LED lighting
eagletalontim
Posts: 1,399
Now that I have my solar panels mounted and charging my batteries, I need to use that power 
In my shed, I currently have 4ea 48" 2 bulb shop lights that I would love to replace with LED's. Since LED's are more directional than radiant, I need to figure a way to light up as much area as possible without causing dark spots or spending hundreds of dollars. The first step is to locate the best LED's for my application. I do not want to replace the bulbs with the LED replacements already available since I am trying to get away from 110V.
My current battery setup is 3ea 12V lead acid batteries wired in parallel so the LED strips need to run directly from the 12V batteries. I am planning on ordering 40" long ~1" wide circuit boards to make installing these strips a little easier. Any input on what LED's would be best? I have a 16ft x 20ft shed with a standard 8ft ceiling to fully light. It needs to be bright enough so I can see the electronics I am soldering in there
EDIT :
I found this, but am not sure if this is bright enough or good for what I am trying to do. If I can fit 50 per 40" strip, I should be able to keep each strip around $50 each which is not bad.
http://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/MLCAWT-A1-0000-000XE1/MLCAWT-A1-0000-000XE1CT-ND/3074387
Also.... What does this mean : "Lumens/Watt @ Current - Test" ? That is listed on Digikey's search.
In my shed, I currently have 4ea 48" 2 bulb shop lights that I would love to replace with LED's. Since LED's are more directional than radiant, I need to figure a way to light up as much area as possible without causing dark spots or spending hundreds of dollars. The first step is to locate the best LED's for my application. I do not want to replace the bulbs with the LED replacements already available since I am trying to get away from 110V.My current battery setup is 3ea 12V lead acid batteries wired in parallel so the LED strips need to run directly from the 12V batteries. I am planning on ordering 40" long ~1" wide circuit boards to make installing these strips a little easier. Any input on what LED's would be best? I have a 16ft x 20ft shed with a standard 8ft ceiling to fully light. It needs to be bright enough so I can see the electronics I am soldering in there
EDIT :
I found this, but am not sure if this is bright enough or good for what I am trying to do. If I can fit 50 per 40" strip, I should be able to keep each strip around $50 each which is not bad.
http://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/MLCAWT-A1-0000-000XE1/MLCAWT-A1-0000-000XE1CT-ND/3074387
Also.... What does this mean : "Lumens/Watt @ Current - Test" ? That is listed on Digikey's search.
Comments
I have a bunch of them. 15 white LEDs per strip. Each strip about a foot long. Each running off 12v.
They are not as directional as you might think. But you are free to dream up any way of placing and mounting them you like. So spreading the light around is not an issue.
Now, I have no idea what actual LEDs I have. A local electronics store sells the strips and the surface mount LEDs and resistors as a kit dirt cheap. Sometimes I spend a relaxing hour soldering up a few more.
Recently I have been wondering about these little filament style LED strips showing up on ebay everywherehttp://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/20-Piece-17mA-100-110LM-W-Warm-White-Lamp-19-Chip-LED-Filament-1W-for-Bulb-Light-/361063779096?pt=UK_Home_Garden_Lighting_Parts&hash=item5411140b18
They are used in retro bulbs like this http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/-/271581745013
Looks like we can a lot of interesting things with those.
I still say LED strips. Lots of LED strips. Get a bunch, from different sources. See what they can do and what you can do with them. We are all treading new ground here.
For example :
CCT (K)
Flux @ 25°C, Current - Test
Lumens/Watt @ Current - Test
CRI (Color Rendering Index)
I'm guessing efficiency, higher the better.
Don't forget to check out automotive products. 12v automotive LED lighting for fog lights and headlights are a pretty good deal. I have a set of fog lights that dim down to 7.5v that will light up any room. Headlights are even better but they have to be diffused and can get too hot.
cheap enough to just buy a short strip to test. You might be surprised
how well they work.
Bruce
The efficiency of the LEDs is rated at lumens/Watt. Lumens is a measure of the light output and is better than the old Candella measurement. This is how you can compare them to the old light bulbs but you will need to look up precisely what the old globes were outputting. From what I recall, as a general idea, a 7W LED will output equivalent to about a 60W globe. You can search the internet for exact comparisons (in case I am not recalling correctly).
http://www.ledlight.com/t8-t10_tube_18w_led_290_smd_3528_12-24v_ac-dc_4_foot_g13.aspx
A little expensive, but I may give it a shot.
These two are for color temperature and color rendering, respectively. These specs are notable for all chromatic light sources. Color temperature is somewhat obtuse, but is basically how a light source influences the hue of a reflective object as compared to a reference. The higher the K (e.g. 6500K), the cooler (bluer) the light, and closer to the appearance of daylight. The lower the K, the warmer (redder) the light.
CRI is how well the light source accurately represents the true color of the object. The higher the value the more accurate. Light sources that lack parts of the spectrum cannot faithfully reproduce the colors that are missing. That leads to inaccurate colors and sick-looking people.
Both of these values are meaningful only if you care about color rendition. if it were me, and I spent considerable time in the shed, I'd invest in some lighting with good to excellent color rendition. It's less fatiguing on the eyes, and won't make people look sick (unless of course, they are).
According to the specs, these put out 5800-6300K, which is considered white to daylight (bluish) white. That's probably better for electronics work, reading, assembly, and similar activities. These look better than some of the LED strips suggested elsewhere.