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Okayfine. Got motivated.
Bought two of these.
http://cgi.ebay.com/Small-lamp-7-LED-Lightbulb-Light-Bulb-E27-Super-White_W0QQitemZ4402315634QQihZ001QQcategoryZ3201QQcmdZViewItem
They're small, and bluish, and not overly bright (I think it's okay to say that...), but they draw next to no power.
One's going in the "always on" lamp that's hooked up in The Bunker (to a UPS, so when the power goes out, I don't fumble all over the place...), and the other will be tried in an outside fixture that requires a dimmable light. Several more will follow, along with possibly some of their "warm white" candelabra bulbs.
I'll probably also outfit the shooting trailer with some 12 volt ones.
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Those are a LOT cheaper than I've seen from other places. The last I looked at the LED light bulbs, they were far more expensive. I'm not real enthusiastic about the bluish tint. I noticed that tint with some Christmas lights we purchased last year.
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They certainly do use way less power than most other bulbs. I have a 7 element LED flashlight which I use every day which has not had new batteries in about 8 months.
If they will suit your needs they are definitely the way to go.
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Well, these little buggers are NOT bright enough for ceiling bulbs, and I don't think I'd like the light long-term, but they're more than adequate for my "the power just went out" light, and the outside lights by the garage.
They also make some (brighter) candelabra-type bulbs... Gonna have to get some o' them...
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They certainly do use way less power than most other bulbs. I have a 7 element LED flashlight which I use every day which has not had new batteries in about 8 months.
If they will suit your needs they are definitely the way to go.
They're actually only about twice as efficient off of new batteries than a standard incandescent bulb. What they are good for is that as the batteries drain and the voltage drops they merely dim while incandescents tend to shift into producing non-useful infrared light. Well, they produce the infrared light anyways, it's just what gets produced first, before the white light.
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What's the actual wattage on these (not the "incandescant equivalent")?
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low millivolts, I'd guess...
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I'm surprised at you.
These things are even more evil than compact fluorescents...
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I'm surprised at you.
These things are even more evil than compact fluorescents...
LED bulbs can be made with a proper color balance, they don't flicker when they come on, they don't have any disposal problems, they could be manufactured cheaper, they'd never need to be replaced, they can't poison you, and for those of you who care, they're even more energy efficient.
If LEDs live up to their potential they'd have all of the benefits of an energy efficient light source, all the advantages of incandescents, and none of the crappy aspects of CFLs.
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If LEDs live up to their potential they'd have all of the benefits of an energy efficient light source, all the advantages of incandescents, and none of the crappy aspects of CFLs.
And one bulb can display multiple colors.
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none of the crappy aspects of CFLs.
Both my musician daughters say CFLs have an annoying hum. OK, so their room gets incandescents.
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And they stay crunchy, even in milk!
Wonder how the LED bulbs handle -20 temps?
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And they stay crunchy, even in milk!
Wonder how the LED bulbs handle -20 temps?
-20 has no effect on LED's. A lot of semi trucks have LED turn signals and running lights and they work fine on them.
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We'll know next winter...
...in Misery...
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Here's some place building them for boat usage..
http://www.bebi-electronics.com/index.html
So, people are starting to use them.. (and yes, one of my other hobbies is building/refitting boats!)
Some of these might be useful, if you want to provide light using a battery (or batteries) in a
extended blackout situation..
Steve
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For those of us who don't like eBay, is there a place we can buy those that is trustworthy and accepts CC?
I would really like to get my hands on a few of those.
Is there any downside to LED lighting?
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Go to www.candlepowerforums.com home of the flashlight, LED, and Laser geeks. Don't search for "AJ Dual", please, I'm not there. Really&
There is a sub-forum that should cover LED light bulbs, which are "best". If searching does not come up with what you want, register, post and they should be able to help you with some good vendors and product recommendations.
