E-Line LED
A continuous line for every application

example warehouse

The basis is a nominal work price per kWh of 0.10 £ in year 2017 and a yearly inflation rate of 3% over 15 years of service life with 4,000 operating hours per annum.

example office

The basis is a nominal work price per kWh of 0.10 £ in year 2017 and a yearly inflation rate of 3% over 15 years of service life with 2,750 operating hours per annum.

Example supermarket

The basis is a nominal work price per kWh of 0.10 £ in year 2017 and a yearly inflation rate of 3% over 15 years of service life with 4,000 operating hours per annum.

Example classroom

Basis is a nominal work price per kWh of 0.10 £ in year 2017 and a yearly inflation rate of 3% over 20 years of service life with 1,400 operating hours of annual general lighting and 700 operating hours of annual panel lighting.

Automotive industry

Brilliant light without glare

Perfect paint and precise gaps – in the automotive industry it is often small details that determine product quality in the end. To always make sure of this, perfect light is needed especially in final assembly and chassis production. Light that is outstandingly uniform and without glare. Only in this way is it ensured that no LED light points are reflected on the bodywork, causing irritation during the quality control process. Perfect light however must also ensure highly homogeneous vertical illuminance because assembly and control work takes place flexibly on the object at various heights.

In cooperation with a renowned vehicle manufacturer, TRILUX developed custom-designed E-Line concepts specifically for this application area. The optics selected by the client now provide no-compromise performance in terms of lighting technology, efficiency, economy and design. Workers especially benefit from this because the perfect light supports them ideally in their tasks. Because these optics also provide top performance in other applications, TRILUX has adopted these new developments in its standard portfolio.

Supermarkets and discounters

An unexpected problem ideally solved

With supermarkets and discounters, it is being increasingly recognised that upgrading to LED provides enormous potential. Refurbished supermarkets with standard optics however exposed an unexpected problem – the efficient LED continuous lines emitting light downwards ensured optimum illumination of the shelving and aisles, but ceilings remained more or less in the dark because of the missing scattered light. This sometimes caused confusion: operators reported for example that customers passing by inadvertently thought that the store was closed because they looked into the dark space. TRILUX solved this challenge together with a highly renowned discounter chain.

An opal optic especially developed for this application ensures decorative ceiling illumination via a slight indirect component, as familiar from the more or less omnidirectional light of previously used fluorescent lamps. However, this is much more efficient than fluorescent sources. The E-Line optic specifically designed by TRILUX fulfils the complete range of expectations of discounters and supermarkets with regard to sales-promoting lighting characteristic, economical operation and technical performance. In the meantime, TRILUX has added this solution to its standard portfolio because it also achieves optimum results in other applications.

Foodstuff distribution

An LED continuous line that withstands cold temperatures and protects food

The complete E-Line selection combined with additional IP54 components – this creates an extremely flexible, robust LED solution ideally suited for use in cold stores in the food industry. In whatever application, whether in production or distribution, this continuous line version stands up to cold temperatures and humidity. The IP54 version of E-Line LED now also complies with stringent hygiene standards.

Everything started with a request from a major, internationally active customer in the food distribution industry needing precisely such a solution for its cold stores. To meet these demands, TRILUX developed an appropriate accessory based on the conventional E-Line LED system that ensure high system resistance and the protection of foodstuffs.

The attraction of this solution: with this IP54 accessory consisting of trunking, cover and seals the E-Line optics can be upgraded in IP20 without limiting selection for the customer, and he can continue to select from optics with various beam angles, lumen packages, light colours etc. This E-Line benefits from an "upgrade" to a higher protection rating though. In this way they withstand not only low temperatures and humidity but also comply with the strict HACCP specifications.

Constructor Helmut Ufermann

1. E-Line celebrates its 25th birthday this year. You've significantly characterised the development of the series over all these years. How was the product creation process and how has the continuous line changed in the past 25 years in terms of lighting technology and product design?

"Well, I can probably be thankful for my job with the company's decision in 1992 to launch a new, up-to-date continuous line in the market. The reason for this was that the team under the group leader Mr. Becker at that time was extended with me for the requisite development capacities.

During that year we brought the X-Line into production – one of the first continuous lines that could be installed without tools to efficiently and optimally illuminate industrial production and assembly halls as well as schools and shops. On the basis of T8 lamps and mainly inductive ballasts we developed a multifunctional trunking system as well as various reflectors and louvres for light control.

In 1999 we developed the cost-optimised E-Line from the X-Line. The continuous line was continuously developed, and scored points at that time with higher energy efficiency, an improved wiring system and quick installation times. The design hasn't changed much at all. Only the switch from special design sockets to commercially available standard sockets was a distinctive feature.

When T5 lamps became available on the market, smaller louvres and reflectors could be designed and this further upgraded the appearance of our continuous line. The T5 lamps were then only operated with electronic control gear units.

A particular challenge in 2013 was the implementation of LED technology. In that regard we were able to set new standards as the pioneer in the market. This also heralded the end of the age of louvres and reflectors. The focus is now on special light-guiding plastic optics. Installation times have also been reduced even more, because now only luminaire inserts have to be attached to the trunking profiles."

