Helvar L-iC-282: a tunable white linear LED module

In April 2016 Helvar released the L-iC-282, a linear LED module built for tunable white lighting. It carries two separate LED channels, one warm and one cool, and when paired with a tunable white driver it covers a colour temperature range from 2700 K to 6500 K.

Helvar L-iC-282 tunable white linear LED module, a long narrow white circuit board with a row of LEDs — The Helvar L-iC-282 linear module. Image: Helvar Components.

How the module works

Tunable white mixes two white sources. The driver controls the current to each channel independently: more current to the warm channel shifts the light towards 2700 K, more to the cool channel moves it towards 6500 K, and anything in between is a blend. The module itself is passive; the driver and the control signal do the work.

Helvar designed the L-iC-282 to match its own iC series tunable white drivers, which accept DALI Device Type 8 (DT8) commands for colour temperature. With DT8, one DALI address carries both brightness and colour temperature, so a single control point can set a fitting to cooler light in the morning and warmer light in the evening.

Specifications

At launch we quoted 1,000 lm and up to 160 lm/W. Helvar's archived product page now lists these figures:

Specification	L-iC-282
Colour temperature	2700 K to 6500 K (two channels)
Luminous flux	1025 lm typical (4000 K)
Efficacy	155 lm/W typical (4000 K)
Dimensions	279.8 x 23.8 x 6.2 mm
Nominal current	450 mA (600 mA max)
CRI	80 min
Colour consistency	3 MacAdam steps
Beam angle	115°
Lifetime	up to 50,000 h

Where tunable white fits

Row of pendant lights against a dark wall, shifting from warm amber on the left to cool white on the right — One fitting, many colour temperatures: the idea behind tunable white.

Tunable white is most useful where the same room has to suit different tasks or times of day: offices that follow a daylight curve, classrooms, healthcare, retail that changes its look for different displays, and hospitality spaces that move from a bright lunch service to a warm evening. A linear module like the L-iC-282 suits troffers, battens and linear pendants.

What Helvar offers now

The L-iC-282 has since been discontinued. Helvar's current module in the same size is the LiC-282, also 279.8 mm long, with 1110 lm and 180 lm/W typical at 4000 K and a 120° beam. On the driver side, the LL50iC-DA-100-1200 G2 is a 50 W two-channel tunable white driver for DALI-2 with DT8 and DT6 control.

Helvar LiC-282 tunable white linear LED module, a long narrow white circuit board with a row of LEDs along its length — The current Helvar LiC-282 module. Image: Helvar Components.

Full data for the module is on Helvar Components' LiC-282 page. If you are planning a tunable white scheme and want the modules, drivers and DALI control specified together, talk to us.