A "Good" LED bulb that has sufficient lumen output, and a good color-balance to compete with CCFL's and Incandescent won't be cheap, but they're already awesome for non-critical maintenance lighting like basements and garages, accent lighting, like under cabinets and in moldings for effect lighting.
The good news is that LED's have a semiconductor economy, that they'll get exponentially cheaper as demand rises. And they do last for hundreds of thousands of hours if driven properly. Some of the high-end emitters are within spitting distance of achieving 100 lumens per Watt, which would be something like 60-75% efficiency, and they'll cost pennies apiece.
Right now the state of the art in high-end flashlights and such is about 40% efficient, but that's still HUGE, as compared to approximately 5% efficiency for incandescent.
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Sam's has some LED nightlights that only come on when it gets dark, and which have a battery-backup flashlight for use in power outage (auto on when power off). $20 for 3-4, I think... Kinda cool.
Saw them yesterday.
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low millivolts, I'd guess...
Watts, not voltage. I'm willing to bet they're getting 120 volts, just like everything else on a split phase.
If I'm remembering right, there should be an AC-DC transformer in there, it should be outputting something like 6 volts.
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Sam's has some LED nightlights that only come on when it gets dark, and which have a battery-backup flashlight for use in power outage (auto on when power off). $20 for 3-4, I think... Kinda cool.
Saw them yesterday.
I got some cheap (less than $2 a piece) LED nightlights from Wal-Mart a couple of years ago. The yellow/white ones suck. The blue ones put out a remarkable amount of light, especially in a room with a high ceiling (like a stairwell). I think they are either .5 or .25 watt. They stay on all the time and do a decent job if you don't mind the color.
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Sam's has some LED nightlights that only come on when it gets dark, and which have a battery-backup flashlight for use in power outage (auto on when power off). $20 for 3-4, I think... Kinda cool.
Saw them yesterday.
I was dumpster diving the other day near the University of Wisconsin dorms. Those kids throw out everything after the semester's over. So I have this light that comes on when it's dark outside, and has two bright yellow LEDs inside. All I had to do was put two new 6-volt lantern batteries in it. I can set it to either flash or stay constantly lit. Cool!
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Sam's has some LED nightlights that only come on when it gets dark, and which have a battery-backup flashlight for use in power outage (auto on when power off). $20 for 3-4, I think... Kinda cool.
Saw them yesterday.
I was dumpster diving the other day near the University of Wisconsin dorms. Those kids throw out everything after the semester's over. So I have this light that comes on when it's dark outside, and has two bright yellow LEDs inside. All I had to do was put two new 6-volt lantern batteries in it. I can set it to either flash or stay constantly lit. Cool!
are we related ??
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Hmmm... Wonder where THAT came from?
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Dunno.
I'm just glad they didn't swipe a stop sign somewhere to decorate their dorm rooms.
But you can buy the barricade flashers online, I found out, $29.95 each. Same goes for the spare parts.
Mrs. G-98 won't let me use it as a bedroom or upstairs hallway night light, even after I reset it from flashing to constant on. "Doesn't go with the decor, trashes the place up..." Bummer.
She doesn't know it yet, but I'm gonna bolt it to the patio deck upper stairwell landing, a safety feature to prevent stubbed toes and skinned knees. Then I'll set it to flash so it'll drive the neighbor lady nuts.
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Sam's has some LED nightlights that only come on when it gets dark, and which have a battery-backup flashlight for use in power outage (auto on when power off). $20 for 3-4, I think... Kinda cool.
Saw them yesterday.
I was dumpster diving the other day near the University of Wisconsin dorms. Those kids throw out everything after the semester's over. So I have this light that comes on when it's dark outside, and has two bright yellow LEDs inside. All I had to do was put two new 6-volt lantern batteries in it. I can set it to either flash or stay constantly lit. Cool!
I don't' know why; but when I look at this picture, all I can think is: "Man, that chair looks comfy"
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Yeah, it's comfy. Adirondack chairs also make great stands for holding stuff while you're taking pictures.
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Okayfine. Got motivated.
