LED Room Lighting causing fading and bleaching

Is there any other light source in the train room?  Is this a problem from years ago that you're just noticing now?  Is there sunlight through a window at certain times of day, CFL or fluorescent bulbs nearby, etc?  If it is just the Cree LED lights in the room, I'd say it's time for an email to Cree to ask them how much UV is created by their bulbs. It SHOULD be negligible, but you never know what they're doing to get the color temperature just right.

Dale

Before I put up my flourescent lighting many years ago, I researched how museums and archives protect artifacts. I was especially concerned by all the stories of color fading on plastics due to extended exposure to UV.  All my ceiling lighting pass through UV sheet film from GAM which has long supported the TV and movie industry, and selling products used by museums:

http://www.gamonline.com/catalog/uvfilter/app.php

LEDs are not known for generating any significant amount of UV so it is now the safe choice for museums, archives, and train rooms.

If there is any doubt, you can always add an ultraviolet protective film to the lens of the LED light fixture.

I have LEDs in the train room for the last ten years or so? No fading that I've noticed. They are different brands now that are mounted in 6" cans. I had to add more to get rid of dark areas that didn't take photos well.

Most of my boxes are under the train layout.

In my layout room I use fluorescent tubes with rigid plastic UV shield covers on the tubes. They do tend to warm the light color a bit, but that's a small price to pay for what they're doing.  I bought the covers perhaps 20 years ago when people started talking about fading.  So far, there's been no noticeable fading of anything.  As Bruce suggested, you might want to look at some UV film to reduce the chances of your lights causing the fading.

Dale

No real scientific study....but I went all LED 3 years ago and it seems I get more fading on red and oranges.

@Pennsylover posted:

Is there any other light source in the train room?  Is this a problem from years ago that you're just noticing now?  Is there sunlight through a window at certain times of day, CFL or fluorescent bulbs nearby, etc?  If it is just the Cree LED lights in the room, I'd say it's time for an email to Cree to ask them how much UV is created by their bulbs. It SHOULD be negligible, but you never know what they're doing to get the color temperature just right.

Dale

Just Cree 120W floods.  I will contact them.

Lou N

Depending on which CREE 120W you have, it has a color temp of 3000K and approx 1200Lumens

Doing research, most of the items that do fade are due to the blue light in the color temp range.  Also, another big factor with things like boxes, is what pigments were used in the color process.

In our music studio, we have all lights (can, spot, beam) are now LED.   Keeps things nice and cool.  I have not noticed any type of fading of anything that sits under these lights that are pretty much on all the time.

I recently read an article about LED lights in museums causing fading.  I don't have an answer but apparently LEDs are not a magic bullet.

Can you please show us a photos of the lights and what has faded.

Andrew

Only LEDs, which produce no ultraviolet light, completely protect fabrics and art from fading.

It’s a myth that compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs), the energy-efficient and long-lasting bulbs designed to replace incandescent ones, give off hazardous levels of radiation. They can give off a trace amount of UV radiation, but this is negligible unless the light is extremely close to you.