Technical Archives

DRD2: Setting the Standard

Three years after its release, the DRD2 LED module’s groundbreaking design continues to impact the downlighting industry

September 17, 2018

With an intelligent design that makes it simple to install, maintain or replace, the innovative DRD2 revolutionized downlighting. It’s a design and concept others are still trying to replicate today.

The New Benchmark

When developing the DRD2, DMF engineers looked to create a compact LED downlight that could produce exceptional light at a price point unmatched in the industry. We sought to make it amazingly simple to install, maintain or replace. And that’s exactly what we accomplished.

DRD2 introduced a host of innovations to the downlighting industry. Its Twist & lock feature allowed for tool-free installations and seamless integration with multiple trim options. Combine that with an integrated driver for plug-and-play compatibility and it made installations simpler than ever. All while taking up far less space and using much less energy. It’s an LED module that’s perfectly balanced to give you everything you need.

Next level

The combination of exceptional lighting, flexible compatibility, and industry-leading value made the DRD2 our most successful product. But we didn’t stop there. Along the way, we upgraded the Cree^{^®} LED chip, further increasing its already stellar efficiency. Then, we introduced the Apex Series DRD2X, an architectural-grade version with enhanced optics for a precise, targeted beam of low glare illumination. And most recently, we leveraged our experience from engineering DRD2 to develop the adjustable DRD4 LED, which can install in our award winning OneFrame^{^®}, just like DRD2.

“At DMF, we believe in creating quality products by consistently investing in our innovation.”

Ahead of the Curve

As others try to catch up to DRD2, DMF is already hard at work developing future iterations and new related products. Our company’s products and culture both take shape in our in-house R&D lab. It’s our goal to always deliver exceptional performance and we cannot wait to unveil what’s next for DRD2.

Learn more about the DRD2

News Technical

Three for Three

IES recognizes DMF Lighting for third consecutive year in 2018 Progress Report

August 28, 2018

For the third year in a row, the Illuminated Engineering Society (IES) names a DMF Lighting product to the annual Progress Report. And to make this year even more exciting, DMF has two products listed! The DRD4 Adjustable LED is recognized for its precise illumination and range of adjustability while DRD5S Surface Mount LED is included for its advanced design and beautiful light quality.

IES Progress Report

IES is the technical and educational authority on illumination. For over 100 years, it has communicated information on all aspects of good lighting practice to the lighting community. Each year, it publishes the IES Progress Report to acknowledge significant new advancements in lighting products, research, publications and design tools.

DRD4 Adjustable Recessed LED Downlight

The adjustable DRD4 brings ultimate flexibility to the OneFrame System. With an integrated driver, 20º, 30º, and 40º beam options, and field changeable accessories, the DRD4 delivers tool-free aimed and lockable light beams for today’s lighting designs.

DRD5S Surface Mount LED Downlight

The DRD5S redefines what’s possible for a surface mount downlight. Packed with technical breakthroughs, the ultra-thin DRD5S matches the elegance of a high-end recessed downlight. In addition, it’s more versatile because it can fit more applications, even those with limited plenum space.

Past DMF Award Winning Products

DRD5S Surface Mount
– Architectural SSL Product Innovation Award

OneFrame System
– Architectural SSL Product Innovation Award

OneFrame Deep Junction Box
– LFI Technical Innovation Award
– Architectural SSL Product Innovation Award
– IES Progress Report

OneFrame Deep Junction Box w/ Alt Dimming and/or EM Lighting
– IES Progress Report

News Technical

Winner Winner

Architectural SSL magazine names OneFrame System and DRD5S winners of 2018 Product Innovation Awards

August 23, 2018

It’s officially award season and DMF is racking up the accolades! Architectural SSL magazine has named both the OneFrame^® System and DRD5S winners of 2018 Product Innovation Awards (PIA) in the downlights category. Honoring the most advanced LED fixtures, the OneFrame System was recognized for its innovate modularity and host of options. As for DRD5S, the publication was impressed by its attractive design and beautiful light quality.

Product Innovation Awards

Open to manufacturers of solid-state fixtures and components worldwide, the PIA awards recognize the most innovative LED and solid-state luminaires and fixtures on the market.

The Architectural SSL Product Innovation Awards reveal the criteria and characteristics of the technology that matters. One of the barriers hindering adoption of LED products is an uncertainty about the quality of products. Ultimately, the award winners represent a peer-recognized selection of quality products that the architectural and lighting design community can feel comfortable specifying.

OneFrame System

The OneFrame System represents the culmination of decades of engineering experience. We’ve made every element of this system to work seamlessly with the others. Each part is rigorously tested to ensure it’s built to last and performs up to our high standards. Most importantly, the OneFrame System creates a better experience for specifiers, building residents, and everyone in between.

