With the advancement of the compact fluorescent lamp technology, there have been vital breakthroughs in the industry where Megaman – an established brand of energy-saving lamps focused on innovation – has extended the usage of energy-saving lamps beyond general lighting, says an official for the German specialist.

“Adopted with the cutting-edge lighting technology, these energy-saving lamps are compact and stylish, possessing various features for meeting different lighting requirements,” says Monika Mang, marketing director.
 
Environmental concern
Megaman continues to introduce a wide range of eco-friendly lighting products while setting environmental management as one of its highest priorities. Placing high values on environmental protection, Megaman strives to inject green elements into its innovative lighting solution, bringing aesthetic, functionality and green living into harmony. Through its internal “Design for Environment” programme, Megaman has stepped up its effort to minimise environmental impact at different product life cycles. Since January this year, the company has been incorporating amalgam – an eco-form of mercury to reduce the impact on the environment – in the manufacture of its full series of energy-saving lamps. This makes all its products free from liquid mercury.
“This protects not only workers during production and transportation, but also end-users during usage and upon disposal, avoiding their exposure to liquid mercury. Most of our lamps, which employ lead-free glass tubes, recyclable plastic, water-based adhesive, are RoHS (Restriction of Hazardous Substances) compliant,” says Mang. “Our energy-saving lamps are specially designed with high energy efficiency, saving up to 80 per cent electricity and eliminating 80 per cent CO2 emission.”

Technology
Highlighting some of strengths of the company’s lamps, she says: “Megaman’s innovative technology – Ingenium – makes the company’s energy-saving lamps even lighter and smaller, further reducing material wastage for landfill. When compared with other energy-saving lamps, these lamps have a lengthier lamp life of up to 15,000 hours, providing higher luminous efficacy whilst consuming less power. All these contribute to lower the consumption of natural resources and the operating cost of the lamp.”
Aesthetic appeal
These lamps are available in different shapes including classic, tubular, candle, globe shapes and reflectors and various colour temperatures, making them fit for different styles and shapes of the luminaires or fixtures. Available in different sizes and colour temperatures, they are no longer considered as a bulky alternatives to traditional incandescent lamps. Function-wise, different features such as step-dimming, smooth dimming and accentuated lighting are supported, creating different lighting effects for different applications.
“The unique plug-and-play feature makes them applicable to most applications, providing more choices and flexibility for home consumers and professionals, serving both the decorative and practical purposes,” she adds.

Wide application
Megaman lamps offer a variety of functions for use as home or retail lighting. Its total dimming solutions allows users to smoothly adjust the brightness in the room to create appropriate lighting effect and mood suitable for different purposes. Self-ballasted linear-recess lighting provides indirect lighting that can enhance the ambience of the room. For the retail sector, the company’s Reflector Series accent lighting provides additional lighting to specific areas and products, through focusing the light beam in preset directions. The minimal heat generated by the reflectors helps to prevent discoloration of clothing or display items.

Total Dimming Solution
Megaman also offers Total Dimming Solution with its Dimmerable and DorS Dimming series.
“In 2005, Megaman made a remarkable breakthrough in compact fluorescent lighting technology, when it launched the first dimmable energy-saving lamp DorS Dimming, which can be dimmed with a conventional light switch. Megaman followed it up with the launch last year of the Dimmerable series, which enables smooth dimming with a dimmer switch,” Mang says. “Thanks to its commitment to break new ground, Megaman has brought in a revolution in compact fluorescent lamps that were once non-dimmable.
“Megaman’s Total Dimming Solution – comprising the Dimmerable and DorS Dimming series allows users to enjoy the benefits of dimmable CFL lighting system without the need for special control gear or control wiring.”
Designed with a built-in dimmer, Megaman DorS Dimming lamp offers a four-step dimming with brightness levels of 100, 66, 33 and five per cent at a flick of an ordinary light switch. While, working perfectly on a standard dimmer switch, the Megaman Dimmerable allows users to choose between full lighting or dimmer atmospheric lighting with a linear brightness range from 100 to 10 per cent. No retrofit is required.” 

Awards and recognition
Established in Germany since 1994, Megaman started out as a small proprietor distributing lighting solutions to local outlets within its area and has now successfully established itself as one of Europe’s top three brands in the industry. The company continually strives to develop new technology and revolutionise its product design methods, adding more than 300 products to its portfolio which are distributed in over 80 countries worldwide in Europe, Asia-Pacific, Middle East, Africa, and North America.
To ensure that its products comply with the highest quality standards, Megaman’s manufacturing plants are equipped with state-of-the-art assembly lines, ISO17025-certified laboratories and life-test rooms.
“Some of the international recognitions include the ISO 9001:2000, ISO 14001, OHSAS 18001:1999, QC080000, SA 8000:2001 which ensure that the quality of our products fulfil international standards,” she says.
It also implements environmental measures according to ISO 14001 standards, right from initial product design, research and development, to every manufacturing stage, office management, and even to the disposal and recycling process.
In addition, Megaman is also a recipient of a number of awards including the New Product Award in designEX 2008, the 2005 Lighting Design Awards, UK in the category Innovations: light sources and electronics gear, Intel Design Awards 2005, Italy (Innovative Award); LivinLuce and EnerMotive 2007, Italy (Innovation and Design Award: Finalist); Hong Kong Superbrands 2005/06; Hong Kong Eco-Products Award (2005, 2007 Eco-Products Gold Award and 2007 Eco-Products Silver Award). It is also listed in the energy-efficiency recommended programme as certified by the Energy Saving Trust (EST) of the UK.