ABOUT US
A familiy business from the Chiemgau region
Laternix is a family-owned business located in Germany. It was founded in 2013 by industrial engineer Michael Härtl, who previously, as Head of Development at Siteco, decisively advanced the transformation to LED technology. As an acknowledged market and technology expert with numerous inventions and publications, he is a recognised expert within the lighting industry.
At our location in Traunstein (in Chiemgau, in the Upper Bavaria region of Germany) we develop, produce and market innovative LED lighting solutions for the modernisation of existing luminaires, and with a focus on outdoor lighting. Many thousands of our LEDiKITs® have been in use for years in various European countries and perform their service reliably and efficiently.
In your function as a municipality, town or city, local authority, energy supplier, installer or specialist planner we offer a range of solutions for the sustainable future design of your lighting systems that is unique on the market. Simultaneously, renowned luminaire manufacturers have high regard for our expertise and the quality of our assemblies.
We are a product manufacturer and also a partner for the joint development and implementation of sophisticated solution concepts that are tailored to your individual requirements. According to our motto of "innovation for sustainable lighting", our approach goes far beyond the realisation of energy savings. We pursue a holistic approach that has sustainability at its core. Our solutions achieve better light for people and the environment, reduce light pollution and contribute to the reutilisation of valuable materials and avoidance of electronic waste. We have been awarded the Meggle Founder Prize for our business approach geared towards sustainability.
OUR FOCUS
Sustainability at the centre
Germany alone has more than 10 million street luminaires. There are also millions of architectural luminaires, projectors, floodlights, tunnel luminaires and other luminaires in public and private outdoor spaces. Most of these are less than 20 years old and only a few of them are equipped with LED technology.
Converting these light points to LED technology provides a huge energy saving potential that can contribute to the reduction of CO2 emissions. At the same time, researchers are observing a significant increase in light pollution that is indisputably due to LED lighting, and we have probably all come to notice the decline in insect populations. In order to avoid any negative or rebound effects a conscious and careful handling of the medium of light is therefore absolutely necessary.
When upgrading to LED technology, there are basically three possibilities with advantages and disadvantages: a) Replacing a traditional luminaire with a new LED luminaire
b) Converting an existing luminaire to LED technology, whereby the housing is essentially retained and the "inner parts" are replaced (often referred to as an LED conversion kit)
c) Replacing the traditional light source with an LED replacement light source (often called an LED retrofit)
We are convinced that it is more sustainable to technically and energetically modernise a well-maintained luminaire by converting it to LED technology, thus making it usable for a further 20 years, rather than to dispose of it or equip it with an LED replacement lamp as a (in most cases) poor compromise. With a great deal of passion and persistence we have invested much time, capital and expertise in the realisation of our ideas with the above goal in mind. Our portfolio of LEDiKIT® products, unique on the market, provides compelling solutions for luminaire models of all types and applications of any scale. Thanks to our solutions existing luminaires experience an 'upgrading' in every respect, and it's also the reason why we call them 'LED Upgrade Kits'!
OUR PHILOSOPHY
Light according to needs
When used correctly, LED technology opens up major potential for sustainable action. It should follow the principle of "needs-based" lighting. This requires a detailed analysis of the demand situation, precise planning and consistency in implementation.
All too often, residents complain about light dazzle and too much glare following an upgrade to LED technology. And legitimately, because high efficiency and a low price are no guarantee for good lighting and definitely not for sustainability. For this reason, our philosophy is:
"light as good as possible, as much as is required, in the right place at the right time, highly efficient and durable"
In our product developments, we translate the guiding principle of sustainability into specific technical solutions with which we can implement our philosophy. These solutions are always based on four pillars which are of fundamental importance to:
Conservation of resources
The concept of modernising existing luminaires by converting (upgrading) them to LED technology combines the objective of saving energy with the target of conserving resources. Due to their technical design and quality of materials, our LEDiKITs® are extremely durable and designed so that they can be easily repaired and recycled. As products 'made in Germany', we thus meet all environmental and social standards.
Our expertise
From the idea to innovation
Ideas for solutions come from dealing with application problems on the one hand and technology opportunities on the other. In combination with our expertise in the fields of design, lighting technology, electronics (hardware and software) and production technology, we develop products characterised by their high application benefits and an attractive price-performance ratio. This applies to our standard solutions as well as to our project-specific special solutions developed together with our customers and according to their requirements. Thanks to our wide range of technology platforms we create sophisticated lighting solutions quickly, flexibly and cost-effectively. We test the technical properties and quality of our assemblies during development and production in our in-house photometric and luminaire technology laboratory. Product safety is a top priority for us, which is why we comply with relevant product safety standards and guarantee the CE conformity of our products.
Our quality promise
You can rely on it
We know what is important and have extensive technical expertise to design products so that they function safely, reliably and durably. Whether it concerns the LED replacement for a 20W low voltage tungsten halogen lamp in a compact facade projector or the light units of a high-mast luminaire with lamp power of several thousand watts, we always ensure that our solution meets the relevant product and safety standards. The heat dissipation (cooling) of the LED light sources and the driver electronics plays a decisive role. We fundamentally design our systems in such a way that a safety margin is always included when operating under normal ambient conditions. Temperature sensors on the LED modules and in the LED drivers ensure that our LEDiKITs® cannot be damaged even under extreme or unintended ambient conditions (e.g. operation of street lighting at midday in midsummer). A further stress factor is that the LED upgrade kits are exposed to overvoltages which occur during switching operations in the network or as a result of lightning strikes. Our systems are also well equipped for this. As additional protection we recommend the use of a surge protection element in the cable junction box (type 3, including protection of the PSt control phase) as well as in the sub-distribution.
We provide a standard 5-year guarantee on our LEDiKITs® in accordance with our guarantee conditions.