Are your mirrors bright enough?

Contact us to discuss your requirements of LED Mirror Light Wholesale. Our experienced sales team can help you identify the options that best suit your needs.

As Manufacturers of Lighted Mirrors, we are asked often about this . Distributors and consumers always want the brightest light as possible for their Led Mirrors, without knowing that in some cases, adding extra features or the type of LED strip may affect the result.

Choosing the right lighting specs for your mirrors can be tricky sometimes. This article is intended to set a guide and leave tips for consumers to know for a fact, whether their mirror selection will fit the lighting purpose or not.

The Light Source

Most Led Mirrors use LED Strips to give lighting on spaces, and you must know that there are several different types of Strips to be used for a mirror, the main factors that will influence the type of led strip to be used are the following ones:

Lumens: Ideally you want something in the range of to lumens at least in your mirror, this is bright enough to light your bathroom decently, but you'll still need an ambient lighting source. anything below lumens in a mirror may be only fit for decoration purposes but not ideal as a task lighting for makeup, grooming or shaving.

The total lumens in your mirror are key for your decision, as they are the main metrics for brightness in lighting fixtures, regardless of other features mentioned by sellers, if Lumens aren't enough, you may as well go for other option.

Led Chips per meter: Led strips used in mirror normally range from 30 to 500 chips / meter. Usually, higher the amount of Led Chips, higher is the brightness. But you should be careful in cases where 240 or more chips / meter are used on mirrors, light is so strong that it can make you dizzy or even blind for a few seconds especially when there is no other light source other then mirror lighting.

Lighting tone: Led strip may come in single tone , double or triple tone lighting. It's important to know whether we want maximum flexibility in lighting, brightness or both, because the type of led strip will be different.

For Single tone lighting, you can get the maximum brightness possible from the strip, but for double tone, the led chips are divided into two kinds, warm output led chips and cold output led chips, so when using the "Cold" lighting in your mirror, you'll only be using half of it's brightness capacity, same goes for the "Warm" lighting option.

For Triple Tone mirrors, the same concept is applied, but the difference is that you can get the maximum lighting output when using the neutral light of your mirror, when selecting the neutral light option, the mirror combines the lighting of all chips to achieve maximum brightness.

Backlit Lighted Mirror

If the mirror you are choosing is a backlit model then it's main purpose is to create a glowing effect on your wall which looks amazing, but they aren't the best option for task lighting. As mentioned in our previous article, Backlit mirrors are a source of accent lighting, more often used for decoration rather than to brighten up the bathroom space as most of the mirror light escapes to the sides, instead of lighting up your reflection.

On the opposite, Lighted Mirrors are basically made for task such as shaving, makeup or grooming. The models on this range deliver light with focus on creating brighter reflections. With addition of a back cover or a frame enclosure, most of the light gets blocked from sides and passes only out of the sandblast area, therefore creating brighter lighting effect.

Back Cover or Diffusers

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Back covers on mirrors ensure that light doesn't escape to the sides, allowing light to pass from the sandblasted area of the mirror design, allowing for brighter reflections.

Diffusers on the other side, spread light or scatter it, in the case of led strips, where light comes at fixed angles from the LED Chips, and in some cases even creating visible dots on the mirror, Diffusers produce a smoother output and brighter lighting by increasing the light spread over a complete area of the mirror reflection.

Most mirrors on the market are quite simple, unfortunately for consumers, the lower range of led mirrors in most cases are without back cover or diffusers. Also it comes with the lower range led strips, making the mirror lighting not so bright.

IP Certification

Although for most cases we want higher IP certification for all components, in the case of Led Strips this may not be such good idea.

Currently, for most Led Strips, increasing the IP certification means adding protection, in most cases with a silicone rubber or plastic, which reduces the light transmittance, making it less bright.

In most cases for mirrors placed at Bathroom Zones 2 or non wet rooms, IP22 certified led strips will do just fine if properly isolated. At the same time, because of not having the additional silicone protection, brightness is slightly increased.

