Latest in Domestic LED Lighting
Posted: Tuesday, October 28, 2008
by John Daviot
NZ Lighting Ltd
Continuing developments of LED's make this form of lighting an option for a wide range of uses.
A light emitting diode can transform electrical energy into light very efficiently. The latest designs can produce 80 to 90 lumens of light from a watt of electricity. That does not mean much until you compare it to a fluorescent lamp, which can also produce about 80 lumens per watt.
The prospects are for LED are to improve their efficiency up to about 200 lumens per watt and then we will have an extremely efficient form of lighting
A light emitting diode can transform electrical energy into light very efficiently. The latest designs can produce 80 to 90 lumens of light from a watt of electricity. That does not mean much until you compare it to a fluorescent lamp, which can also produce about 80 lumens per watt.
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Judging the brightness of the LED in daylight by looking at the light is not a good idea as the intensity of the light source is very high and can even damage your eyes but despite this the total amount of light coming out is low. A bit like a high pressure jet of water not much water but lots of pressure.
One bit of good news is that an Australian company have produced an LED down light that gives off the same amount of light as a 50-watt halogen and should last unchanged for 50,000 hours. These cost about $US70 and with the power savings and no need to replace expensive bulbs they will pay for themselves. These are becoming very popular.
Judging the brightness of the LED in daylight by looking at the light is not a good idea as the intensity of the light source is very high and can even damage your eyes but despite this the total amount of light coming out is low. A bit like a high pressure jet of water not much water but lots of pressure.
One bit of good news is that an Australian company have produced an LED down light that gives off the same amount of light as a 50-watt halogen and should last unchanged for 50,000 hours. These cost about $US70 and with the power savings and no need to replace expensive bulbs they will pay for themselves. These are becoming very popular.
You can find out about them by Googling "ecolume"
Many of the LED lights we currently sell for home use are 1 to 5 watts; the 3 watts give off around 180 lumens, which compares with a 10-watt halogen bulb. If you are using them for the same job say low-level lighting for garden paths the LED are miles ahead. Likewise for feature lighting the LED's have a choice of colours and even lamps that can change colour or give a program of colours by triggering with a remote.
They can be used to highlight a wall with a colour to suit the mood, or an LED strip can be used in place of fluorescent strip lighting in internal soffits with far more flexibility. If you were going to use dimmable fluorescent strip lighting then the LED strips will be comparable in price.
Now that I have mentioned the price that would have to be the downside of LED fittings. As I have mentioned to replace your halogens with a 50 watt equivalent LED will cost about $US90. The outlay would pay back in time as each light would use only one third the power and you would not need to change the bulb for about 35 years.
For home use there are LED bulbs designed to replace halogen lamps in 12 volt and mains fittings. These are very convenient if the lower light levels are acceptable.
They are also expensive and can cost up to $US20 to 30 each. After spending this amount of money it is infuriating if they go pop after a few hours. This is a possibility if the old halogen transformer is powering them. The 50,000 hour life promised is achievable only if the lamps are supplied with a constant current. The transformer cannot achieve this, as most have no protection against power surges.
If you are making the investment you will get better results by buying a kit consisting of the bulb and a "driver" The driver differs from a transformer in that it produces DC at a constant current.
There is good quality LED lighting available check out Lighting Pacific website and look at their Collingwood range for superb quality Light fittings,or check out Bright Light NZ.for good quality at reasonable prices.
More information on all of this on our website www.nzlightingltd.co.nz
Many of the LED lights we currently sell for home use are 1 to 5 watts; the 3 watts give off around 180 lumens, which compares with a 10-watt halogen bulb. If you are using them for the same job say low-level lighting for garden paths the LED are miles ahead. Likewise for feature lighting the LED's have a choice of colours and even lamps that can change colour or give a program of colours by triggering with a remote.
They can be used to highlight a wall with a colour to suit the mood, or an LED strip can be used in place of fluorescent strip lighting in internal soffits with far more flexibility. If you were going to use dimmable fluorescent strip lighting then the LED strips will be comparable in price.
Now that I have mentioned the price that would have to be the downside of LED fittings. As I have mentioned to replace your halogens with a 50 watt equivalent LED will cost about $US90. The outlay would pay back in time as each light would use only one third the power and you would not need to change the bulb for about 35 years.
For home use there are LED bulbs designed to replace halogen lamps in 12 volt and mains fittings. These are very convenient if the lower light levels are acceptable.
They are also expensive and can cost up to $US20 to 30 each. After spending this amount of money it is infuriating if they go pop after a few hours. This is a possibility if the old halogen transformer is powering them. The 50,000 hour life promised is achievable only if the lamps are supplied with a constant current. The transformer cannot achieve this, as most have no protection against power surges.
If you are making the investment you will get better results by buying a kit consisting of the bulb and a "driver" The driver differs from a transformer in that it produces DC at a constant current.
There is good quality LED lighting available check out Lighting Pacific website and look at their Collingwood range for superb quality Light fittings,or check out Bright Light NZ.for good quality at reasonable prices.
More information on all of this on our website www.nzlightingltd.co.nz
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