I was in a different to usual supermarket last night (Sainsburys) and they had a new range of Philips LEDs that are at very good prices. 60W equivalent for under £12 and GU10 for £7, for example. Also candles and golf balls. Not dimmable though.
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LED Lighting & Energy Efficiency
- Thread starter vfx
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- Energy Environment Policy
I have progressively changed all the halogen bulbs (GU10 and G4) in the house to LED. Initially I bought LEDs from large DIY chains (B&Q, Homebase) - at the time they were disappointing: low brightness, very blue. I then found UltraLEDs.co.uk - their prices were lower and their brightness much better. Every major holiday in the UK they have a sale with 20% off or so. And their prices have driven progressively downwards.
January 2012 I bought GU10s drawing 4W and delivering a 50W equivalent brightness at £7.80 each (tax included): that's about $10 before sales tax. The light quality is a little green for my taste but I've rapidly got used to it. These LEDs will last at least 10 times longer than the halogens they replaced. A halogen bulb costs around $1 in bulk. So you can spend $10 on ten halogens each of ten years or one LED that lasts 10 years.
So they are really no more expensive in capital terms. For organisations that have a cost to change a bulb the LED's reduced replacement cycle makes them a win very quickly in reduced maintenance.
For a light that is used 1000 hours a year, the saved electricity is around £5/year on my tarrif. So the return is £50 over 10 years.
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I will say there was a lot of trial and error to find LED GU10s and G4s I was happy with. Often the form factor wasn't a true replacement - too long or too wide. I also tried CFL GU10s - these were not worth it.
However the payback is interesting. As I completed the process I worked out the total energy saving. And amazingly now that I've replaced all the halogens in the house it looks like the annual kWh saving is enough to drive my Roadster 6000 miles a year. Staggering.
(50 lights x 46W saved x 1000 hours per year (<3 hours per day) = 2300 kWh per year
Wall power required for Roadster: 400 Wh/mi
=> 5750 miles)
Given that I charge the Roadster on aTime of Use tarriff overnight that costs half of the daytime rate, and that almost all the lighting use is in the peak period, financially each saved kWh from the lighting buys two driving kWh.
I am currently doing under 12,000 miles per year, so I think the saved energy from converting halogens to LEDs is paying for all my miles driven!
January 2012 I bought GU10s drawing 4W and delivering a 50W equivalent brightness at £7.80 each (tax included): that's about $10 before sales tax. The light quality is a little green for my taste but I've rapidly got used to it. These LEDs will last at least 10 times longer than the halogens they replaced. A halogen bulb costs around $1 in bulk. So you can spend $10 on ten halogens each of ten years or one LED that lasts 10 years.
So they are really no more expensive in capital terms. For organisations that have a cost to change a bulb the LED's reduced replacement cycle makes them a win very quickly in reduced maintenance.
For a light that is used 1000 hours a year, the saved electricity is around £5/year on my tarrif. So the return is £50 over 10 years.
-----
I will say there was a lot of trial and error to find LED GU10s and G4s I was happy with. Often the form factor wasn't a true replacement - too long or too wide. I also tried CFL GU10s - these were not worth it.
However the payback is interesting. As I completed the process I worked out the total energy saving. And amazingly now that I've replaced all the halogens in the house it looks like the annual kWh saving is enough to drive my Roadster 6000 miles a year. Staggering.
(50 lights x 46W saved x 1000 hours per year (<3 hours per day) = 2300 kWh per year
Wall power required for Roadster: 400 Wh/mi
=> 5750 miles)
Given that I charge the Roadster on aTime of Use tarriff overnight that costs half of the daytime rate, and that almost all the lighting use is in the peak period, financially each saved kWh from the lighting buys two driving kWh.
I am currently doing under 12,000 miles per year, so I think the saved energy from converting halogens to LEDs is paying for all my miles driven!
My difficulty is the number of closed fixtures embedded in my house -- those glass domes that seal up a couple of bulbs. They are a deathtrap for anything other than incandescents, so they'll require replacement with something out-of-period that supports modern bulbs.
NigelM
Recovering Member
SByer
'08 #383
Wow, lotta hyperbole in that re-hashed press release. Kinda know someone else who had a lot to do with blue diode lasers. And what's the point of hyping the laser thing when it's yet another LED bulb (without fans, like, oh, say, every other bulb I currently have). I'm still waiting for lightbulbs with real frickin' lasers in them.
I'll buy one and try it out when I can, and we'll see...
I'll buy one and try it out when I can, and we'll see...
Whoa, hold the cynicism. Nakamura really was instrumental in creating the modern LEDs and semiconductor lasers that we take for granted. Check up this thread.
I saw him talk in London 2 years ago where he explained how his group was honing in on materials that would create green and yellow emissons to make a better colour spectrum without the use of phosphors, and new led shapes and packaging methods, which increases efficiency further. I guess this is the result of that work.
The IET Kelvin Lecture 2010 - Lighting up the future - the way ahead for solid-state lighting
Stream Connect - Player
I saw him talk in London 2 years ago where he explained how his group was honing in on materials that would create green and yellow emissons to make a better colour spectrum without the use of phosphors, and new led shapes and packaging methods, which increases efficiency further. I guess this is the result of that work.
The IET Kelvin Lecture 2010 - Lighting up the future - the way ahead for solid-state lighting
Stream Connect - Player
GE to introduce 27W LED replacement for 100W incandescent bulb
Fully dimmable!
GE Plans World Debut of LED Bulb that Replaces 100-watt Incandescent - Investors.com
Fully dimmable!
GE Plans World Debut of LED Bulb that Replaces 100-watt Incandescent - Investors.com
AndreN
Member
Seems like one would be better off using two of the Philips 9W LED bulbs at 18W instead of the GE bulb at 27. Hopefully Philips will make a 100W equivalent soon for those who want one.
SByer
'08 #383
My first thought was, 'cool'. But then, how many normal 100w sockets do modern homes really have? Heck, most of what I'm trying to replace are Par38s and 48" tubes. I've got good replacements for both now (LEDWaves was having a sale on suitable Par38s, I found good 48" tubes at Polar Ray). Anything that takes a 'bulb' in the house really wants something 40We, ~400lm.
@SByer, I suspect the # of standard socket bulbs in a house is strongly correlated to when it was (re)built. My 1820 house has nothing but standard bulbs except in the kitchen and a few specialty fixtures we've installed over the years. My big gripe in shifting to non-incandescent bulbs is finding something that works in enclosed fixtures. O/w, I'm going to have to lay in a stash of bulbs before they become contraband!
SByer
'08 #383
Depends on the situation. I've been happy with these for replacing the bulbs in the ceiling cans. Lumens are good, the warm white color is excellent, the 60° beam is only slightly narrower than I'd like, and at the sale price they're better than anything else I've found, but they're indoor only, and not every lighting situation could deal with the slightly narrower beam.
I've got two of the Philips AmbientLED 17W PAR38 floods - the warm white color is slightly too cool, lumens not quite as good, and a narrower beam (so, not really 'flood' in spite of the claim on the packaging). Found a spot for them, but they didn't work as a general can bulb replacement.
But then, either is better than any of the CFLs I tried.
I put some dedicated CFL fixtures in a couple of years ago (the kind that have the ballast in the fixture, rather than in the bulb). The first bunch burned out very quickly but they seem to be making them better now and they are now lasting about as long as an incandescent bulb.
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