So, I have been looking at LED lights to put in an outside fixture, and possibly in a few other locations…. The lifespan and electric draw seem real tempting, but I am wondering if they throw enough light
any one try them yet?
I was looking at these guys
From building boxes and fitting face frames to installing doors and drawers, these techniques could be used for lots of cabinet projects.
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My wife bought some high end solar panel ones a couple of months ago. Although bright, they don't illuminate very far. In the winter you just don't get enough hours of daylight to get more than 4-5 hours out of them. If they come on at dusk they're done by 8-9 pm. I would get the low voltage halogen. I have those too and I'm much happier with those.
Mike
For long life, consider traffic signal incandescents. There are some at my mom's house that I put in over 30 years ago.
-- J.S.
"For long life, consider traffic signal incandescents. "Which are best, red green or amber? ;)
BruceT
Traffic signal lights are pretty much LED these days, at least for new construction.
The traffic signal incancescents have lousy efficiency -- probably less than half as efficient as standard bulbs. This is one reason (besides reliability) that new traffic signals are often LED based.
Half of the harm that is done in this world is due to people who want to feel important. They don't mean to do harm but the harm does not interest them. --T.S. Eliot
True, they output more heat than light. But it's not a whole lot of heat, and if you happen to need heat anyway, no big deal.
The thing to do is figure the actual cost, and decide if it's worth it to you.
-- J.S.
Traffic signal incandescent lamps are designed to withstand the constant cycling on and off, and to have an extended life over regular bulbs in spite of that cycling. This is because it's very expensive to change them.Because of the costs associated with replacing the bulbs, the folks in charge are willing to spend the extra $$ on electricity due to the bulb inefficiency.Yeah, if you're always in heating mode, and you heat with electric resistance heating, the inefficiency is not an issue. But very few folks are in that situation.
Half of the harm that is done in this world is due to people who want to feel important. They don't mean to do harm but the harm does not interest them. --T.S. Eliot
Even if you don't need the heat, and pay for A/C to get rid of it, using a few traffic signal incandescents in hard to reach spots might not be all that terrible a waste. Compared with things like credit card interest, parking tickets, spilled beer, etc., it shouldn't be a major issue for most of us.
-- J.S.
You can purchase regular "extended life" bulbs that are a better compromise. Or use a CFL, since they outlast regular bulbs 5 or ten to one.
Half of the harm that is done in this world is due to people who want to feel important. They don't mean to do harm but the harm does not interest them. --T.S. Eliot
Yup, agreed except for fixtures that retain heat and cause CFL's to die early. Conventional incandescents can outlast CFL's in those.
-- J.S.
And that's not nearly the problem it was originally. I've got about two dozen of the things operating inside 6-8 inch fully closed globes and haven't noticed any increase in failure rate.
Half of the harm that is done in this world is due to people who want to feel important. They don't mean to do harm but the harm does not interest them. --T.S. Eliot
I don't like them. That type of light makes it hard to see.
I have been looking at using them for emergency lights for power failure
. No experience with them as of yet though. The cost is huge for starters though.
Be interested in what you decide to do .
I'm replacing my lights with CFLs, that's as high tech as I've gotten. Interested to know how well those LEDs work though.
You don't say where you live. Unless you're far enough north that temps are regularly below 0F, compact fluorescents are probably a better deal.
I glanced at that site and I suspect that the "equivalent wattage" is being overstated in many cases. You need to compare lumen output.
Deadly efficient. You just need to match up the light output to what you are trying to illuminate.
Incandescent Lamps are great too but they take a bucks worth of electricity and make 60 cents worth of heat. (can you say easy bake oven) The rule is between 3 and 4 times the lumens from a flourescent light compared to incandescent. Halogen isn't much better than a flourescent. (they get less efficient over time)
LED's are better yet at 100000 hours and really high efficiency.
You just have to lumen up!
Jeff,
Further update from our lighting tzar in the office on LED's. They are long life and energy efficient but to date there is no conversion on efficiency factor like the Flourescent vs incandescent.
Lumens per watt is what you want to know.
One factor to slow down the parade is the cost. THere are cans that equal the light output of 60 watts in an incandescent package. the cost is a little over 300. Compare that to 30 to 45 in a good quality can w trim. The payback is out there a little too far.
Bought a led table light from HD. Can detach the head as a flashlight. Works well tho 'gimmicky' but the light output is more night reading lamp than true table lamp. Connection became intermittent so returned it.
Purchased another led array (6 leds) to try as overcounter lighting. Plus is very compact (1-- 1-1/4" dia by 1/2" high) & no heat. Truth is based on light output they are better suited as art/curio highlight lights and not as illumination to do 'real work' on the countertop.
Led White light is bluish in any of those I have tried (similar to cool white vs daylight fluorescent).
Am using cfl in unheated garage (last winter temps hit -20 F) and as porch lights with no problems. Always light tho output might be reduced a bit and a few seconds warm-up is needed.
Some flashlights advertise 3 watt light output and they are bright - in the small cone of light that the lens produces. Reincarnated as general illumination I think they would fail since the light would be too feeble. Granted groups of multiple leds would produce more lumens but at what cost?
Little doubt that it is the coming thing but not there yet. Have gone with cfls or GU10s (latter on dimmers). Designer shapes, instead of bare coils, are prevalent.
I'm with you on the dim output. If I was 21 living in the woods with a windmill for power that might be a great light source. As I stand now, at 49, the more light the better for failing eyes.
I'd stick with CFL's for cans, tube flourescents for big areas indirect as possible, and the lone incandescent or halogen for a reading light. For color rendition and lack of pulse the incandescent can't be beat.
The day of LED's will come but not for a few years at the price and light output.Jack of all trades and master of none - you got a problem with that?
For small reading lights the cold cathode lights are nice. I don't know what their efficiency is, but I gather it's better than standard fluorescent.
Half of the harm that is done in this world is due to people who want to feel important. They don't mean to do harm but the harm does not interest them. --T.S. Eliot
They are a bit pricy but the life is pretty extraordinary. Never bought one. I guess I ought to give it a try. I did spec a bunch to gym that didn't want to change the score board lights. it worked really well...at 6 bucks a pop for a 15 watt lamp.Jack of all trades and master of none - you got a problem with that?