Our advice is to go for trusted suppliers that ensure an IP44 certification for the WHOLE mirror instead of marketing IP certification for led strips. You'll receive an equally competent mirror with a good quality insurance and a slightly brighter reflection.

 

Yoway Electric Technology Co. Ltd

is a Professional Mirror manufacturing company based in North China.

We have been manufacturing and supplying Mirrors with LED Technology

for the

past 10 years to top distributors and importers worldwide.

For more information on what we do visit our website www.yowaymirror.com or drop an at .

This article contains answers to some of the most frequently asked questions about our LED mirrors. Just find your question and click on the link to see more details.

What are "lumens" and "watts" for your LED lighted mirrors? How are they calculated?

We use super high-quality LED strips in all of our LED mirror products. For LED lighting, "lumens" should be used as a measure of brightness, not watts. "Watts" describes the amount of power needed to drive the LED light, which is typically significantly less than the wattage required to drive a traditional incandescent light bulb having the same brightness.

Our LED strips contain 40 LEDs per foot, and each LED emits 22 lumens. To calculate the total lumens for one of our LED mirrors, use the following calculation:

1. Determine the approximate length of your LED strip:

1.

a. For rectangular side-lighted mirrors, if the mirror is a side-lit mirror, subtract 24 inches from the mirror perimeter. For example, a 24" x 36" side-lighted rectangular mirror would be 24+24+36+36 = 120 inches minus 24 inches = 96 inches (or 8 feet) approx. LED length. For front-lighted rectangular mirrors and LED medicine cabinets, use the same formula but subtract 40 inches from the mirror perimeter.

b. For rectangular side-lighted vertical LED bar mirrors, if the mirror is a side-lit mirror, add together the height twice and then subtract 2 inches from the total. For example, a 24" x 36" side-lighted vertical LED bar mirror would be 36+36 =72 inches minus 2 inches = 70 inches (or 5.8 feet) approx. LED length. For rectangular front-lighted vertical LED bar mirrors and LED medicine cabinets, use the same formula but subtract 10 inches from the mirror height.

c. For round side-lighted mirrors, subtract 5 inches from the mirror diameter, then take half of this number and multiply by 6.28. For example, for a 24&#; round side-lighted LED mirror: 24 - 5 = 19 inches. Half of 19 is 9.5 inches. 9.5 x 6.28 = 60 inches (or 5 feet) approx. LED length. For round front-lighted mirrors, use the same formula but subtract 8 inches from the mirror diameter instead of 5 inches.

d. For oval side-lighted mirrors, subtract 5 inches from the length of the mirror to get "Length A" and subtract 5 inches from the width of the mirror to get "Length B", then plug these values into this calculator tool to get the length (make sure to select length in inches). For example, a 24" x 36" oval side-lighted LED mirror would be 79.7 inches (or 6.64 feet) LED length. For oval front-lighted mirrors, use the same formula but subtract 8 inches from the length and width instead of 5 inches.

2. Calculate Lumens: To determine lumens, first get the length of your LED strip in feet. If you have the length in inches, divide by 12. Multiply the length (in feet) of your LED strip times the number of LEDs per foot (40) to get the number of LEDs, then multiply the number of LEDs by 22 lumens per LED to get total lumens. For example, a front-lit 24" x 36" mirror has a perimeter of 24+24+36+36 = 120 inches. Subtract 40 inches to get the approximate length of your LED strip (120 - 40 = 80 inches). Divide by 12 to get number of feet (80 / 12 = 6.67 feet). Then multiply by 40 to get number of LEDs (6.67 x 40 = 266.8 LEDs), and then multiply the lumens by the number of LEDs to get the total lumens of the LED mirror (266.8 x 22 = 5,869.6 lumens).

