Dilemma Changing Incandescents To CFL or LED
Both CFLs and LED lights can be damaged by excessive heat, which often happens and makes people wary of buying them because they often think they have purchased “Duds”. The problem is that since incandescents lived on heat, the fixtures either ignored the heat or tried to keep it in for fire/safety reasons. Now that the bulbs are temperature sensitive, people have to use their good judgment and keep the CFL and LED light from overheating. I used socket extensions on my recessed fixtures, so more of the LED light is exposed and stays cooler. Some fixtures turn the fluo tube sideways so that less of the tube is exposed to high heat. But people are not wanting to spend a lot of money to remodel their light fixtures so that the CFLs or LED lights are cool. I see the recessed LED light fixtures selling for fifty dollars or more at the big box stores, and that doesn’t include the cost of installing them if you use a licensed electrician.
One important point about the Philips L Prize light: it uses a white light emitting phosphor that is outside of the LEDs, so the heat and light have much less detrimental effect on the phosphor. Moving the phosphor to the plastic covers was an excellent way to solve the White LED’s typically short lifetime. BTW, years ago I saw in an electronics catalog LED “boots” that fit over a blue LED and emitted white light. So this phosphor is not a new technology, it’s probably many decades old. Remember that the black and white TVs used white light emitting phosphor that was developed from the phosphors used in radar sets during WW 2.
I’m hoping for more motion sensing and/or proximity detection so that the LED light will turn on only when you are present, then off quickly. This will take care of a lot of the savings in power. However the sensor(s) must not use very much power themselves or else they will waste more power than they save. One way to do this is to shut off the sensor circuits most of the time and only turn them on for a fraction of a second every second or three. Also turn the light circuitry off during the daytime, so it has to be activated manually.
Task lights are a good way to save power yet get a bright light. A task light brings the light source closer to the reading or work areas where the light is closer and more concentrated. The closeness reduces the need for a powerful light source, thus saving energy. Task lights can be purchased for a minimal amount. A task light can consist of a socket with a reflector, a gooseneck or flexible arm, and a base, which might be a heavy weight or a spring clamp to clamp on to the edge of a desk.
Here are some images of task lamps from a Google search.
Here is some good information and pictures about task lighting and glare.
Last weekend I made a LED task light using a Cree emitter running at 0.6 amps. Since it’s on a gooseneck near my reading and work, the light is much brighter and it only uses about 3 watts.
