The LED Era is Upon Us: Philips Luxeon Rebel
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto 
on 04. 7.07
Philips has just introduced a teensy little LED that could have a big impact. At just 3mm by 4.5mm, it delivers 80 lumens per watt, which makes it just about the most efficient light source around. The small size reduces the manufacturing costs, the size of the circuit board and can fit in fixtures that are 50% slimmer. It is also rated for 50,000 hours.
It is also colour balanced in warm, neutral or cool white so it will look good in the home. “LUXEON Rebel will cause a rapid change in solid-state lighting design,” said David Eastley, Product Manager. “LUXEON Rebel takes advantage of our latest chip, phosphor and packaging technologies to accelerate the use of LEDs in a wide range of lighting applications, particularly residential and other ‘white lighting’ applications for which LED options have been limited.” Available now from ::Philips via ::Ubergizmo
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While I'm assuming that this is good news, being utterly clueless about these things I was wondering if somebody could help me with some of these things. When the press release says "light density" and "packing density" what does that mean? Also, do either of these effect the spread or the distance at which the light falls off?
In other words: How is this news exactly?
Thanks for your help,
The LED Luddite
Light Light density refers to the lumens (amount of light) that can be generated within a certain amount of space - commonly referred to as lumens per square millimeter. Packing density is the number of individual LEDs that can be practically mounted in a predetermined space.
In the past (as in just a few months ago) power LEDs were relatively large when compared to the Rebel LED. Also, power LEDs generate quite a bit of heat so you could not mount too many of them close together without some form of cooling. Due to the size and high operating temperature of the Rebel you can safely pack a lot more of them into a smaller space.
The rebel can produce up to 80 lumens of light on 1 watt of power, while the best output in the past was 45 lumens per watt - so the Rebel is almost twice as efficient as previous LEDs. The average 40 watt incandescent light bulb produces about 700 lumens of light - or 17.5 lumens per watt, while the Luxeon Rebel can produce as much as 80 lumens per watt, making it an extremely efficient alternative to most lighting options today.
Ron
Well - according to Wikipedia, a typical 60W incandescent lightbulb produces 850 lumens or about 14 lm/W. But compare this to the miniature halogen G4 bulb - the ones that require a 12V AC-DC transformer and are typically used for embedded lighting fixtures in kitchens and so forth. Those are 9mm by 30mm and a 10W bulb has about 100 lumen output.
These LEDs are advertised to output 95 lumens at 3.6V, 2.5W, four times the energy efficiency of the halogen bulbs, and a surface area of only 5% of the halogens. Never mind that they will also work MUCH cooler, and thus can be packed closer without heat problems, or embedded into places where halogens would create a fire hazard.
On the minus side, they're low-voltage surface mount components, not really applicable for DIY installations.
oa said:
On the minus side, they're low-voltage surface mount components, not really applicable for DIY installations.
It wouldn't be too difficult to have the LEDs or clusters of LEDs on a small separate board that could be clipped so that they could be replaced when they eventually went out. Although depending on how many were needed it might just be cheaper to replace an entire light fixture
spuzzdawg