What is the California Energy Commission (CEC) Title 24/JA8?

Are you well versed in Title 24 lighting regulations in California?

What does it mean for you as a business owner or materials buyer?

Title 24 lighting regulations were revised in California to ensure that lighting is more energy efficient.

The revised regulations took effect in January 2019 and are for new construction, renovations, and additions to both residential and commercial buildings.

The 2019 Energy Standards for residential lighting require all permanently installed luminaires to be high efficacy, and include:

Lighting attached to walls, ceilings, or columns.
Track and flexible lighting systems.
Lighting inside permanently installed cabinets.
Lighting attached to the top or bottom of permanently installed cabinets.
Lighting attached to ceiling fans.

In addition, many luminaires must have an integral light source or a removeable lamp that meets the performance requirements of JA8 (Joint Appendix JA8). The requirements in JA8 are to help ensure that new lighting technologies, such as LED, provide energy-efficient light while maintaining performance characteristics that consumers expect.

What are some of these New Requirements?

Here are the more important parts for JA8 high-efficiency lighting for LED sources:

Light sources installed in ceiling recessed downlight luminaires. The downlights shall not have screw bases. Shall contain JA8-certified light sources.
LED luminaires with integral sources
Screw-based LED lamps (A-lamps, PAR lamps, etc.)
Pin-based LED lamps (MR-16, AR-111, etc.)

Some additional Title 24/JA8 requirements:

Lighting in bathrooms, laundry rooms, garages, and utility rooms, must have at least one light paired with a vacancy sensor.
Regulations for outdoor lighting are more strict – wall mounted lights must be controlled by either a photocell and motion sensor, an astronomical time clock or EMCS with the features of an astronomical time clock, or a photocell and time switch. The control must not allow the light to be on during the day.

These Title 24/JA8 lighting regulations apply to permanently installed fixtures such as ceiling lights, under cabinet lighting, ceiling fan lights, and track lighting. They don’t apply to fixtures such as table lamps and floor lamps.

What Are the Benefits of JA8 Compliant LED Sources?

There are several benefits to using JA8 LED sources, including a longer life span and low heat generation.

JA8 products also have a color rendering index of 90 or higher. Color rendering index (CRI) is the measure of how well the light source is able to accurately portray colors. It’s measured on a scale from zero, being the lowest, to 100, being the highest and the closest to sunlight.

The higher the CRI, the brighter and more vivid the colors will appear. Bulbs with a high CRI of 90 or more are commonly used by galleries and museums to illuminate art work and sculptures. They can also be used in high end retail and grocery stores to help displays of produce and merchandise look more appealing to customers.

At RP Lighting + Fans, our mission is to stay on top of the latest technologies so we can provide you and your customers with the most efficient and up-to-date products to improve your business. Check out the RP Lighting + Fans web site (www.rplighting.com) that has specific sections dedicated to the identification of JA8 compliant ceiling fans, ceiling fan light kits, recessed lighting, and ceiling mounted luminaires.