DRD5S Surface Mount LED Downlight

Past DMF Award Winning Products

OneFrame Deep Junction Box
– LFI Technical Innovation Award
– Architectural SSL Product Innovation Award
– IES Progress Report

OneFrame Deep Junction Box w/ Alt Dimming and/or EM Lighting
– IES Progress Report

Insights Technical

Integrating Light and Architecture

Our in-house Applications Team can help bring your space to life with layered lighting effects calculations

June 21, 2018

One of the pioneers of architectural lighting, Richard Kelly changed the way the industry viewed light. To Kelly, it wasn’t about the fixtures but rather the created lighting effects. In his 1952 lecture, Lighting as an Integral Part of Architecture, he recognized three types of lighting effects as the core of lighting design: focal glow, ambient luminescence, and play of brilliants. He combined these effects to shape spaces and evoke a range of emotions.

Collaborating with renowned architects such as Mies van der Rohe, Louis Kahn, and Phillip Johnson, Kelly illuminated some of twentieth century’s most iconic buildings including the Seagram Building and Kimbell Art Museum.

“Lighting is both an art and a science.”

Shaping spaces with DMF

At DMF, our engineers use these principles as inspiration when designing products. But we take things a step further. Not only are we a leader in developing lighting products, we also support them with services not offered by other manufacturers.

We provide a lighting layouts service where our in house Applications Team creates fixture schedules for custom projects. It starts with one-on-one consultations with builders and architects to understand the needs of the project. Then, we use advanced 3D software to mock up spaces. We place fixtures based on IES photometric standards and determine a recommended lighting layout. We also offer emergency lighting photometric calculations to ensure rooms and corridors abide by NFPA regulations.

Contact our Marketing Team to learn more about how we can help you illuminate your project.

Technical

Technical Bulletin: Emergency Lighting and UL924

Proper performance of emergency light fixtures during power outages

May 21, 2018

Directly Controlled Luminaires

Customers always ask DMF Lighting about the additions to the 2014 and 2017 National Electrical Code®. The code details regulations regarding emergency lighting circuits, specifically Directly Controlled Luminaires. The 2014 edition added the following:

700.24 Directly Controlled Luminaires. Where emergency illumination is provided by one or more directly controlled luminaires that respond to an external control input to bypass normal control upon loss of normal power, such luminaires and external bypass controls shall be individually listed for use in emergency systems.

In the 2017 edition, ARTICLE 700.2 Definitions added the following:

Luminaire, Directly Controlled. An emergency luminaire that has a control input for an integral dimming or switching function that drives the luminaire to full illumination upon loss of normal power.

There are published magazine articles, if not read carefully, that suggest any lighting fixture that has a 0-10Vdc or digital control input and is used in an emergency lighting circuit, must be qualified to UL924, Underwriters Laboratories, Standard For Safety – Emergency Lighting and Power Equipment.

The key to understanding the NEC additions is the phrase direct control. Authorities want to ensure that a light fixture used in an emergency circuit will perform appropriately under emergency conditions. So with normal power lost, how does the light fixture respond to the external signal controlling the light level? One example of an unacceptable response would be a control signal from a dimmer set to zero during normal power operation and in emergency power mode the light fixture responds with no light output. Thus, the updates above ensure that this sort of emergency response does not happen. A light fixture that detects switching from normal to emergency power must provide sufficient light so people can respond.

Are DMF EM lighting systems directly controlled?

DMF Lighting provides EM – Emergency Lighting options with most of its light fixture housing types. These emergency light fixtures dim with triac/ELV, 0-10Vdc or more sophisticated digital signals. However, during emergency conditions, the dimmer does not control the light output. UL924 qualified emergency LED drivers detect the loss of power and switch control to battery power in emergency conditions.

The diagram below illustrates the typical EM battery backup system.

The detailed wiring diagram below illustrates that the emergency LED driver powers the LED LOAD using the AC LED driver input, in normal power mode, and with battery power in emergency mode.

Technical Bulletin: Emergency Lighting and UL924

Products Technical

The OneFrame System - A Complete Downlighting Solution

DMF expands the acclaimed OneFrame™ to a modular system of seamlessly integrating elements to offer even more options and features

May 3, 2018

The award winning OneFrame was the first of its kind – a revolutionary LED housing created with multifamily construction in mind. Now, the OneFrame System expands on that, representing the culmination of decades of engineering experience. We’ve added new LED modules and features that all work together to give you more options and control.

A modular system that puts you in control

Built on the foundation of our award-winning OneFrame housing, the system is truly modular. That means it’s simpler to specify, install, and maintain. What’s more, our new light engines and trims allow you to adapt to changing needs without renovations, putting you in complete control of your light.

