The EZ LED by OEO is the only technology of its kind according to CEO John Eniarsen. The company’s 20,000 to 40,000-lumen LED direct replacement lights require no electricians or rewiring. “They are “plug and play” and work with any existing 250, 320, or 400-w metal halide fixtures requiring no fixture modification,” explains Eniarsen.
NED: What led OEO to develop this lighting?
JE: Until now, metal halide light users have needed to replace their entire light fixtures to benefit from the enormous energy efficiency of LED technology and its superior light quality over metal halide lighting. OEO recognized the tremendous demand for an LED direct-replacement lamp for metal halide lights, so its team developed the OEO “EZ LED.”
This is the only LED direct-replacement light for metal halide light bulbs. Installation of the product is as simple as screwing in a light. No re-wiring or ballast bypass is required. Prior to the EZ LED, lighting upgrades to LED technology necessitated full fixture replacement requiring electricians to remove the metal halide fixtures and then install the new LED fixtures.
There also was the added expense of plant/facility disruption along with scrapping costs of the metal halide fixture. Because the OEO EZ LED eliminates those expenses and has the efficiency and longevity benefits of LED technology, an entire facility can now transition to LED lighting with one person simply exchanging “bulbs” in a matter of hours at an LED product cost of often 70% less than the alternatives (i.e., full-fixture replacement).
NED: What problems needed to be addressed during the development process?
JE: When beta tested the lights, it was determined that three wattage versions of the light were needed to meet the demands of the majority of applications. Each version needed to match or exceed the light level of a brand new metal halide and allow for proper collective luminance. With that, we engineered the three versions, which we fondly call the “Bright,” “Brighter,” and “Brightness.” Respectively, they reduce energy consumption 68%, 61%, and 51% over metal halide.
NED: What effect did cost factors have in changing the final design of the product?
JE: The product life is as good as its weakest part. With that, we elected to use high power factors driver with an internal cooling system. While these drivers are costly when compared to drivers used in competitive fixtures, they afforded the benefit of offering a warranty on our products of up to seven years while providing our customers with LED technology drastically below the cost of alternative solutions.
NED: Who is your target audience and what benefits will they achieve from using this product?
JE: Our target audience is any user of indoor or protected metal halide lighting fixtures. Currently, at the national kwh average of 13.4 cents, a 400-w metal halide fixture costs users $541+ annually, per light, to operate. With our 145-w “Bright EZ LED,” the annual operating cost drops immediately to $165 with a simple switch of a light bulb. This allows for the investment to pay for itself in well less than a year . . . and that’s before utility rebates are applied.
Of course, there are the great additional benefits of the technology itself: instant start, allowing for use with motion sensors for energy savings up to 95%; long product life; and the maintenance cost-avoidance of disposal costs of inefficient metal halide bulbs. OEO’s LED products have almost constant, superior lumen maintenance over the EZ LED’s life without emission of UV rays, radiation, and contain no mercury. The cool-burning temperatures of the EZ LED (130°F versus metal halide’s 2,200°F) reduce load on air conditioning systems.