Winnipesaukee Forum - View Single Post

brk-lnt · 09-06-2011, 04:56 PM

The problem with LEDs to-date has been their unappealing color spectrum, intertwined with the fact that the run very hot.

LEDs were traditionally known for their low-power and cool operation, but this was for use as very localized light sources, or as various kinds of indicator lights.

Compared to traditional bulbs, for a long time the LEDs output lumens to input watts ratio was pretty poor.

Latest generation LED bulbs going into production now have solved the color temp issues, but not the heat issues, so they are using various forms of liquid cooling gels to dissipate the heat within the bulb and into the room.

From what I've heard, in about 1 year we'll have a decent selection of affordable LEDs bulbs. I personally wouldn't buy any of the first-gen LED bulbs coming out shortly, as they are basically the first-pass at employing some of these new technologies to a rather difficult problem, and that usually doesn't work well, or happen cheaply. Let those issues bear out for a year and then look at LED bulbs.

I do not like the CFLs in general, but mostly because it's hard to find a good dimmable CFL. 90% of the lights in our house are on automation, so they have .5 second soft ON/OFF ramps and few CFLs (that I've tried) play well with that.

09-06-2011, 04:56 PM	#21
brk-lnt Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: South Down Shores Posts: 1,944 Thanks: 544 Thanked 570 Times in 335 Posts	The problem with LEDs to-date has been their unappealing color spectrum, intertwined with the fact that the run very hot. LEDs were traditionally known for their low-power and cool operation, but this was for use as very localized light sources, or as various kinds of indicator lights. Compared to traditional bulbs, for a long time the LEDs output lumens to input watts ratio was pretty poor. Latest generation LED bulbs going into production now have solved the color temp issues, but not the heat issues, so they are using various forms of liquid cooling gels to dissipate the heat within the bulb and into the room. From what I've heard, in about 1 year we'll have a decent selection of affordable LEDs bulbs. I personally wouldn't buy any of the first-gen LED bulbs coming out shortly, as they are basically the first-pass at employing some of these new technologies to a rather difficult problem, and that usually doesn't work well, or happen cheaply. Let those issues bear out for a year and then look at LED bulbs. I do not like the CFLs in general, but mostly because it's hard to find a good dimmable CFL. 90% of the lights in our house are on automation, so they have .5 second soft ON/OFF ramps and few CFLs (that I've tried) play well with that. __________________ [insert witty phrase here]