TextWhy LED Forklift Lights
There’s no question: LED forklift lights are superior to any other type of forklift light. To understand why, let’s first look at some examples of other available lights.
• sealed beams: A sealed beam light consists of three key components: a parabolic reflector, one or more lighting filaments, and a glass or plastic lens. It is called a sealed beam because these components are all permanently attached (sealed) together. While these lights are cheap and readily available, they have relatively short lives (about 300 hours), are easily broken during shipping, and are relatively dim (typically about 500 lumen). Perhaps not the best choice.
• halogen lamp: A halogen lamp is essentially a special version of a sealed beam. Inside, it contains a halogen gas (usually iodine or bromine) that reacts with the filament to increase the life of the filament and keep it from decomposing and clouding the lens. These bulbs are bright, compact, and easy to install, but they still have relatively short lives and can be damaged by seemingly harmless things like oil from a fingerprint. They must be handled with care.
Why are LED Forklift Lights the Best
This brings us to the LED, the best light currently on the market. Why is it so great? Here goes:
LEDs are bright. They can put out more than 1,000 lumens, which is double the competition (think of the puny sealed beams).
For their brightness, LED bulbs are extremely compact and very efficient.
LEDs last a long time. They typically have lifespans of over 10,000 hours, which you may realize is more than an entire year of constant output. This is compared to the 300-hour life of a sealed beam (only 3% of the lifespan of an LED). 300 hours won’t get you even two weeks of light.
These forklift lights are getting cheaper. Yes, they’re currently more expensive than both the sealed beam and the halogen lamp, but because of their many other advantages, they are becoming more popular. Competition in the market drives down prices and increases quality, and that’s good for you, the consumer.
See it for Yourself
Still not convinced? Click here to watch our video comparing forklift sealed beams and LEDs.
