I thought LEDs were those little lights on the front of my computer…?

LED Lamps – as in light bulbs?

Yes, they are here. But you wont be seeing familiar names like Panasonic, Sylvania or Philips yet, maybe never.

Many of you might know of LED (Light Emitting Diode) lighting from those swirling, glowing toys at dance parties, or maybe the occasional flashlight which sports them. But now, you can use that technology in your home for everyday (and night) light! However, because this industry is still in its infancy, you might want to take a moment’s pause before committing yourself to this phenomenon.

There are no established standards yet for these bulbs, and as such, they vary as much in form as in function. Essentially, the LED lamp works like the now-popular CFL bulbs in that their power conversion devices are built-in to the bulb fixture itself. A CFL lamp has a built-in ballast, and and LED lamp has a built-in transformer. It took a long time for the industry to adjust to the consumers’ desires for the CFL, and in turn it will take a while for LED lamps to fulfill their needs.

Still, this is a step in the right direction. LEDs (as they are promoted) offer upwards of 50,000 hours of life, compared to (some) CFL’s claims of up to 10,000 hours. Also, the LEDs claimed wattages are much lower than those of the fluorescent persuasion.

One manufacturer claims that its’ PAR30 lamp with a brightness of “SUPER BRIGHT” runs at a paltry 7W. Now, back to the “no established standards” subject: What is SUPER BRIGHT? I have no idea. It seems that LED light output is either measured in a different scale than we are used to (lumens or candlepower), or the reason could be that the outputs just don’t stand up to those of other lighting methods, making manufactuers get creative when marketing their products.

But still, lower power consumption and longer lamp life is a great goal to be headed toward. We will post more in about a week or so after we’ve done more research on manufacturers of LED lamps.

-Copied with permission from BrightLED.info

~ by electricgroup on March 25, 2008.