LED light bulbs

elstimpo

Dan_Iggulden wrote: »

What is the real difference between SMD and LED technology?

I only thing I can really find on the net is that SMD's run hotter than LED's, is there anything else?

Originally all electronic components, resistors, capacitors inductors, diodes, transistors etc all had wire ends. The PCB (printed circuit board) has/had the copper track (wiring) on one side and the insulated side was on the other. Holes were drilled through the board to the other side for all the components which were mounted on the insulating side; wires pushed through the holes to meet up with the copper track and then soldered to make the electrical connection for each component.

SMD is Surface Mounting Device, the components just have metal end caps, the copper track is on both sides of the PCB with cut- outs in the copper for the components to bridge across. The components are first glued in place and then soldered automatically in one go.

You can get more components on the PCB due to the decreased size of the components, you can use both sides of the board, and you don’t have to drill holes.

SMD devices are usually so small that they are/have to be assembled by machine.

elstimpo

Biggles wrote: »

Purely to replace normal bulbs around the house, ie for general room lighting.

100w would be incredibly bright for normal lighting around the house. I use 4w and 7w bulbs and there is no need for me to look at anything above 7w for general lighting purposes.

Biggles

elstimpo wrote: »

100w would be incredibly bright for normal lighting around the house.

Not a 100w GLS incandescent, that's pretty normal.

elstimpo

Biggles wrote: »

Not a 100w GLS incandescent, that's pretty normal.

I've yet to visit a property where anyone is using a bulb stronger than a 60w incandescent for general lighting usage in a domestic property unless it was in the garage.

elstimpo

pacman2007 wrote: »

Hi everyone, I bought 10 GU10 LED off Amazon. To be honest, I didn't expect a tiny 3W LED bulb could replace my halogen bulbs! But they ARE as bright as the halogen ones!!!! can't believe it.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/LIGHT-ENERGY-SAVING-REPLACING-HALOGEN/dp/B0051BUCI8/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1310155373&sr=8-5

May i ask what wattage Halogen a 3w LED has replaced?

elstimpo

Biggles wrote: »

elstimpo, how long before we have a replacement for incandescent/CFLs, eg 100w equiv, at a reasonable price? Two years, three?

12w = 950 Lumens

Hard to give an precise figure but the price point per bulb the the 12w LED would be £20 to £30 per bulb. An internet retailer would probably be around £20 and a bricks and mortar retailer would be up around £30, perhaps more.

This wattage bulb is not in demand around the world which means manufacturers have higher production costs, hence the high price.

pacman2007

pacman2007 wrote: »

Hi everyone, I bought 10 GU10 LED off Amazon. To be honest, I didn't expect a tiny 3W LED bulb could replace my halogen bulbs! But they ARE as bright as the halogen ones!!!! can't believe it.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/LIGHT-ENERGY-SAVING-REPLACING-HALOGEN/dp/B0051BUCI8/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1310155373&sr=8-5

elstimpo wrote: »

May i ask what wattage Halogen a 3w LED has replaced?

I had 6 50W halogen and 4 35W halogen. I will say, it's almost as bright as my 50W halogen (a little bit darker). I am very happy with the brightness for my living room and kitchen. But if you prefer, you can buy a 4W one from them. One of my colleagues bought this one:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/White-Pieces-Brightness-Lumens-Aluminum/dp/B0058P5AB6/ref=sr_1_13?s=lighting&ie=UTF8&qid=1310498036&sr=1-13

And according to him, they are aluminum body (mine are glass) and even brighter than the 50W halogen but it costs bit more.

To me, my bulbs are good enough.
Hope this helps.

elstimpo

pacman2007 wrote: »

I had 6 50W halogen and 4 35W halogen. I will say, it's almost as bright as my 50W halogen (a little bit darker). I am very happy with the brightness for my living room and kitchen. But if you prefer, you can buy a 4W one from them. One of my colleagues bought this one:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/White-Pieces-Brightness-Lumens-Aluminum/dp/B0058P5AB6/ref=sr_1_13?s=lighting&ie=UTF8&qid=1310498036&sr=1-13

And according to him, they are aluminum body (mine are glass) and even brighter than the 50W halogen but it costs bit more.

To me, my bulbs are good enough.
Hope this helps.

I'm absolutely staggered that a 3w LED could even get close to a 50w Halogen. I've never seen this before. I'll certainly be buying some, have a look and get them tested. From first glance, the heat dissipation system doesn't look good, do they get pretty hot in use?

Thanks for posting

pacman2007

elstimpo wrote: »

I'm absolutely staggered that a 3w LED could even get close to a 50w Halogen. I've never seen this before. I'll certainly be buying some, have a look and get them tested. From first glance, the heat dissipation system doesn't look good, do they get pretty hot in use?

Thanks for posting

I think that's why my colleague bought the 4W aluminum body one. I will let the bulbs on 2,3 hours tonight and let you know they are hot or not.

elstimpo

pacman2007 wrote: »

I think that's why my colleague bought the 4W aluminum body one. I will let the bulbs on 2,3 hours tonight and let you know they are hot or not.

I'd appreciate that. The biggest problem with low cost LED bulbs is that, 99.9% of the time, they burn pretty hot if not very hot when used. Obviously this is counter productive as it means they are creating energy which is being lost through heat. Which means the LED will not save you much money on your bills and not save much energy over a standard halogen. This was what i was trying to say to another user. It's very easy to make a bright LED spot, with the right color and cheap price, but effectively what your buying is a glorified Halogen. This type of LED bulb will not be much better, at anything, than a standard halogen. In fact it will probably have a smaller life due to the cheap way it's put together and the materials used. I have had a lot of customers tell me they have bought cheap LED products, stuck them in and they have been great. Good light, good color etc so they think, job done. But what they don't realise is the product doesn't have the quality or ability to deliver all the benefits an LED product should.

Do please ket me know if they run hot, as if they don't, then i will purchase some and have a look at them.

Thanks