LED Lightbulb Replacement

We should really push hard to get Nano enhanced LEDs to market. You'll see a greater adoption with this technology

http://nanotechweb.org/articles/news/5/7/15/1/nanoled

actually their ad copy says "Investment payback within 1 year" .. so it might not be that expensive

Last May, Tyler Hamilton, who writes for the Toronto Star and the blog Clean Break, dug deep into a secretive new technology with cheaper and better properties than LEDs.

Here's his blog post with a pointer to the article:

http://tyler.blogware.com/blog/_archives/2006/5/22/1976199.html

Lloyd, you're up in Toronto, aren't you? Are you familiar with Tyler and have you checked out this new tech? Clean Break is a great site IMHO.

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efficiency of lighting is measured as luminous efficacy in units of lumens per watt. Crudely it's how much light you get per unit energy expended. My understanding is that CFLs are about 60lm/W up to 100 lm/W, while most LEDs are at around 45lm/W
http://www.iolighting.com/efficacy.htm

but there may be more advances in the future, bringing the LEDs up to 150 lm/W:
http://www.lrc.rpi.edu/resources/news/pressReleases/spemethod.asp

I don't know about the lifespan of the two compared, and the mercury of the CFLs is a problem, but don't throw out your CFLs just yet. and when you do make sure you dispose of them properly, mercury is nasty.

alex fw

I think you misinterpreted the idea here. Mule never states that the 1 W LEDison bulbs can replace a 60W incadesent. They look like conventional LED lamps, efficient but it doesn't sound like a breakthrough.

They mention that their bulbs can replace anything from a 10-60W incandescent bulb and give a 80-90% energy savings. Assuming that 1W is a 90% savings, they are talking about replacing a 10W incandescent, which would mean that the 1W version is extremely dim.

Here's the spec sheet from their website: http://www.mulelighting.com/pdf/page6pdf.pdf

The issue here is efficiency, not absolute power usage. You could produce a 1W incandescent bulb too, but it wouldn't be enough to light up a room either.

A 1W omnidirectional lightbulbs isn't quite the same as a 1W directional bulb, though.

I have been looking around for adequate general room lighting LEDs at 12VDC for several years now. I keep my eyes open and have been patiently waiting for costs and power to improve. I have yet to find an LED bulb maker that produces a standard Edison screw base type bulb that can actually replace a 60W incandescent - and give the same basic power and distribution of lighting. This Mule bulb seems to solve the distribution problem but not the power problem. And as one reader stated, the efficiency of LEDs are not yet where they should be. Hopefully soon they will be. In any case, thank you for making me aware of this new LED bulb development.

And then there is the issue of color. LED replacements need to provide lots of lumens fairly omnidirectionally of a warm yellow-white color. Right now I have a few which are a cool blue-white color, which aren't very bright, nor omnirectional. I'll stick with CFLs until this changes.

The lights are meant to replace 11 watt incandescents used as festoon lighting in shopping malls. They are listed as costing about $25 apiece, but with the longer lifespan and the elimination of the regular mantenance needed for replacement of incandescents, they are expected to pay back their cost twice.

LED light bulbs are in their early stages, kinda like CFL's were 15 or so years age. If you want to try some reasonably prices ones with a standard size base you can find a few different types at www.donsgreenstore.com . They are dim bulbs probably comprable to about 10 watts incandesent, but if they will outlast 50 that's a lot of rescources and landfill saves. And they will only get better.

The LED 's that give emit a white or blueish white light are actually fluorescent! The trick here is that since there is no true white LED yet a LED the produces ultra violet light is coated wih a phospher similar to those that coat the inside of fluorescent tubes. These LED's are not as effiecient in producing white light as an actual hi-output fluorescent tube.

The LED 's that give emit a white or blueish white light are actually fluorescent! The trick here is that since there is no true white LED yet a LED the produces ultra violet light is coated wih a phospher similar to those that coat the inside of fluorescent tubes. These LED's are not as effiecient in producing white light as an actual hi-output fluorescent tube.

I made my own led lamp using 50 high intensity leds. It uses a 3V adapter and you get a very strong source of light. I could apply some dye on top of it to get a "warmer" tone but i prefer the white light.

The price ? Just the value of the leds ($30 at ebay), a potentiometer to regulate voltage (1 US$) and a already forgotten 3V adapter. And the time spent to arrange them all in the right position. And a pre-holed wood board. I haven't rated how much energy does it spend, but at 3V i don't think it's a lot. I'm no electrician BTW...

I have posted a photo on my blog of LED, halogen and CFL all in one image. Interesting to see the color and projection differences. They are all PAR 20 recessed fixtures. The halogen looks best, but CFL is the winner for looks and environment I think.

http://www.momgogreen.com/2007/05/my-new-lightbulbs.html

These standard ES and SES fitting bulbs are exactly what I have been waiting for. I recently replace the GU10 fitting halogen lights in my kitchen for LED light bulbs. I have been very impressed with the result as the light emitted is bright and yet the bulbs operate cold and use a fraction of the power.

LED Light bulbs offer a huge benefit over compact fluorescent bulbs. Not only are they more energy efficient, their durability is unrivaled by any other current bulbs. Hopefully we will move towards LED lighting being the universal solution. Already we've already seen the benefits in 3rd world countries as they replace dangerous kerosene lamps.