CAUTION: Even thought this calculation is a rough guide to determining the lumens output of the bulbs in your LED strip, keep in mind that The LED is mounted on the frame behind the mirror with the LED output projecting sideways from a channel in the frame, and that the LED light is refracted through frosted glass on the front of the mirror. The light emitted is not direct light. It is diffuse light, and will not have the same brightness characteristics of a bare bulb. Please see our response to the FAQ question "Do your LED lighted mirrors have enough light for my bathroom?".

Please note the chart below, which provides a rough mapping of Lumens to LED and Incandescent bulb wattage.

LED Light Output Compared to Incandescent Bulbs

Lumens LED Watts Incandescent Watts 450 4-5 40 750-900 6-8 60 - 9-13 75-100 - 16-20 100 - 25-28 150

Do your LED lighted mirrors have enough light for my bathroom?

LED mirrors are designed to provide optimal light conditions for the person standing in front of the mirror, to help with grooming and makeup activities. The LED light is a diffuse light that is not intended to be the primary lighting in the room, and the light projects straight forward through the frosted glass, it does not project into the corners of the room. We strongly recommend including additional ceiling or wall lighting to serve as the primary lighting in the bathroom.

However, we do offer a 2x LED Brightness upgrade which doubles the brightness of your LED by installing a second LED strip on your LED mirror frame. This upgrade will effectively double the brightness of your mirror output. Typically customers who install this upgrade will also order a Dimmable Power Regulator upgrade to allow control of the LED lighting brightness using a compatible wall dimmer switch (not included).

Regardless of whether you choose to install the upgrade, we still strongly recommend also having separate primary lighting in your bathroom.

Review all of our upgrade options here, before you make your purchase.

What is the color temperature (Kelvins) of your LED mirror lighting? What Color Temperature should I use?

Our LED mirrors come standard with Kelvin color LED strips, which we feel provides optimal "natural daylight" light for makeup and grooming applications. We also offer a Kelvin Upgrade (not available for LED medicine cabinets). As you can see in the chart below, Kelvin provides a "warmer" yellowish light more like a standard incandescent light bulb. The warmer color temperature helps you to see how you would look under softer lighting conditions. Which LED color option you choose is a matter of personal taste, options provide the same brightness (lumens) based on the size of the mirror.

What is the Color Rendering Index (CRI) of your LED mirror lighting?

The Color Rendering Index is a scale from 0 to 100 percent indicating how accurate a light source is at rendering color. The higher the CRI, the better the color rendering ability. Light sources with a CRI of 85 or better are considered very good at color rendering. CRI is independent of color temperature, and is the same for our standard Kelvin LED strips and also for our Kelvin LED strips which are an available option for most of our LED mirrors.

Are your LED lighted mirrors dimmable?

Our LED mirrors are not dimmable in our standard configuration. However, we offer three upgrade options that are available for most of our mirrors:

1. We can upgrade your LED mirror to include a Dimmable Power Regulator that will allow you to connect your mirror to a 0-10VDC compatible wall mounted dimmer switch.
2. If you prefer a remote control option, or if you prefer not to pay an electrician to install wiring in your wall to connect a wall switch, we offer a Remote Control Dimming option.
3. We offer an option to install a dimming on/off switch directly on the LED mirror which typically replaces the standard toggle switch. Note: This option is not available for our side-lighted mirrors.

Review all of our upgrade options here, before you make your purchase.

Do your LED lighted mirrors have switches?

Most of our small and medium sized front-lighted rectangular LED mirrors and LED medicine cabinets include switches, which are mounted along the bottom side of the mirror frame. Our side-lighted rectangular mirrors, round mirrors, and oval mirrors do NOT include switches.

If your front-lighted rectangular mirror does not come with a switch, we offer an available switch upgrade to install a switch. If you do not have a wall switch to connect to your mirror, and you need to have a separate switch capability, we offer an upgrade to install a Remote Control Switch / Dimming option.

Review all of our upgrade options here, before you make your purchase.

Do your LED lighted mirrors have plugs to plug into a wall outlet?