Game-changing versatility

The new additions to the OneFrame System allow you to create diverse types of layered light without locking you in to a particular design. By swapping out our modular components, you can radically alter your light. That means the people who inhabit your space get just the right light, even if their needs change.

Using different combinations of the DRD2, DRD2X or DRD4 LED modules with the OneFrame trims, you can achieve general, wall wash, spot, narrow flood, flood or accent lighting. All while utilizing the same system.

A perfect match for your project

Whatever your project, DMF has trims that can integrate seamlessly into the broader design. Built from die-cast aluminium, our trims are completely customizable by color, finish, shape, and function. They can blend in, or stand out, depending on your vision. And just like the rest of the DMF system, they’re exceptionally easy to install or change.

Click here for more information on the OneFrame.

Insights Products Technical

Technical Bulletin: Impact-Rated Recessed Fixtures

Resistance against external mechanical impacts

August 1, 2017

Note: This Bulletin was originally published on 08/01/24 and has been updated to reflect the new product offerings.

Why is an impact-rated fixture important?

In many applications today, a well-illuminated and secure environment is required. Examples of such environments are common areas, passageways and entry/exit areas in multi-family structures. Using light fixtures that have a proven measure of impact resistance can help maintain the environment despite what nefarious elements may try to do.

DMF Lighting provides recessed fixtures, such as the F4NC / DRD2M / DRD2TRJS family, with a low profile trim and robust polycarbonate lens, that offer a level of protection, suitable for use in common entry/exit passageway applications where impact resistance is required.

What is IK10?

The IK rating system, developed by the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) in 2002, defines the degree of protection offered by electrical equipment enclosures against external mechanical impacts. The level of protection is defined by two numbers, for example, IK10. The ratings range from 00 (not protected) to 10 (protected to 20 joules of impact energy). The standard defines how an enclosure containing electrical equipment should be tested to achieve a given rating. For example, the IK10 rating requires a 5 Kg mass with a radius of 50 mm to be dropped onto the enclosure five times from a distance of 400 mm. After the test, the enclosure should exhibit no observed defects.

What rating does the DRD2M have?

The DRD2M LED module family is protected by a substantial polycarbonate lens and has been tested and found to comply to the highest level offered, IK10. The IK10 rating gives assurance that the DRD2M will withstand all but the most serious attempts to disable it.

“The DRD2M will withstand all but the most serious attempts to disable it.”

The combination of the low profile junction box trim DRD2TRJS and IK10-rated DRD2M LED module recessed mounted into a ceiling makes it almost impossible to land a knockout blow to disable it from below. A series of pictures and a video illustrating DMF’s own impact test is shown below.

Technical Bulletin: Impact-Rated Recessed Fixtures

Insights Products Technical

Technical Bulletin: Wet Location Luminaires

UL Requirements for Moisture Protection

May 25, 2017

UL 1598 Standard for Safety – Luminaires defines three moisture protection types for luminaires, Dry, Damp or Wet.

Type	Definition
Dry	A location not normally subject to dampness, but may include a location subject to temporary dampness, as in the case of a building under construction, provided ventilation is adequate to prevent an accumulation of moisture.
Damp	An exterior or interior location that is normally or periodically subject to condensation of moisture in, on, or adjacent to, electrical equipment, and includes partially protected locations.
Wet	A location in which water or other liquid can drip, splash, or flow on or against electrical equipment.

Interior luminaires are often listed as dry or damp and most exterior luminaires are listed as wet. However, there are national and local requirements for interior luminaires to be wet location listed in areas such as bathrooms and above showers.

DMF Lighting offers several luminaires, such as the DRDH/DRD2M/DRD2T, that are UL 1598 Standard for Safety – Luminaires tested and marked “Suitable for Wet Location”. The DRD2M module must be installed with a DRD2T trim with our signature Twist & Lock feature to qualify for the wet location designation.

Up to the Test

The UL 1598 Standard specifies three wet location tests that can be applied to a luminaire depending on its usage and mounting location: rain, sprinkler or immersion. A given luminaire can be subject to one or more tests to determine if it can be classified as wet location. All the tests attempt to simulate what the luminaire is likely to undergo in the environment it is intended to be used.

The DRDH/DRD2M/DRD2T luminaire is a recessed downlight used in ceilings that are protected from external moisture. This means that the application prevents moisture penetrating from above. To this end, the DRDH/DRD2M/DRD2T luminaire was tested using the sprinkler test. The test is arduous and is conducted with the controlled spray head pointing at the luminaire while set to 20 psi³.