Bought two of these.
<a href="http://cgi.ebay.com/Small-lamp-7-LED-Lightbulb-Light-Bulb-E27-Super-White_W0QQitemZ4402315634QQihZ001QQcategoryZ3201QQcmdZViewItem" target="_blank">http://cgi.ebay.com/Small-lamp-7-LED-Lightbulb-Light-Bulb-E27-Super-White_W0QQitemZ4402315634QQihZ001QQcategoryZ3201QQcmdZViewItem[/url]
They're small, and bluish, and not overly bright (I think it's okay to say that...), but they draw next to no power.
One's going in the "always on" peimar led lights (http://www.niceledlights.com) that's hooked up in The Bunker (to a UPS, so when the power goes out, I don't fumble all over the place...), and the other will be tried in an outside fixture that requires a dimmable light. Several more will follow, along with possibly some of their "warm white" candelabra bulbs.
I'll probably also outfit the shooting trailer with some 12 volt ones.
Very nice job done I like those led bulbs they are very bright
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<div class="quoteheader">Quote from: Headless Thompson Gunner on July 15, 2007, 11:37:15 AM (http://www.armedpolitesociety.com/index.php?topic=7857.msg128237#msg128237)</div><div class="quote">
If LEDs live up to their potential they'd have all of the benefits of an energy efficient light source, all the advantages of incandescents, and none of the crappy aspects of CFLs.
</div>
And one bulb can display multiple colors.
Not necessarily, white LED can be made two different ways primarily, the first is a multi-emitter approach that uses red/green/blue to make white, but the more common high output type uses a blue/UV GaN diode with a phosphor to shift the spectrum to white. Those can't change color.
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We have had three budget LED bulbs in the light fixture in the main bath and one in a table lamp in the living room for over a year now. Quite happy with the three in the bathroom, but the one in the table lamp could be a little brighter around the periphery of the bulb. It's just the style of bulb is better suited for a ceiling light fixture than a table lamp.
We plan to install seven more in three ceiling fixtures next year.
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Where I work, we tried a 50-dollar LED bulb in a fixture that tends to burn through incandescents all too quickly. It lasted a few weeks. :laugh:
So I would tend to stick to Phillips, or maybe other big names in the lighting industry. Of course, other manufacturers will eventually figure out how to make good bulbs. Maybe they already have.
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We've been buying the EcoSmart bulbs at Home Despot. So far, so good with those, plus the price keeps moving down. We also have two LED mini-spots over the stove that I forgot about in my earlier post. Those work like champs. Brighter than the original 50W bulbs they replaced, crisper pleasing white color, and sixteen watts total versus the 100 watts of the original bulbs.
There is a 60 watt flood over the kitchen sink we want to replace next.
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Funny this popped up today. We're doing a pilot project in a couple of dorms using Philips A19 LED bulbs. After a lot of research and testing these are the only LED bulbs that are a true 60w incandescent equivalent in both light output and color temp. They are more expensive than the Big Box store stuff, but for good reason. They work. Heavy suckers, too, due to the substantial heat sink for the driver, but that's the reason they actually meet their service life claims. Unlike most retail-ready units the Philips service life claims are based on actual performance of the bulb as an assembly, not just the LED chip life expectancy. It also helps that these bulbs are substantially more rugged as impact damage in dorm rooms is a common problem. The electricity savings? Maybe 5-10% at most. The savings will be the lower maintenance costs from reduced bulb replacement (both service-life and physical-damage failures).
CFLs are nice if they're in a constant-on location, not so much in a dorm room where lights get switched on and off many times a day. It's going to be even more of a problem as we migrate to occupancy sensors in the rooms. Figure a 50-70% reduction in service life for CFLs due to power-cycle degredation alone. The LEDs don't suffer that problem. Also figure in a reduction in impact damage failures for the relatively fragile CFLs vs the darned-near-bulletproof LED units. In some impromptu testing we actually destroyed the fixture before we were able to get the LED bulb to fail. They don't like heat, but the issue is pretty much moot as the heat intolerance (read: enclosed fixture) is roughly equivalent to the CFLs that are already in service.
