LED Lighting

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377 posts

Ultimate Geek

#643871 20-Jun-2012 15:49

should also point out i have about 20 in daily use , no issues apart from the one i swapped out for free. Liteon (passable brand) and Philips with no issues at all

switchlighting

18 posts

Geek

#643883 20-Jun-2012 16:31

Hi Skolink,

There are a couple out there at the moment, but make sure you sight the test report and that the test report (not the sdoc) meets the new ammendment A.

Evoled and Ledion brands have rated their products IC.

We will also have one in the coming month or two (made in NZ).

Cheers.

Skolink

1081 posts

Uber Geek

#644132 21-Jun-2012 09:01

switchlighting: Hi Skolink,

There are a couple out there at the moment, but make sure you sight the test report and that the test report (not the sdoc) meets the new ammendment A.

Evoled and Ledion brands have rated their products IC.

We will also have one in the coming month or two (made in NZ).

Cheers.

Ah, you are the manufacturer not the consultant.

switchlighting

18 posts

Geek

#644168 21-Jun-2012 10:50

Hi, I am the technical side to Switch Lighting, and yes we manufacture the lights.

If anyone has any technical questions they want answered about leds in general please feel free to ask.

Skolink

1081 posts

Uber Geek

#644291 21-Jun-2012 15:05

I'm glad you are on the technical side not sales. I do however have a sales question - is there a surface mounting system for the switchlighting SL113?

switchlighting

18 posts

Geek

#644326 21-Jun-2012 15:51

currently no. Future yes, but not for 113 - a new one probably

richms

28198 posts

Uber Geek

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#644333 21-Jun-2012 15:57

Anychance of the 13 watt ones coming in something more white than 3000k? Also whats the price of them? Dim to nothing? Will they ramp up from nothing ok? (both are a no for dimmable CFL's making them useless)

Richard rich.ms

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toomeyelectrical

1 post

Wannabe Geek

#644335 21-Jun-2012 15:58

The problem in the past has been getting equivalent LED lights to hologen lighting and other forms of lighting. I am pleased to say that after 5 years of study and importing of LED lamps, we now have preey much the equivalent to other standard lamps.
A 10 watt Cree LED will give a slightly better output than a halogen 50 watt.
Cost is still a factor, but cost is compensated by the power savings made. i.e. only one fifth of the power consumed and the greater extended life of an LED. They usually operate for 50,000 hours compared to 2 - 4000 hours of a halogen, plus the fact they do not have any of the heat problems of halogens. So basically the additional cost is soon caught up with the longer life and savings made on much less maintenance to lights. You do not have troubles with transformers and lamp connections, due to the lack of heat in the fitting.
Fluorescent lighting is also now very viable, with similar savings on power consumption, maintenance and the lamp life of the tube. These are ideal for offices and especially schools who are trying to cut down their power bills.

switchlighting

18 posts

Geek

#644345 21-Jun-2012 16:11

Hi,

I am not going to get into the sales side at all as that is handled by others so email switch or Redpaths electrical or Advance electrical for pricing. I promised the moderator I would not get into that side of things.

We do offer it in a 4000K temp.

Cheers.

Niel

3267 posts

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Trusted

#644448 21-Jun-2012 20:35

toomeyelectrical: They usually operate for 50,000 hours

It is the half power rating of the LEDs (not the driver circuit) at 25 degree C and a specified heat sink (not necessarily the one used in the product), with end of life specified as reaching half initial intensity. Then consider the life of an electrolytic capacitor (for the rectified mains) where the best ones are 5,000h to 10,000h, typical ones are 1,000h to 2,000h or 2,000h to 5,000h. The only LED lamps that can possibly reach 50,000h are DC lamps running at half power. All others you can expect similar life to a halogen.

It is not a bad thing, I'm just giving the correct information instead of the misleading marketing info (that all manufacturers use).

