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Screw-in LED Floodlights
Anonymous Coward writes "This company claims to have the first LED flood lights that you simply screw in as a replacement for your old bulb. enluxled.com are also claiming it's cool enough to handle, more damage resistant, longer lasting (50,000 hours) and only uses 22w to produce twice the light of a 100w bulb." And hideously expensive, but you never have to change them.
Energy saving bulbs we have today?
:D
They only compare them against normal bulbs, and not energy bulbs, wonder why, not nearly as much good marketing maybe
why not use flourescent bulbs, they are a little more expensive, but more efficient than incandescent.
sure LED's are cool, but for $79.95, i wouldn't think of it as an alternative to regular bulbs.
Marge, get me your address book, 4 beers, and my conversation hat.
Floodlights (eg the ones you put under the eaves of your house, often with motion sensors, to discourage burglars), not foglights (eg the annoying things that people turn on even when its not foggy), or off-road driving lights (eg, the annoying things that many people seem to think are safe and legal to operate on-road).
$79!!! a bulb? At such a steal, I'll be in a big rush to spend $320 to replace the 4 spotlights around my house that are on for maybe 4 hours a day, and I can't even remember the last time we had to replace those. I don't feel like figuring out the math, but how much of a savings is this really going to be for a person who has their lights on a timer/motion activated?
No, I did the math, and it would have to be changed every 5-6 years. 50,000 hours is approximately 2083 days. 2083 days is about 5.7 years. So running one 24/7, and yes, some people seriously do that, I'd have to buy one every 6 years.
I realize how stupid this comment is, but just felt like pointing it out since the story did say, "but you never have to change them.".
"I thought Amish people didn't use technology, since when are LEDs not technology?"
They use technology...intelligently.
It's not the center of their worldview like it is for us.
For example the phone is communal, and outside.
You're comparing just the cost of the bulb itsself and the installation, ist your electricity free?
Over here, the LED bulb (assuming the 20W instead of 100W incandescant) would save 50000*(100-20) Wh = 4000kWh at more than 10c each - that's at least $400 saved over the lifespan of a single bulb.
You are absolutely right, the screw-in flourescent bulbs are a much better bet for most applications. However, these will find some small market that the flourescents can't fill. For instance, it seems to me that these are much more rugged. So, they might be better in high vibration environments or where explosive gasses may be present or where their longer life provides a significant cost saving.
The race is then to see if the cost of these fixtures will decrease or their performance will increase. Right now, it is worthwhile to manufacture these for a certain price to fill a certain small market. Later it seems likely that the price will decrease and the market will therefore get bigger. Let's see if flourescents are still better in ten years.
There are such laws. Not everybody follows them. A lot of the halogen bulbs, though, are still under the max.
if you read closely, the claim that the lights put out twice the light output of a 100w flood only applies to the COLORED floodlights.
Which makes sense. A red LED floodlight will be made only with red LEDs, which emit nearly all their light in the red part of the spectrum. a 100w incandescent red floodlight is a regular incandescent with a red filter on the glass, which absorbs most of the light. The implication is that a 100w colored floodlight puts out about 150 lumens. I can believe that.
-- Of course I'm paranoid. I'm a sysadmin.
Although a big incentive may exist in using existing lighting fixtures, by making a standard point-source light, they totally miss the advantage of using LEDs as a light source. If you want a point source of light, you get more light for less energy by using a fluorescent.
Now, with a point source of light, you need it much brigher than the levels you want at, for example, a wall/floor 10 feet away. Just a simple matter of applying an inverse square law.
The big potential in LED's lies in allowing people to effectively get around the distance part of the same inverse square law... They tend to produce very directional light, and they cost little per unit (unlike these Luxeon monstrosities, which cost an arm and a leg).
Imagine, rather than a desk lamp or a ceiling light, that your entire ceiling has a grid of LEDs spaced every six inches. The combined light output measures far lower than a single incandescent (or fluorescent) bulb, but provides better overall illumination of the room. As a result, you have no glare, better light, and impressive electricity savings even over a fluorescent.
As much as I hate marketing buzzwords, the switch to LED-based lighting shift will have to coincide with a paradigm (ugh) shift in the entire way we think about room lighting. Only then will we really see why LEDs can provide superior illumination for less power. Trying to force a million fireflies into a bottle just pisses off the fireflies.
