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LED bulbs are one of the greatest inventions of my lifetime


Road Runner

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9 minutes ago, ChrisL said:

We have one of those Bell & Howell triburst LED lights in my garage and it’s been a game changer.  I had a 100 watt bulb & fluorescent light. I replaced the 100 watt with the LED that just screws into the socket and it lights up my whole garage.  

I got one after you recommended it when you bought yours. I will be putting one in the new house. 
I wanted to get better light quality in the basement family room. I replaced the 2 flush mount fluorescent fixtures with stylish multi light LED fixtures. I can aim the individual lights to make for some very pleasant light coverage and reduced from 320 watts to 35!  

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20 minutes ago, ChrisL said:

We have one of those Bell & Howell triburst LED lights in my garage and it’s been a game changer.  I had a 100 watt bulb & fluorescent light. I replaced the 100 watt with the LED that just screws into the socket and it lights up my whole garage.  

I bought similar for the garage on sale plus a coupon from Harbor Freight. I win.

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All of our lights in our new home are LED lights.   

The thing that is complicated... is when you are retrofitting a LED bulb into an old incandescent light fixture that uses a dimmer.   Dimmers switches that were made for incandescent lights, many not work very well (If at all) with LED lights.  You most likely will need new LED compatible dimmer switches.  But wait.. there is more...

To have dimmable LED lights, you first need LED light bulbs that are dimmable. Some LED bulbs are NOT dimmable.   Then you need a dimmer switch that is compatible with the LED light bulbs you will use.   LED bulb manufactures have "compatibility" tools to match dimmer switches to their bulbs.  https://ledlightinginfo.com/can-led-lights-be-on-a-dimmer

Yeah... there are different kinds of LED dimmer switches.  :facepalm:   

That said...  we probably use a LOT less power now for lighting compared to our old home.

The thing I LOVE about LED lights in the garage... is they always turn on.   When it's cold (below 40) and I had florescent lights, sometimes the bulbs would not light and just be very dim. 

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I agree about LED lights being great.

I was making circuits that included  LEDs (LIGHT emitting diodes) in college physics labs around 1970.

I've often wondered what the holdup was in the development of commercial LED lighting as well as in flourescent light bulbs.

I'm still in the habit of turning lights off when I don't need them, for both bulb preservation and to be a little greener, but leaving one on for 24 hrs only burns several cents of electricity.

My non-LED, original dome light in my 2013 Honda Fit burned out and the LED replacement I installed was so much brighter I also bought a LED replacement for the cargo light.  Now I have a nice, brightly lit car when the interior lights go on that burn less energy than before.

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13 hours ago, ChrisL said:

We have one of those Bell & Howell triburst LED lights in my garage and it’s been a game changer.  I had a 100 watt bulb & fluorescent light. I replaced the 100 watt with the LED that just screws into the socket and it lights up my whole garage.  

Got a two pack of those at Costco - put one in my garage and gave one to my brother.  Those things are BRIGHT and a bazillion times stronger than the anemic 100w incandescent I had before.

Folks were (are still?) up in arms over the "government" taking away their light bulb freedoms.  The transition was tough - CFLs were a bridge tech and not a great one - but man, the other side is so much better. Like the late 70s/early 80s transition in the car industry from gas guzzling & lead gas, the cars we came out the other side with are better in all regards.  It ain't easy making progress, but when you get there, it was worth the journey.

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4 hours ago, maddmaxx said:

Another advantage of LED's, so far unmentioned, is that many on the market are adjustable in both color and temperature.  Now you can tailor the amount and shade of light to the room and even have different settings for different circumstances.

Yes.  We have up and down lighting on some walls and they have been green and red all Christmas season.  :) 

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Part of my ongoing project. While I noted that converted wiring in house from aluminum to copper with AlumiConn connectors with 6" copper pigtails, there are a few straggling junction with ceiling lights. I did the shower (and hall) in-ceiling floods and at the same time updated with LED. The master bath shower had a double return. Previously, the only place to mount a powered nightlight was a plug outlet serving the vanity. Unfortunately, it was in line of sight out the door limiting bed placement with light in eyes all night. With the LED in the shower was able to eliminate the nightlight as I also installed a dimmer switch with the lowest setting and excellent nightlight brightness.

