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Starting The Move To LED Lighting

Started by 19and41, February 17, 2016, 07:39:22 PM

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19and41

I have been inspecting the "bulbs" I use for security purposes, timed lights coming on at different times to see if the heat generated by them has had any damaging effect on them.  Each generate around 150 to 200 degrees during their on cycle.  I see no deformation of their non conductive structure.  the LED segments are mounted on a non conductive panel backed with an aluminum plate that slide into a plastic frame.  These are operated in a torchiere type fixture and the brightest has a 5 hour cycle and the smaller, a 2 1/2 hour cycle.  They look pretty unaffected so far.  I have a bright LED jelly jar style porch light at front and rear, with the rear one operating each evening.  at 14 watts, it even illuminates the trees across the yard behind my house and silhouettes it at night.  I have been using GE BrightStik bulbs for the vanity and single ceiling fan lights.  They run too hot in my estimation for any enclosed or long duration lighting, but are ideal for short use purposes.
"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."
— Arthur C. Clarke

19and41

I tried a 20w CFL in the shorter duration timed light.  The bulb went around 200 degrees.  The LED I think is a safer bet for such usage.  There is no apparent heat changes to it's structure and the bulb base looks as though it had never been in a screw in fixture.  For comparison, a 6L6 audio amp tube in my console runs at 330 degrees.  Temps in Farenheit.
"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."
— Arthur C. Clarke

twocvbloke

Having been using mostly LED lighting this past year, and with said LED lighting failing on me, I went back to my CFLs, and they do indeed get hotter than the LEDs, which I found out when messing about with my glass shade and trying different coloured bulbs out and grabbing said CFL while it was still hot... :o

19and41

This is the type I am using.  It is not enclosed in plastic so it can air cool better.  It puts out a pretty good light in all directions.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/PYSICALTM-LED-E27-17W-Super-Bright-5050-Corn-Light-Bulbs-Lamp-1000-Lumen-LED-/332126206197?hash=item4d5443b8f5:g:M3kAAOSw32lYotql
"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."
— Arthur C. Clarke

twocvbloke

I'm not keen on those style LED lights with the exposed connections on the LEDs, as they're an electrocution risk depending on the type of power supply they use (usually a resistive or capacitive dropper, which are referenced to mains power), and if our house wiring isn't quite right, they can be a hazard, but I'll let this video explain:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNf6VSj6M-E

Dan/Panther

Like any other new item, the first offerings are going to be novel, but somewhat lacking in perfection.
I started to switch to LED about 6  or 8 months ago. At first like mentioned, not really impressed. But I gave them a chance, as the prices lowered I tried different types. Until I found a White light version that is very bright and makes things appear as they would in sunlight. I was concerned about am radio interference, because of my vintage radios. No problem.
Plus you save a bunch, you get 100 watts worth of light for about 15 watts of cost.
I'm sold...

D/P

The More People I meet, The More I Love, and MISS My Dog.  Dan Robinson

19and41

It does take a bit of trial and error to find what works and looks right.  I copy down the Kelvin color temperature rating of those I like, as well as the lumen output.  Those are apples to apples items of comparison.  I am also taking the heat output into consideration as well.  That saves a lot of the error expended.
"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."
— Arthur C. Clarke

AE_Collector

#52
One problem with LED bulbs is that I think in many cases they are going to become obsolete due to the power consumption per lumen output long before they quit working. It seems to me that the light output per watt of electricity just keeps getting better and better. I still see some LED's that the packaging claims "60 watt equivalent" thought the lumen output is only between 400-500. I may be wrong but I think a 60 watt incandescent puts out close to 800 lumens. You have to make sure that some of the "savings" claimed on the packaging isn't due to reduced lumen output.

The power company had a promotion for $1 each of 60 watt equivalent LED's that are around 800 lumens and use 9.9 watts. I bought about 30 of them to put in a fixture type that I have throughout my daughters house that was very difficult to find CFL's with a small enough base to fit in fixtures. That solved the problem and now I have a whole bunch of used CFL's to use in other fixtures as other CFL's slowly give up. I contemplated buying more LED's instead but figured that before long the new LED's will be even more efficient so I will slowly change over since the CFL's aren't that much less efficient than LED's...so far.

Terry

twocvbloke

I remember back when the LED lighting craze started, and the bulbs were basically huge clusters of 5mm White LEDs, and back then I had no interest in them as the weren't that bright, were huge and were quite expensive given that they were just a load of off-the-shelf white LEDs, but over the years they came up with new designs and new high-power LED chips, and new ways of packaging them, to the point where I think LED technology has plateaued in terms of brightness and efficiency, the only difference we'll probably see is probably just going to be design and reliability adjustments... :)

One fun thing about some LED lightbulbs though, they work like a CFL in reverse, as when you first turn on a fluorescent tube, it's fairly dim and gets brighter as it warms up, with some LEDs and their power supplies, the LEDs light up at full brightness, and as the current-limiting controller chip on the power supply heats up, the LEDs gradually dim back down, so the quoted lumens could actually be a lot lower when warmed up than it states on the box...

19and41

I try not to rely on the stated equivalency of the bulb to it's incandescent counterpart.  I get stung when the bulb does not run as bright.  And the Kelvin temperature rating gives a reliable indication of it's color.  I have a few bulbs that was supposed to be a specific wattages' equivalent but didn't measure up.  I won't buy a bulb without a desirable lumen rating.
"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."
— Arthur C. Clarke

AE_Collector

Quote from: twocvbloke on February 16, 2017, 01:38:15 PM
the only difference we'll probably see is probably just going to be design and reliability adjustments... :)

Yes you are correct, they are much brighter now and fairly reliable so the next step by manufacturers will be to make them fail more frequently.

I still have 4 or the first 6 CFL's that I bought likely 25 years ago. They were $25 each then and I think they use 15 watts and were advertised as 60 watt equivalent. They are in a fixture in a bathroom so get lots of on-offs every day which supposedly isn't good for CFL's but it hasn't hurt these ones! The other two were in outside fixtures and while they lasted a long time, they have no the failed and been recycled now.

Terry

andre_janew

I do remember some early CFLs that used an 8 inch circular florescent bulb.  They would flicker a bit when first turned on.  Also the ballast would fail before the bulb did and the ballast was not available separately.  The newer ones come on instantly with no flickering.  I will admit that I have yet to try the LED bulbs.   

twocvbloke

The first CFL I ever saw and used was basically a small 2D-style fluorescent lamp on a magnetic ballast base, similar (or possibly the same as) the one in the picture below, I quite liked them ones to be honest, they were usually whiter in colour temperature... :)

HarrySmith

I work at a Toyota dealer. There is one year that Corolla's came with LED headlamps and there is no way to replace the bulb. We have to replace the entire headlamp assembly. Pretty pricey job! I did one this morning and the tech & myself decided to see what we could see. We had to cut the housing to remove the light assembly. Inside we found a fairly large heatsink and a tiny LED. Toyota lists it as a "LED ECU", Electronic Control Unit, we took it apart and I was amazed! There is nothing to it!
Harry Smith
ATCA 4434
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Benny

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