM
To: Dirk Neumann <d.neumann at leibniz-lib.de>
Cc: nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu <nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu>
Subject: Re: [Nhcoll-l] [EXTERN] Re: LED lights in collections
Thanks for the input and resources, everyone. This is really helpful, especially the CCI bulletin which I had not run across yet! Angela -- Angela Hornsby, Ph. D. (she) Zoological Collections Manager (MMNH / JFBM) Bell Museum University of Minnesota

Thanks for the input and resources, everyone.  This is really helpful, especially the CCI bulletin which I had not run across yet!

Angela

--
Angela Hornsby, Ph.D. (she)
Zoological Collections Manager (MMNH / JFBM)
Bell Museum
University of Minnesota
https://www.bellmuseum.umn.edu/zoological-collections/<https://urldefense.com/v3/__https:/www.bellmuseum.umn.edu/zoological-collections/__;!!KGKeukY!ztpZgmv9y3v5wk9H77YsW9QuWVS0KqD3h4ENFEVkSnnPAhUhF9t6tB44ov33jvEcCfTyMwBUxk94EDQTNQ$>

On Thu, Jan 23, 2025 at 2:31 PM Dirk Neumann <d.neumann at leibniz-lib.de<mailto:d.neumann at leibniz-lib.de>> wrote:
.. depending on the quality of the LED bulbs, they can be a great opportunity to significantly reduce UV-emissions and UV-induced damage, e.g. compared to old neon lights. But not all are.

Also, retrofitting old neon light sockets with modern LED bulbs however may create problems and should be considered with great care, because old and especially historic ballast units may fail and even start burning.

This is also mentioned in the CCI Technical Bulleting Dee just shared (thanks for sharing!)

All the best
Dirk

Am 23.01.2025 um 19:38 schrieb Callomon,Paul:
Changing to LEDs makes sense in many ways. They consume a fraction of the energy used by incandescent or even fluorescent bulbs, and do not get anywhere near as hot. Both factors reduce stress on older light fixtures and thus the danger of sparking. They do not have ballasts, unlike fluorescents, and are a straight swap-out.

The only possible issue is that their color temperature tends to be higher than that of incandescents. Some LED bulbs can be configured to “cool” or “warm” modes with a switch, but most are set at the factory. Cool LEDs can change the visual perception of colors in exhibits and shared spaces, though that can also be good – many dioramas and specimen displays look better with higher color temperature lighting, and up to now that has often been achieved with halogen bulbs that get very hot indeed and eat a lot of power.

One caveat is that the optimistic durability figures many makers give – “lasts seven years!” are just that, optimistic. These bulbs are almost all made in China and to keep the price down, the QC is not all it might be. I’ve had them fail or start flickering (which can’t be fixed) in less than a year in some cases.

Paul Callomon
Collection Manager, Malacology and General Invertebrates
________________________________
Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University, Philadelphia
callomon at ansp.org<mailto:callomon at ansp.org> Tel 215-405-5096 - Fax 215-299-1170

From: Nhcoll-l <nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu><mailto:nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu> On Behalf Of Angela Hornsby
Sent: Thursday, January 23, 2025 1:29 PM
To: nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu<mailto:nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu>
Subject: [Nhcoll-l] LED lights in collections

External.
Hi everyone,

Our campus facilities management would like to change all of our general lighting in non-public collections spaces (dry and wet) to LEDs.  I haven't found any sources suggesting major negatives (e.g., https://www.nps.gov/museum/publications/mhi/chap4.pdf<https://urldefense.com/v3/__https:/www.nps.gov/museum/publications/mhi/chap4.pdf__;!!KGKeukY!ztpZgmv9y3v5wk9H77YsW9QuWVS0KqD3h4ENFEVkSnnPAhUhF9t6tB44ov33jvEcCfTyMwBUxk-bpUVs0Q$>).

Does anyone have experience with the change to LEDs, particularly any unanticipated effects?

Thanks,

Angela

--
Angela Hornsby, Ph.D. (she)
Zoological Collections Manager (MMNH / JFBM)
Bell Museum
University of Minnesota
https://www.bellmuseum.umn.edu/zoological-collections/<https://urldefense.com/v3/__https:/www.bellmuseum.umn.edu/zoological-collections/__;!!KGKeukY!ztpZgmv9y3v5wk9H77YsW9QuWVS0KqD3h4ENFEVkSnnPAhUhF9t6tB44ov33jvEcCfTyMwBUxk94EDQTNQ$>

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Postanschrift: Adenauerallee 127, 53113 Bonn, Germany

Stiftung des öffentlichen Rechts;
Generaldirektion: Prof. Dr. Bernhard Misof (Generaldirektor), Adrian Grüter (Kaufm. Geschäftsführer)
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