Also keep in mind that their calculator does not figure the time-value of money into the equation at all. If you plan on doing anything better with your cash than investing in LED lighting products, the break even will NEVER, EVER happen -- at least for a homeowner.
LED bulbs are making a bit more business sense in certain commercial installations where you actually have to pay a human being a minimum feee for an hour or so of labor to go replace a few lightbulbs. Especially in situations where the bulbs are so difficult to reach that it takes a few hours to actually change them and causes an inconveneince for other people while they are being changed -- the fee to change a bulb could easily outstretch the cost of LED lighting. Often in situations where 'expensive' bulb changes happen, they will change all the bulbs at the same time even if they don't need it simply because all the rigging and labor will be there and ready to go.
On a serious note, since the light source doesn't depend on a fragile fillament in a large glass housing, these enlux bulbs will be alot more resillient to slingshot attacks.
In normal flood lights, the filament will break from the shock of being hit with a rock or something. These won't. Plus the aluminum fins, for radiating the heat, also provide alot more protection.
Hmmm witty sig or funny sig? Maybe elitest techy sig!
LEDs make great close-range flashlights, and in some cases they make good medium-range ones (I keep looking for the blind-perps-at-80-yards handheld LED light, but so far no luck), and all kinds of specialty applications are great for them. (One of those 60-LED floodlamps would be great for night-time home video if you don't like the green-grainy stuff.) Too much of my copious spending money ends up in the hands of LED flashlight purveyors :)
... I could buy more compact flourescents than I am likely to use in the next few years for the same price. YMMV; if you have a 30-foot ceiling with bitch-to-get at recessed fixtures ... I'm sure there are edge cases.
:)
I am tempted by this light, just because, well, LEDs, shiny. Maybe as some commenters have noted, they'd be good for businesses which only change lights en masse every few years. But at this price, the tradeoff is terrible for (even somewhat typical) householders
And *after* the next few years, what will have been the opportunity cost of this ultra-cool LED bulb? You won't have the same money to spend on the next-gen version with twice the output at half the cost (if that happens), and if uniform-brightness lighting panels come into vogue, with ceiling-mountable thin-film illuminators that work for free and cause dopamine release in all who bask in their glow, won't you feel like an idiot?
timothy
jrnl: http://tinyurl.com/c2l8yr / foes: http://tinyurl.com/ckjno5
Not specifically to addressed to you but..
Foglights are not just for fog (although the name implies). They have a very wide pattern and should be physically placed very close to the ground and as far out as possible. The purpose is to light up the area directly in front and side of the car where the low beams do not cover very well. When aimed correctly, they should not bother anyone and are a great help. Laws vary by state but typically, they can only be powered in conjuction with the cars low beams. Driving lights are more like spot lights. Narrow beam aimed level with the car and project very far. They are used to light up the direct path of the car and far ahead. They should be placed higher on the car. Again the laws very by state but when allowed, it is only to be used with the cars high beams. The problem comes from people that buy driving lights, put them on the car in the place the fog lights should go and do not aim them correctly and wire them up so they are on more then with just the high beams. That combination of lights and location serves no purpose at all to the driver and hinders other drivers. The lights themselves are not the problem, the idiots using them are.
Bad boys rape our young girls but Violet gives willingly.
and only uses 22w to produce twice the light of a 100w bulb."
A 100-watt light bulb puts out around 1500-1600 lumens. These lamps are rated at 280 and 320 lumens. A more accurate statement would be "and uses one-fifth the energy to produce one-fifth the light"
steve
Oh, you're not stuck, you're just unable to let go of the onion rings.
Actually, the summary says that the 22W LEDs produce twice the light of a 100W incandescent. So it's more that slightly better than compact fluorescent.
To get something done, a committee should consist of no more than three persons, two of them absent.
Awww....give me a break. Have you ever washed clothes by hand? I have. I lived in India, and when I lived in dorms during my engineering days, we had no laundry facilities. "Going home to do the laundry" acquires a totally new dimension then (My parents had a washing machine at home). Try wringing out a pair of jeans to dry on a cold morning at 40 F , and then we'll talk.
um, you have to pay more for the better quality bulbs, and the instant ons take about 5 minutes to warm up to their full brightness
they are not a scam, they are worth every penny.
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