LED Light 'Bulbs'

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Does anybody have any experience with the LED light 'bulbs' that fit into regular lamp sockets? They are REAL pricey (I've seen ~$35.00 EACH) but a real energy miser ( <1 watt). How is their light output? Colour? I've had a hard time finding out any real info.

-- StevenB (thicketyrowfarm@aol.com), May 03, 2001

Answers

Hi Steven,

I have a friend that converted his whole house to LED lights. his power bill dropped from 250 month to 129 month. He loves the new lights. Be sure that each bulb has a minimum of 4 leds or you might be disappointed. The 3-w 8 led bulbs are ever bit as bright as a 100- W bulb.

I haven't seen to many commercial models. Paul made his and did all the rewiring.

If you try them let me know how you like them. Here or private e-mail.

We changed our regular 60-w to the flat flourcent 15-w they put out (when new) about the same as a 60-w Later (10 months old) there output drops to about the same as a 45-w bulb.

-- Kenneth in N.C. (wizardsplace13@hotmail.com), May 04, 2001.


Thanks for the reply, Kenneth. We switched our lights over to CF bulbs about a year ago and started removing phantom loads from around the house. Saw a drop in our bill from ~$100.00/month to ~$75.00/month just by doing that. The LED bulbs I've seen for sale screw into a standard lamp-no apparent conversion necessary. (I could be wrong about the lack of conversion, but like I said, I'm huntin' for information!). I even attempted to make an LED lamp on my own, but ran into some parts and power problems. Does your friend have any plans he used to make the 'bulbs'? Where did he get the high output LED's? I tried Radio Shack, but what they had wasn't bright enough.

-- StevenB (thicketyrowfarm@aol.com), May 04, 2001.

I'll e-mail him and ask. I believe he got the LED's from west marine online. I'll get back to you as soon as he reply's.

-- Kenneth in N.C. (wizardsplace13@hotmail.com), May 04, 2001.

Here is the reply I received from Paul

I still use some energy saving stuff here on land, too. I have nothing but flourescents and no incandescent bulbs in here. Also, I have separate UPS' for the front of the place and the back of the place so even if the plug gets pulled, we are unaffected. Big batteries and solar panels are still my thing even on land. However, being on the grid does come with some cost. My average power bill is under $10 a month! Most of the other people around here are seeing $300 and up. P.G.&E. accused me of tampering with my meter. I have not, obviously. I get 99% of my power from the sun, and they accuse me of being a criminal.... Anyway, the white LED's I have were purchased from a surplus place in the bay area. There are several places selling bright white LED's but most of them are still pretty blue in color. I found real white LED's and made an offer on the whole bunch of them when the surplus place was closing up for good. I got a great deal on them. As far as where to buy LED's, I have purchased from Radio Shack (.com) and Digi Key, but they were expensive and very blue. There is a company called Arrow Electronics here in the bay area that sells the brand of LED's I got. I know they are online, but I have not purchased from them.

Hope this gives you some leads

-- Kenneth in N.C. (wizardsplace13@hotmail.com), May 07, 2001.


Hi Steve,

A supplier of LEDs is Jameco at www.jameco.com or 1-800-831-4242. Their catalog is good as it gives the specifications i.e. voltage and current in and light intensity (mcd - milli candela) output.

A surplus parts house that has LEDs is All Electronics at www.allelectronics.com or 1-800-826-5432. Their latest catalog didn't have much for high brightness LEDs but sometimes they have good prices.

It is only a matter if time until LEDs take over most lighting, a JH prediction. The operating cost and life are great. Good luck.

-- John Hayes (jehayes54@hotmail.com), January 17, 2002.



Steve, I bought a 9 LED, 120 volt, model AC5811 from www.jademountain.com. It has a very white light and runs very cool. I leave it 24/7 and at night it lights up a 10x10 pretty well. It makes a very good desk lamp right ubove the working area but I would really like to see a 18 LED bulb for use by itself. Cost was $42. John

-- John Moomaw (moomawj@earthlink.net), January 22, 2002.

Hi Steve --hubby has been switching the bulbs as we have a bulb burn out--- we have the new LED ones in the lamps where we read the most (through out the house)& it really helps in reading also---

I don't know what watt he has & all of that-----all I know is he has replaced them with these funny looking bulbs & the light is better for for this old woman to read---I'm very pleased with them-

-- Sonda (sgbruce@birch.net), January 23, 2002.


Where can I buy one of these LED bulbs that fit into a regular socket? I'm basically looking to replace 60-100 Watt incandescent bulbs. I've tried the fluorescent version but I don't really like the light.

-- Adrian Byng-Clarke (adrianbc@mit.edu), February 08, 2002.

A question- do LEDs give off heat?

-- Rebekah (daniel1@itss.net), February 09, 2002.

As where to buy an LED replacement bulb, there are a couple of places on line to buy them. If I recall correctly, the 60-watt replacement ran somewhere in the neighborhood of $150.00.Waaay too expensive for my tastes.

No, they do not put off any heat (practically no heat, anyway) and as an added bonus, no UV light so the bugs aren't attracted to them. If only they were a little more reasonable in price.

-- StevenB (thicketyrowfarm@earthlink.ten), February 09, 2002.



If you are looking for some good information, as well as a few good products in the LED lighting area (pun not intended), go to www.theledlight.com They have lot of information, as well as everything from complete fixtures, to just bulbs, kits and parts. Great place. Another good place is www.ledtronics.com lots of direct bulb replacements, well sorted by bulb style and use. Hope this helps.

-- Frank (realjmcs@attbi.com), July 04, 2002.

Hello Folks,

I've been researching this for some time now... Jade Mountain/Real Goods now Gaiam is discontinuing their LED light bulb offerings. The best source I've found so far in terms of selection and variety and voltages is LEDTRONICS... www.ledtronics.com

Since we work with people who have to generate power independent of utilities, electricity is a premium and LED's and good Compact Fluorescent lights are a must.

-- Colin C. Mitchell (colin@positiveenergysolar.com), August 29, 2002.


If you are wanting LED Light Bulbs you should talk to me, I have just got through researching them and I found them for $28.00 each. I am now an expert on LED, anything you want to know.

Scott

-- Scott Bailey (scott.bailey@usa.net), November 19, 2002.


WHite leds are now offerred up on ebay. You can get 3000 mcd for about 0.25 each in bulk quantity. Happy soldering!

-- Doug (SpamBlenongs@junkmail.com), November 28, 2002.

Try Optiled LED Light Bulb... visit wwww.optiled.biz

-- (info@optiled.biz), March 08, 2003.


Scott Baily, if you are an expert and found bulbs for $28 then why dont you share the info with us?

-- Paul Wood (pcwood@hotmail.com), April 03, 2003.

Try Mule Lighting, they have a variety of LED Bulbs that draw less than 1 W and are very attractive and bright. They have many different shapes and variouse bases that you can order. www.mulelighting.com

-- Eric Hoover (freeskier62@hotmail.com), June 26, 2003.

These days there are a lot of LED replacements bulbs on ebay at a good price.

-- Julian (fake@fake.com), May 29, 2004.

suck my nuts, led is the best light ever buy and save

-- joe brown (65t@yahoo.com), July 25, 2004.

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