Garage is next and plan to get the B&H Triburst equivalent LED. Costco will have, on rotating sale, a 2 pack for $29 so waiting for the sale. The particular alum/copper job will be interesting. Currently the ceiling light not only is aluminum, but has a screw in socket with plug outlet and an 18 guage that snakes through the ceiling to attic with a clip on utility light. Essentially the switch now powers 2 incandescent 75 or 100 watt bulbs. I will do it right - Replace the entire ceiling box as I convert, and from the new box run a 14-3 copper and mount an additional new box in the attic as prior owner should have done in the first place. The switch will activate both lights even if not intending to use the attic...but who care as it does that now but have a significant savings in watts.

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I’ve never really been into the smart home thing much. However as we get ready to move to the next home, I’m giving serious thought to at least smart lights. I’m seeing the ability to have various light strategies mapped so they all change by an app on the phone. That’s appealing in a 2 story home I don’t know we’ll. 

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14 hours ago, Wilbur said:

I like the runways that have upgraded to LED.  It looks like a simulator on a clear night. :) 

1*UpkODZUIhwZonoq59FshnQ.jpeg

Please tell me the FAA requires the LEDs to have a very high pulse rate so they don’t strobe in your peripheral vision. 

GM puts cheapo LEDs in their tail lights that pulse at a low enough hertz that I can see the pulses as a strobe of lights in my periphery. It’s distracting as hell. Trying to land on a field of that would be neigh hallucinatory if not seizure inducing. 
 

(How I see low hertz LEDs)

 

 

 

383F248F-F9A6-4F85-9E3F-E8C01A34C509.jpeg

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12 minutes ago, groupw said:

I’ve never really been into the smart home thing much. However as we get ready to move to the next home, I’m giving serious thought to at least smart lights. I’m seeing the ability to have various light strategies mapped so they all change by an app on the phone. That’s appealing in a 2 story home I don’t know we’ll. 

My wife had mobility problems, so I've started converting a lot of our lights to smart stuff so she can use voice commands. I've used some smart plugs for individual lights, but for built-ins I've started putting in smart switches instead of smart bulbs. That way you can still manually turn the lights on and off if needed. If you use smart bulbs, you can only do it by the app or a smart device. They make the switches for either single or 3-way applications.

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34 minutes ago, Tizeye said:

Currently the ceiling light not only is aluminum, but has a screw in socket with plug outlet and an 18 guage that snakes through the ceiling to attic with a clip on utility light.

More than once I have seen installations using an extension cord with the ends clipped off and snaked through. Attics and soffits mostly.

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6 minutes ago, Allen said:

The LEDs in my entry hallway pulse at a low enough hertz that Cicero’s wagging tail (and other quick movements) will strobe.
I’m changing them out. 

I didn't realize flicker was an issue. Interesting information on the topic on the internet. According to this blog, help is on the way.

https://medium.com/@yeutterg/the-end-of-flicker-24f6169c5c7f

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5 hours ago, maddmaxx said:

Another advantage of LED's, so far unmentioned, is that many on the market are adjustable in both color and temperature.  Now you can tailor the amount and shade of light to the room and even have different settings for different circumstances.

When we remodeled we had LED recessed lighting put in throughout the house and it was really cool that we could pick the type of light it puts out.

 I don’t know if we are saving on energy costs but we do enjoy the controllable brightness of the house & how clean it looks without lamps. 

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1 hour ago, Allen said:

Please tell me the FAA requires the LEDs to have a very high pulse rate so they don’t strobe in your peripheral vision. 

GM puts cheapo LEDs in their tail lights that pulse at a low enough hertz that I can see the pulses as a strobe of lights in my periphery. It’s distracting as hell. Trying to land on a field of that would be neigh hallucinatory if not seizure inducing. 
 

(How I see low hertz LEDs)

 

 

 

383F248F-F9A6-4F85-9E3F-E8C01A34C509.jpeg

They are steady and crisp looking with better color definition.  They are a huge improvement in my opinion. 

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2 hours ago, donkpow said:

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@bikeman564™ you can use this chart to buy LEDs that fit your needs. Most have the light temperature right on the package. I found that handy when I had to replace 1 of 3 bulbs above the bathroom vanity. They had 1 at 2500k and another at 3500k. Luckily I had brought the old bulb and it stated 2500k right on the bulb. New one is a near perfect match!

