Luminaire Testing Laboratory, Inc.

Luminaire Testing Laboratory, Inc. (LTL) is a UL (Underwriters Laboratories) company. It is an independent photometric testing services provider for the lighting industry. In addition to producing Roadway, Floodlight, and indoor Photometric Test Reports, LTL also performs ballast characteristic testing, electrical system testing, mining vehicle luminaire testing, and absolute photometric testing. LTL uses computer controlled, Type C, swinging mirror goniophotometers to test luminaires. Test reports conform to Illuminating Engineering Society of North America (IESNA) standards. As part of the UL group, our objective is to use our knowledge and experience to help you market your product faster.

As the market leader in the lighting testing industry, LTL’s team members include the pioneers in LED testing and standard developing. Manufacturers count on this unmatched expertise as well as LTL’s sophisticated photometric testing equipment - which includes goniophotometers, integrating spheres, lamp life test systems, and rapid cycle test systems.

UL LTL is one of the first Zhaga authorized testing centers. We are a regular member of the Zhaga consortium and is actively engaged across the work-groups driving standards writing, technical decisions, and testing programs. Our Principal Engineers are proposing revisions to UL safety standards, to help accelerate the adoption of Zhaga-based products into the marketplace.

LTL was established in 1989 in Allentown, PA because of its accessibility to transportation and distribution. Through over 20 years, LTL has earned a reputation for producing highly accurate photometric test reports in a time frame that fits today's high-speed marketplace. All test reports since 2000 are archived electronically to allow for instant email transfer of test reports. LTL has got the IAS Accreditation and meets the requirements of the IAS Accreditation Criteria for Testing Laboratories (AC89). Through the use of the most recent technology we can offer high speed delivery while continuing to serve our customers with the same high quality service we have provided in the past. Tours of LTL are welcomed.

UL and LTL

On March 31 2010, Underwriters Laboratories Inc. (UL), world leader in product safety testing and certification services, announced that it has entered into a strategic partnership with Luminaire Testing Laboratory, Inc. (LTL), an independent source of photometric test reports for the lighting industry. The partnership positions UL as the first NRTL (Nationally Recognized Testing Laboratory) to provide Energy Star testing of LED products.

This is a major milestone for UL and the lighting industry. Now that LEDs are becoming more mainstream, the need to verify the energy efficiencies of new technologies is important to our customers globally,” said Alberto Uggetti, UL’s global lighting industry general manager. “Together with LTL, UL is now positioned to become a market leader in compliance and has the ability to provide its customers a larger offering of testing services with a new, expanded portfolio.”

UL, through this partnership, will be able to test the energy efficiency of LED lighting products through the Department of Energy-sponsored LED Energy Star program, of which LTL has been an integral part since its inception. This new testing procedure is in addition to the safety testing and standards development at the core of UL’s 115-year-old business. LTL brings 20 years of experience and knowledge to the table that is integral as the team sets out to refine and develop services around North American energy efficiency requirements.

“We are excited to share our experience with UL and help the company enhance its capabilities in the global lighting industry,” stated Mike Grather, LTL president. “With the strength of the UL brand and LTL’s testing capabilities, we can build a strong platform of lighting performance services for luminaires and light sources, including LED, incandescent, fluorescent and HID technologies.”
The partnership aims to extend UL’s service portfolio in the near future to cover all energy efficiency requirements in North America, including DOE and EPA Energy Star services for the United States, NRCan and Energy Star services for Canada, future NEMA premium programs in the United States, and CEC California Title 20 and Title 24.

This partnership also is an example of how UL is moving into the environmental space. Earlier this year, UL launched UL Environment, a new company that will verify claims on environmental products such as LED lights, which are more efficient than regular incandescent bulbs, and test and certify environmental products for compliance with sustainability standards.

About Underwriters Laboratories

Underwriters Laboratories (UL) is an independent product safety certification organization that has been testing products and writing Standards for Safety for over a century. UL evaluates more than 19,000 types of products, components, materials and systems annually with 20 billion UL Marks appearing on 72,000 manufacturers’ products each year. UL’s worldwide family of companies and network of service providers includes 64 laboratory, testing and certification facilities serving customers in 98 countries. For more information, visit: http://www.ul.com/lighting