Our LED mirrors are not configured with wall outlet plugs. However, it is very easy to connect a plug to our LED mirror wiring, please see our LED Mirror Wiring Scenarios blog article for more details.

What are the Dimensions and Construction Details of your LED lighted mirrors?

Our Two-Piece LED mirrors have a separate commercial-grade anodized aluminum frame which is attached to the wall separately from the mirror, allowing the electrical connections to be completed before mounting the mirror. This makes for a very easy installation because the frame is open to the house wiring. See installation instructions here. The mirror then mounts on the frame using brackets that are attached to the back of the mirror. These brackets easily slide onto the aluminum mounting bars that are integrated into the frame. The frame is 1.5 inches deep, and the mirror is 5 millimeters thick, resulting in a very low profile installation.

Mirror Aluminum Frame (Side-Lighted) Mirror Aluminum Frame (Front-Lighted)

Frame Dimensions:

• Front-Lighted LED Mirrors - the outer frame perimeter is approximately 1 inch inside the mirror glass perimeter. The inner frame perimeter is approximately 5.75 inches inside of the mirror glass perimeter. The top mounting bar is below the top inner frame and approximately 7.5 inches from the top edge of the mirror. The wall anchor brackets are attached to the bottom of the top mounting bar and to the top of the bottom mounting bar (which is also the inner frame). The 4 corner wall anchor brackets are approximately 2-3 inches inside of the left and right-side inner frame. On our larger (wide) mirrors, an additional wall anchor bracket is provided at the center of the top mounting bar.
• Side-Lighted LED Mirrors - the outer frame perimeter is approximately 2.5 inches inside the mirror glass perimeter. The top mounting bar is approximately 5.25 inches from the top edge of the mirror. The wall anchor brackets are attached to the bottom of the top mounting bar and to the top of the bottom mounting bar (which is also the outer frame). The 4 corner wall anchor brackets are approximately 2-3 inches inside of the left and right-side outer frame. On our larger (wide) mirrors, an additional wall anchor bracket is provided at the center of the top mounting bar.

The mirror glass dimensions will be the exact same dimensions as described for the product. For example a 24" x 36" mirror is 24 inches wide x 36 inches tall. Our mirrors cannot be mounted in both directions, they are always mounted width x height.

Our mirrors are high quality, 5 mm thick (almost ¼ inch) with polished edges. Our mirrors are copper-free and have lifetime moisture-proof backing. The frosted portion of the mirror (the LED lighting shines through this) is approximately two inches wide, and on our side lighted mirrors the mirrored area outside of the frosted area is also approximately 2 inches wide.

Mirror Glass (Front-Lighted Style) Back of Mirror, Showing Brackets

What are the electrical specifications of your LED lighted mirrors?

Our LED mirrors are ETL-listed for the U.S. and Canada, conforming to UL Standard 962, certified to CSA Standard C22.2 No. 250.0.

Our LED mirrors have power regulators installed which are connected on one side to your house electric, and on the other side to the LED lighting that is integrated into the mirror frame.

Regulators: Mean Well - UL - IP67 - Input Voltage 100-240v AC. Output Voltage 12c DC. Protections: Short circuit / over current / over voltage / over temperature.

Our mirrors connect to a standard switched lighting circuit and are not dimmable. Please see our blog article for LED Wiring Scenarios for details about connection options.

What are the upgrade configuration options for your LED mirrors?

We have provided an entire article covering this topic, please see our blog article for LED Mirror Upgrade Options Primer.

What is the operating temperature range of your mirrors?

Our mirror electronics are technically able to operate in a range of 0 to 120 degrees Fahrenheit, but we discourage operating the mirrors at the extremes of this range. Our mirrors are not designed to be operated out of doors and they are not waterproof, but they are manufactured to withstand steamy conditions in the bathroom with lifetime moisture-proof backing. Installation should be indoors and not immediately inside a shower/tub area.

If you want to learn more, please visit our website Tri Proof Light Fixture.