The advantages of LED lamps are no UV, low heat/waste, no fragile glass, instant on, to name a few. But certainly not long life.

You can never have enough Volvos!

switchlighting

18 posts

Geek

#644455 21-Jun-2012 21:02

Hi Neil,

Just to correct a few things you mentioned.

the below applies to leds by reputable manufacturers, not including a lot of cheapo chinese leds and drivers.

LED's are normally rated to L70 which is time to 70% of initial lumen. This is normally rated at maximum led temperature which is around 135 degree to 150 degree c depending on the LED. Most leds and heatsinks are runnung way below this temperature so the led lifetime will be extremely good.

The weak point as mentioned by neil is the driver. This is the same for all lights with electronics (CFL, fluro, HID etc). The weakest point is the electrolytic capacitors which are used as the other options are way way to costly.
Most electrolytics used in led drivers are 6000 hour rated at 105 degree C. The running temp in use is usually around 70 - 80 degree C. Every 10 deg C below the maximum is double life so a 6000hr cap at 105 deg is 12000hr at 95 deg, 24000 at 85 deg and 48000 at 75 degree. So life of drivers should be pretty good.

In practise the driver will however die first.

Cheers

oxnsox

1923 posts

Uber Geek

#644464 21-Jun-2012 21:22

Has there ever been any suggestion of running low voltage (perhaps even DC) lighting circuits during the build stage of new homes? Would allow you to manage the lighting component of a home thru alternative energy sources.

switchlighting

18 posts

Geek

#644471 21-Jun-2012 21:32

I also do Solar Power systems - and yes we have done low voltage lighting before. There is good and bad points but for most it is better to just have 230v powered led lights with a battery or battery and solar backup through a small inverter. This is what I have.
The main problem with alternative power low voltage lighting is what happens when you have a week of bad weather - you need to run a bettery charger. Then after a few years you need new batteries which are expensive.

richms

28198 posts

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#644479 21-Jun-2012 21:56

oxnsox: Has there ever been any suggestion of running low voltage (perhaps even DC) lighting circuits during the build stage of new homes? Would allow you to manage the lighting component of a home thru alternative energy sources.

With the lower wattage you can run heaps of LEDs off a single 105w transformer. Problem is that I am yet to have any competant dimming on the combo of a LED lamp and an electronic transformer. The cheap ones outside in garden lights on a magnetic transformer work pretty well with some difference in brightness tracking between the different suppliers lamps.

But on elecronics I have tried its amazing the difference. Even with a different loading on the same brand transformer it doesnt match with the same lamps. And the gu5.3 12v viribrights claim to be non dimming which kinda sucks

Richard rich.ms

Niel

3267 posts

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#644489 21-Jun-2012 22:25

Switchlighting, you might want to check my credentials before making claims about electronic components. Temperature is not the only factor when it comes to capacitor life, there is also ripple current and a few other things.

As for LED life (not claimed lamp life, but LED semiconductor life), different manufacturers use different criteria. When it comes to LCD LED backlight life it is rated to 50% intensity and you will be surprised how low it is. For something like a netbook it is around 10 000h, for an automotive display it is 20 000h to 30 000h. And that excludes the inverter life.

My plan was to wire our new home with DC and making my own LED light fittings, but given the compliance standards and how insurance companies are lately looking for any reason not to pay, it is not worth the risk.

With the right battery technology there are no issues with battery life. The issue is no consumer focused company will develop the right product because they will make only 1 sale to each customers and no ongoing consumables. In the 90's in the US you could lease a battery powered car until an oil company purchased the rights to the battery technology (a friend was in the factory where they were made).

Using an inverter to step the voltage up to 240V has losses in the order of 20% (guestimate) and then the LED lamp has a switch mode supply to step it down again with losses of about 10%. So using an inverter wastes about 1/3 of the battery power, if you have batteries you are better off using low voltage LED lamps.

You can never have enough Volvos!

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