The test is performed over four hours and is sequenced as follows:

First hour – luminaire is turned on and water jet is off
Next half hour – luminaire is turned off and water jet is on
Next two hours – luminaire is turned on and water jet is on
Last half hour – luminaire is off and water jet is on

After the test is complete, the luminaire is subjected to a dielectric voltage withstand test and fully inspected to make sure that no water intrusion occurred that could cause a hazard or the luminaire to malfunction.

Technical Bulletin: Wet Location Luminaires

News Products Technical

Innovation of the Year

Revolutionary OneFrame LED Downlight Recognized with Multiple Industry Awards

May 19, 2017

DMF Lighting is proud to have the OneFrame DRDHNJD honored with three prestigious industry achievements: Technical Innovation Award winner by the International Association of Lighting Designers (IALD), Product Innovation Award (PIA) from Architectural Products Magazine and selection to the Illuminating Engineering Society (IES) Progress Report.

At LIGHTFAIR International 2016, OneFrame was named the winner of the Technical Innovation Award from a field of 275 entries, exemplifying one of the industry’s most innovative products introduced that year. In addition, OneFrame was also the category winner for Recessed Downlights.

The OneFrame won in the 2016 PIA category for Lighting/Electrical: Interior. PIA recognizes outstanding products within built environments and honored OneFrame for its ease of compliancy in a wide range of installed applications thanks to its built-in fire and sound ratings.

Rounding out its achievements, OneFrame’s selection to the 2016 IES Progress Report recognizes it as a development in the art and science of lighting throughout the world.

What makes OneFrame such an innovative product is its unique low profile and small aperture design combined with its safety and features listings. The OneFrame provides high-quality, cost-effective LED lighting in practically any space. It’s performance and value all in one compact package.

Learn more about M Series Residential

Technical

Technical Bulletin: Dead Front Trims

A Non-Conductive Feature

May 17, 2017

Section 410.10 (D) Bathtub and Shower Areas of the 2014 NEC requires that downlight luminaires located within the outside dimension of a shower be wet location listed if subject to shower spray. Some local codes, such as the City of Seattle Electrical Code, go one step further than the NEC (National Electrical Code) and add that luminaires with exposed metal parts must be ground fault circuit interrupter protected (GFCI).

The requirement to add GFCI protection to the luminaire circuit within the shower or bathtub zone adds complexity and cost. As an alternate, contractors can utilize non-conductive dead front trims to get around the GFI requirement as it is only applicable to grounded metal trims.

What is a dead front trim?

The term dead-front is defined by the NEC (National Electrical Code) as, “Without live parts exposed to a person on the operating side of the equipment,” and usually applies to electrical panels, in which the front or accessible part is insulated from line voltage and can be operated without receiving an electric shock. In recessed luminaires, the term dead-front usually implies the trim is constructed out of a material such as polycarbonate, with good electrical insulation properties that likewise does not conduct electricity.

Why is this feature useful?

The 2014 NEC, in section 410.10 (D) Bathtub and Shower Areas states, “No parts of cord-connected luminaires, chain-, cable-, or cord-suspended luminaires, lighting track, pendants, or ceiling-suspended (paddle) fans shall be located within a zone measured 900mm (3ft) horizontally and 2.5 m (8ft) vertically from the top of the bathtub rim or shower stall threshold. This zone is all encompassing and includes the space directly over the tub or shower stall. Luminaires located within the actual outside dimension of the bathtub or shower to a height of 2.5 m (8 ft) vertically from the top of the bathtub rim or shower threshold shall be marked for damp locations, or marked for wet locations where subject to shower spray.”

The NEC only requires that downlight luminaires located within the outside dimension of a shower, be wet location listed, if subject to shower spray. Some local codes such as the City of Seattle Electrical Code2 go one step further than the NEC and add: “Luminaires, with exposed metal parts that are grounded, must be ground fault circuit interrupter protected.”

The requirement to add GFCI protection to the luminaire circuit within the shower or bathtub zone adds complexity and cost. Contractors may opt to use the dead-front trim as an alternative to GFCI requirement, as it is only applicable to grounded metal trims.

DMF’S Dead Front Trims & Luminaires

DMF offers several different trims and luminaires which completely cover the metal parts of the underlying luminaire, thus creating a non-conductive electrical insulation barrier or dead-front. Look for the “DF” option at the end of any trim or product code to indicate dead-front, and see the complete list below for DMF’s different dead-front options.

• M Series Residential Square and Round Downlight – M4TxSWHDF

• S Series 4” Round 750lm in 2700k or 3000k – DRD5S4R079xxxDF

• C Series – All C Series Trims are naturally non-conductive

Technical Bulletin: Dead Front Trims