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1.What is the difference between LED flat panel VS LED troffer ?
2. What’s the difference between led troffer light VS LED troffer retrofit kit ?
3. What’s the difference between edge lit LED panel VS back lit led panel light ?
4. What’s the difference between direct led troffer VS indirect led troffer ?
LED flat panel vs troffer lights are both drop ceiling recessed fixtures, Which are commonly used in office hotel With grid ceiling design. They are designed and created to replace the traditional t5 t8 fluorescent troffer light 2×2 2×4 1×4.
Therefore, before coming out a replacement solution, you might need to figure out what is the difference between these two kinds of recessed ceiling lighting fixture?
The biggest difference resides in its profile.
LED troffer are thicker, usually center basket, so they’re usually just installed in deep ceiling. Whereas the LED flat panel installed in shallow celling, because its thickness is just about two or three centimeter (2-3cm).
The second difference is their lumen efficacy, troffer fixture generally has higher lumen efficacy than LED flat panel. A troffer is about over 130lm/w while LED flat panels about 110-130lm/w which is caused by the indirect edge lit LED source, LEDs are only on the edges.
On the other hand, as LED flat panel is edge lit LED fixtures, light beam is directed through PMMA diffuser, so its evenness is better than LED troffer light.
Thereafter, if you are looking for LED upgrade with more even illumination, you’d better go with LED panel light, If you’re looking for super bright LED, LED troffer fixture might be a better option
The 3rd difference is their cost.
LED flat panel is less expensive than LED troffer light, If you have a tight budget, LED flat panel light is a cheaper option for you, besides, it also offers various mounting installation options like reccessed mount, surface mount, suspended hanging mount.
LED troffer light is entire fixture replacement for fluorescent troffer, we have to remove all parts from the grid ceiling and drop lay in the new fixtures recessed into the ceiling. While LED troffer retrofit is partial replacement for the old and outdated T8 troffers, we keep the fluorescent troffer fixtures’s back in the ceiling, just remove the T8 tube and the face of the fixture, and substitute with the new troffer retrofit kit. See video below for reference.
Many people are confused with the difference with these two kinds of flat panels, today we will dig deeper to analyze them into details to help you understand their features so that you can make informed purchase decision.
The biggest difference between the edge lit LED panel light and back lit panel is their chips layout. As we can see, edge-lit flat panel, their LEDs are soldered on the four edges of the frame, while the backlit style on the back of the panel. Simply put, we have one picture to show you their working mechanism.
Check out chip soldering point differences below between 2×2 edge lit flat panel and 2×2 backlit light panels.
With that reason, the edge lit LED panel light has more even illumination than the back lit panels, but surely, its lumen efficacy would be affected. For the same wattage panel light fixtures, backlit style looks slightly brighter. Therefore, if you are looking for more soft, and value more confort than brightness in illuminated area, it is better to opt for edge lit type,
The second difference resides in its cost, edge lit LED panel fixtues are more expensive than the other, because its has in-built PMMA diffuser over the cover, while the back lit doesn’t have, and PMMA diffuser has account for big part of its cost.
I cannot help to mentioning that some factories also use PS or PC as the diffuser, not PMMA, PS & PC is much cheaper than PMMA, and it would become yellowish faster after a period of usage , which will cause dark spots on the panel and make the lightbeam transmittance rate quite low and harm your eyesight, so we don’t recommend to use PS or PC.
The third character is their housing profile. edge lit LED flat panel has lower profile than the backlit LED flat panel, if you use them for drop ceiling fixtures, both are OK, but if you want to use for surface mount or suspended lighting, it is better to buy edge lit LED panel light, because it is more aesthetically beautiful and graceful.
Just like the flat panel fixtures, these two kinds of troffer fixtures differ from each other on the LED chips soldering location, LED direct troffer is the most commonly seen in market, indirect troffer a relatively new product. “Direct” means that the light is direct downward, not via diffuser, just like the back lit panel light. While “indirect” means that the light firstly direct to upward, and reflecting downward by the diffuser.