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The airport thing is cool!  Are they set  to  change color, to relay information to the pilots?  Like, all red, it must be valentines day?

I question the article about lead in LEDs.  LED manufacturers got rid of that years ago, they wouldn't be legal for sale in most of the world.

The flicker issue is real!  We had halogen accent lighting behind the soffits all around the church.  They were replaced with LEDs.  I found out the hard way - went in at night to do some work, turned on the lights and immediately started feeling dizzy and nauseous.  I believe that they used a lower frequency driver (8K), with that many lights it needs to be 24K.  We aren't using them until we can resolve it, the flicker can even cause seizures.

My house is all LED (there may be one or two I missed).  The warm whites are quite close to incandescent, many of them are tuneable and colored.  All controlled by the smarthome.  We rarely touch a switch, often not even the app.  They either go on and off automatically, or by voice command.  Weird at first, but common now.  It is the way to go.  There's so many options, especially with light strips.  Out Master BR has a vaulted ceiling.  I have LED strips on top of the collar beams.  It reflects off the ceiling, lights the room with no visible light source.  They glow daylight or moonlight based on the sunrise / set.  Or soft blue for TV watching.  The hallway has another hidden strip, set to a color that makes the slate blue walls look really warm.   Seasonal light colors are fun.  Use smart switches, not bulbs.  If someone turs off the dumb switch, the smart bulb can't be accessed without manually switching, and then sometimes they need to be reset.  Or a combination.  I have 4 overhead smart bulbs in the family room.  We often use one or two at a time.  But I need wall switches, it's a rather public room.  The bulbs bypass the switch and go directly to power.  The switches connect only to power, not the bulbs.  The smart hub tells the bulbs to mimic the switch.  Some of my lighting has no switch at all, just the app or voice.  So nice to go to bed, tell the house "goodnight", all the lights go out (including the gazillion Christmas lights in the windows), the door locks, security turns on, heat turns down......

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4 hours ago, bikeman564™ said:

I like the amber flow of an incandescent. I don't like LED light for interior.

As others have said, you can now buy LEDs that match your taste.  I don't like those whiter colors, so I bought bulbs that mimic the color of a standard incandescent.  My local Home Depot even has a display with the different LED bulbs lit up so that you can see the color of the light before you buy. 

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I think probably 75% of the lighting in our house is LED.  Most of the holdouts are fixtures on dimmers with only one or two bulbs.  A $22 dimmer switch is a lot easier to swallow when it's running 10 cans in the finished part of the basement, than for that single bulb over the kitchen sink.

Do I prefer the "glow" from an incandescent?  Yes, but the LEDs are a lot closer to that than those horrible CFLs.

One thing I am finding though is that LED Christmas light bulbs/strings don't really seem to be any more reliable than the incandescent mini lights were.  And for full disclosure, our decorations still include a small number of incandescent C7s.  

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4 minutes ago, TrentonMakes said:

One thing I am finding though is that LED Christmas light bulbs/strings don't really seem to be any more reliable than the incandescent mini lights were. 

What I noticed is that for xmas lights, the LED ones are harder to match if you don't simply buy all 15 strands or so at one time.  They probably have gotten better - clearer and more consistent color/temp ratings - but when the switch began several years ago, there was no easy way to just buy a few LEDs to replace older incandescent ones, as the LEDs were a totally different white than the incandescent ones.  So, I was either buying those 15 (or more) strands of new lights or just fixing existing strands to keep things the same.  Not being able to just add a couple LED strands per year to the mix has definitely slowed down my upgrade on xmas lights.  

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6 hours ago, bikeman564™ said:

I like the amber flow of an incandescent. I don't like LED light for interior.

You can use the 'warm white' LED lights, rated at 2700K on the package.  That color temperature is similar to incandescent bulbs.

https://www.e-conolight.com/blog/post/warm-or-neutral-which-is-the-white-for-you

I have a chandelier with dimmable bulbs, 2700K. and it looks great. 

image.png.bb1bc1c3f61b28187c56f302e83c44ef.png

 

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4 hours ago, 12string said:

The airport thing is cool!  Are they set  to  change color, to relay information to the pilots?  Like, all red, it must be valentines day?