2. In your opinion what makes E-Line LED the optimum lighting solution? 

"E-Line LED is an extremely energy-efficient lighting solution for a wide variety of applications. It serves the complete spectrum, ranging from rough industrial uses and the standard-compliant lighting of offices and training facilities to prestigious lighting in the retail sector. The continuous line can be installed as quick as a flash and provides optimum flexibility – also in terms of retrospective changes in room use. The simple, quick refurbishing of conventional E-Line T5 and T8 systems to high-efficiency LED technology in just 44 seconds is a further major plus point. Even 1st generation continuous lines can be simply replaced by the E-Line LED."

3. Take a glimpse into the future: what can we expect from E-Line in the next 25 years? Which trends and developments in your opinion will we be facing in the future?

"The future is digital and networked – this also applies to the theme of light. Light is becoming an important component in the Internet of Things and is laying the way for completely new business models and intelligent services. With our LiveLink light management system, we already offer simple and reliable access to innovative control and monitoring options with lighting solutions.

Customers can for example use a cloud solution for the recording of consumption data and for monitoring maintenance that predicts the service life of individual luminaires and triggers an alarm where required. We're working at full steam on innovative technologies and new solutions. Our luminaires such as E-Line LED together with high quality sensor technology will offer increasing features and functions that will enormously benefit customers."

Product Manager Klaas Keur

1. Mr. Keur, if you were to describe E-Line in a 140-character tweet – what would this be?

"It's not so easy to summarise such a great product in a few characters, but in my view the following key terms shouldn't be missing: Large portfolio, high flexibility, individual customer solutions, diverse application possibilities, high efficiency, simple designing and mounting."

2. E-Line is seen as a benchmark in the lighting market. Is it appropriate to compare the continuous line to icons such as the VW Beetle or the Apple iPod?

"I think E-Line can be compared to the VW Golf – an absolute bestseller that has been continually developed over all the years and that has also set standards. Both featured maximum reliability and cost-efficiency from the very beginning, and have been success stories with each new generation and the jumps in innovation. At the moment digitalisation is our major topic. VW has just launched the seventh generation of the Golf in which the driver receives all information from the cockpit via a fully digitalised hybrid instrument and many interactive functions. In the lighting branch as well it's no longer just about products, but complex solutions and services offering genuine added value.

An example – we're currently implementing a large project together with the distribution hall operator Dokvast using E-Line LED and our LiveLink light management system. This system is embedded into the higher-level building control, enabling all essential components of the building technology to be controlled centrally. Here as well we also enable remote monitoring and predictive maintenance of the lighting installation."

3. As a lighting specialist, TRILUX repeatedly develops individual lighting solutions based on specific client demands. As a result, with E-Line there were also custom-designed special solutions that were then adopted into the standard product portfolio. Which projects do you remember the most and how quickly can such an individual solution be implemented?

"In the past few years, quite a lot of custom-designed special productions were carried out. We developed two modified E-Line solutions within three months for example for a renowned customer from the automotive industry that were ideally adapted to the needs of their final assembly. In such applications, extremely uniform, glare-free light is needed because visible LED light points for example can be reflected on the bodywork. Also, very uniform vertical illuminance is important because assembly and control work takes place flexibly at different heights on the object. Luminaire requirements are specified in close cooperation with the customer and various luminaire concepts drawn up – this is then followed by development of the best solution in terms of lighting technology, efficiency, design and economy.

Another example is a large chain of supermarkets that was looking for a lighting solution with continuous light without dark spots and a 14% indirect light component for their sales spaces. It was here that we developed an OT diffuser in a very short time."

Detlef Iseken, Romberg Elektrotechnik GmbH

1. For how many years have you now been working with E-Line, and what convinced you then and now?

"The ROMBERG Group has been working with TRILUX for around 23 years now and was a fan of E-Line right from the start. In particular it was the high product quality and quality of light, the timeless design, quality workmanship and simple handling that won us over. A further plus is the very reliable working together with TRILUX as well as rapid order processing and delivery."

2. Which development steps in the series brought you significant benefits?

"There was a complete progression of innovation jumps that was highly advantageous for our work and for our customers – e.g. the continuous improvement in energy efficiency from 65 lm/W with the T8 E-Line to 90 lm/W with the T5 version. Launching E-Line LED in 2013 meant that energy efficiency advanced to 117 lm/W, and we now even have a variant with 169 lm/W.

Furthermore, we can also take advantage of a very wide product portfolio: at the beginning four optics and three luminous flux levels were available, but now the continuous line has 12 optic variants and lumen packages from 4,000 to 20,000 lm. The 12-pole through-wiring also offers much more flexibility, enabling for example emergency light circuits to be wired."

3. How many kilometres of E-Line do you think you've installed? And which products and clients do you remember best? (e.g. highlights, unusual applications, special production runs etc.)

"In the past 23 years we've installed a total of around 200 to 250 km of E-Line, and of that around 40 km with 18,000 gear trays in the last two years. Examples here are equipping distribution halls for companies such as Edeka, Porsche, REWE and others."

Luminaire data