All that to say that cheapo LEDs aren't worth buying. Spend a couple bucks on the good stuff and chances are you'll be taking the same bulb with you next time you move. Philips and Cree both make excellent units, as does Osram. Most of the product lines for all three companies can be found on Amazon now.
Brad
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The EcoSmart bulbs we've been buying from Home Despot are heavily heatsinked, as well. I was worried about their longevity at first, wondering if they would fail prematurely, but they're doing well for what can be considered a bargain bulb. They are about 1/3 to 1/2 the cost of their Philips equivalent IIRC.
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My daughters needed reading lights, and I went looking well after the "back to school" stock was gone from Menard's and Home Depot etc. So instead I got small metal clamp lights for their beds, and put in a generic Chinastan Feit Electric brand 7 Watt bulb, 25W incandescent equivalent.
Like one of these: http://www.thencc.com/westinghouse/LS/ORIGINAL/Style20904.jpg
It's a A-15 size standard screw base, and inside the "bulb" is a three sided pyramid with three SMD white LED's per side. No appreciable heat sinking other than the screw base as I can see.
Cheaper and tougher than any plastic junk dedicated bed clamp reading light, and it doesn't even get appreciably warm, even when I find them on, and buried under my kids blankets or pillows. ;/
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Very nice job done I like those led bulbs they are very bright
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The EcoSmart bulbs we've been buying from Home Despot are heavily heatsinked, as well. I was worried about their longevity at first, wondering if they would fail prematurely, but they're doing well for what can be considered a bargain bulb. They are about 1/3 to 1/2 the cost of their Philips equivalent IIRC.
We looked at the EcoSmart bulbs. The color temp was still not on par with an incandescent and the claimed lumen value didn't hold up to an actual metered test. The Philips was the only unit with a true 2700k color temp and a lumen/ft measured value that metered what the mfg claimed.
Brad
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Wow, there's a lot that's changed since this thread started so long ago!
I'm currently running dimmable 3000K LED 12W bulbs around the new house, with a few PAR-38 dimmable floods in the great room.
It's amazing how heavy they are all with the built-in heatsinks. Granted, the wattage draw is much less, but it's interesting that the heat output is still an issue...
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-20 has no effect on LED's. A lot of semi trucks have LED turn signals and running lights and they work fine on them.
Buses have them too. And they DO work great.
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Hmm, I have a couple old UPS's laying around the house. I wonder if I could re-engineer one of them for "emergency" lighting. Basically, just removing the inverter from the UPS so it's just the transformer/rectifier that charges the battery, and the surge protection and cut out circuitry for when power is lost. Use that 12V battery to power some 12v LED's setup in a few places. 12v 9AH sealed gel battery.... should run a few LED's for minimal lighting for a while. :P
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And then there is the whole LED Christmas lights thing. All of ours are now LED, no more incandescents. We like their look much better. There is a slight ripple to them if you look at them with your peripheral vision. Kind of cool.
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If you want to see impressive, look at some of the automotive off-roading light. One of my brother's buddies put some of the new KC LED-based units on his truck and, well... dayum!
The only caveat for using LED turn signal replacements is the flasher. Older vehicles will need the old analog flasher replaced with an electronic unit. LED flashers don't pull enough current to make the older units cycle properly (if at all).
Brad
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If you want to see impressive, look at some of the automotive off-roading light. One of my brother's buddies put some of the new KC LED-based units on his truck and, well... dayum!
The only caveat for using LED turn signal replacements is the flasher. Older vehicles will need the old analog flasher replaced with an electronic unit. LED flashers don't pull enough current to make the older units cycle properly (if at all).
Brad
+1
Rigid,
I have 4 of their "dually" lights on my truck, and a friend has the 40" bar...they are disturbingly bright.