 

All red is a bad thing...you are too low on landing approach - add power and go around. That is just one set of lights where most define the runway (white) and taxi ways (blue) and lights for other features of the field, such as amber instead of white on the back half of a short field to warn of runway end. Sometimes there is a repeating strobe that 'animates' the runway in the landing direction. Technically, none of the lights change color as they are constant, however, they may be mechanically blocked where see one color or the other, as in the case of glidescopes. Ideally, there should be 2 red and two white indicating correct glide on landing approach. Four white (the two reds blocked) indicates too high a glide. Four reds (two whites blocked) indicates too low on the approach.

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While we marvel at what LED lights do for us, let's not forget the greater marvel of the power distribution system that gets those electrons to the base of your LED lamp.  A system that operates within tight tolerances with incredibly low down time given it's subject to the vagaries of weather, inefficiencies caused by regulation, unpredictable impact from weather-dependent generation, and unintended indifference by the end users.

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10 minutes ago, Thaddeus Kosciuszko said:

While we marvel at what LED lights do for us, let's not forget the greater marvel of the power distribution system that gets those electrons to the base of your LED lamp.  A system that operates within tight tolerances with incredibly low down time given it's subject to the vagaries of weather, inefficiencies caused by regulation, unpredictable impact from weather-dependent generation, and unintended indifference by the end users.

Okay, okay.. sheesh!

Everyone applaud this please.

942155.jpg

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17 minutes ago, Thaddeus Kosciuszko said:

While we marvel at what LED lights do for us, let's not forget the greater marvel of the power distribution system that gets those electrons to the base of your LED lamp.  A system that operates within tight tolerances with incredibly low down time given it's subject to the vagaries of weather, inefficiencies caused by regulation, unpredictable impact from weather-dependent generation, and unintended indifference by the end users.

I'm now happy I'm exclusively an indifferent end user now.     I paid my dues... 40+ years helping to keep the distribution system working in northern IL. 

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1 minute ago, Thaddeus Kosciuszko said:

I highly suspect you could not begin to qualify as 'an indifferent end user'.  ;)

OK... I'll admit... we we drive somewhere..  every now and then...  I 'see' issues on a power line and I want to call in the problem, before the power would go off to those customers.

Just a few nights ago, we had rain and thunderstorms here.  We lost power for a breaker or recloser that operated.  When there was 2 operations in a row... I got worried.  But the power restored.  

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11 hours ago, Thaddeus Kosciuszko said:

While we marvel at what LED lights do for us, let's not forget the greater marvel of the power distribution system that gets those electrons to the base of your LED lamp.  A system that operates within tight tolerances with incredibly low down time given it's subject to the vagaries of weather, inefficiencies caused by regulation, unpredictable impact from weather-dependent generation, and unintended indifference by the end users.

If I have my math correct, I'm pretty sure the Cafe is currently at 100% "back-up generator" ownership (give or take +/-5%).  We're approaching that with snowblowers as well, but our generator ownership has always been a source of pride and joy, so I find it a bit humorous we would talk about any system other than the one where we plug stuff into our generators when the power goes off.

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11 hours ago, Wilbur said:

So, what does 4 green lights mean? 

I like the idea of collecting $200 in the other response but messing up could cost you more than $200. Green lights in general are the threshold lights where the active runway begins (with red at the opposite end where the asphalt/runway ends) They typically more than 4 lights, and an odd number for a middle one on the center line. Don't suspect those were what you were referring to so looked at the original photo you posted. The 4 greens in the photo are the last of the taxiway extensions to the runway center line for aircraft taking off. In the photo there are two sets for full length runway and short runway.

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On 12/30/2021 at 8:51 AM, Tizeye said:

I like the idea of collecting $200 in the other response but messing up could cost you more than $200. Green lights in general are the threshold lights where the active runway begins (with red at the opposite end where the asphalt/runway ends) They typically more than 4 lights, and an odd number for a middle one on the center line. Don't suspect those were what you were referring to so looked at the original photo you posted. The 4 greens in the photo are the last of the taxiway extensions to the runway center line for aircraft taking off. In the photo there are two sets for full length runway and short runway.

It is pilot humour.   All white, too high. All red, too low.  All green, so low the light is filtering through the grass.  :) 

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