Archive for November, 2009

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What Are LED Lights?

Light Emitting Diode is the actual words for the short term LED. An LED light is a solid-state object that controls electrical current without wire filaments. LEDs are not lamps or light bulbs as we are used to using today. An LED light is a semiconductor that allows a narrow-spectrum of light to flow through it. The new LED lights are very reliable and have a long life. It takes a lot of work to make an LED light ready for the store shelves. To produce a light color the LED needs to be placed on a circuit board that allows an exact amount of electrical current and voltage to pass through the structure.

The LED lights produce different colors when a specific voltage passes through it. The color of the light depends on the condition and composition of the semi conducting material used. The wavelength of the light emitted produces its true color. Only a true clear light has been difficult to produce. The early so called clear LED lights emitted a soft blue hue but recent advances in semiconductors have produced a true clear or no color light. LED lights usually have a constant illumination when an electrical current pass through them. The more advanced flashing LED bulbs are also available. When a small micro chip was placed inside the standard LED bulb it causes the bulb to flash. The most common type of LED bulbs comes in green, red or yellow. The most common flashing LED bulbs emit light in a single wavelength of light. Through advances in technology they can now produce multicolored flashing LED bulbs. Today’s semiconductor is so precise that they can produce light wavelengths with many hues of a single color thus creating an infinite number of beautiful pure colors.

How do LED lights work?

The positive electrical power is applied to one side of the LED semiconductor through a lead wire that enters the LED bulb. The lead wire attaches to a whisker that allows the electricity to flow into the semiconductor. A negative electrical wire also enters the LED bulb and is attached to the Anvil. The top of the anvil that is the negative power lead is attached to the other side of the semiconductor. This connection is want produces the light. It is the chemical makeup of the LED semiconductor that determines the color of the LED light.

The resin lens is designed to allow most of the light to escape from the semiconductor and it also protects the LED semiconductor from the elements. The resin lens can be clear or dyed in a verity of different translucent colors to create different effects. The entire LED unit is totally embedded in epoxy resin. This is what makes LEDs virtually indestructible. There are no loose or moving parts within the solid epoxy enclosure of an LED light. An LED light source is a very bright and may cause injury to your eyes. DO NOT look directly into the LED light source without certified dark protective eyewear.

How long will LED lights last?

The research and development of the LED lights are making it possible to conserve electricity now and in the future. The LED lights that we as consumers will buy are rated for 1,000 or more hours of run time. The more expensive commercial Cree and Luxeon LEDs are rated for 50,000 hours of run time. Even though the price of the LED bulbs is higher the overall operating cost is much lower. A new LED bulb uses 1/4 the electricity of a conventional tungsten light bulb. The overall savings is substantial over the life of the 1,000 hour LED bulb.

There can be no question about it the light bulb is one of the greatest inventions that man has made. Since it’s first appearance it has been improved in many ways, first by the introduction of fluorescent light bulbs, then by the appearance of halogen bulbs and next by the arrival of energy saving bulbs. The latest incarnation to arrive on the scene is the LED light bulb. These bulbs are approximately 35 time more efficient than an incandescent bulb and about 10 times more energy efficient than a fluorescent lamp. They come in many different colours as standard and can easily create a completely different mood in your home, depending on the color chosen.

An LED (Light Emitting Diode) is a form of semiconductor device that emits light when an electrical charge is placed across it. The type of light that emanates from the semiconductor depends upon the composition of the encapsulating material and can vary from ultra violet to infrared. There are many advantages of using LED bulbs over the standard incandescent bulbs. The main advantage is the energy efficiency aspect. An LED bulb is brighter than a standard bulb and generates much less heat for the amount of light output. They use only about 10% of the energy used by a standard bulb and come in many colours as standard.

The most widely used application of LED bulbs is in the automotive industry. A cluster of LEDs in place of a bulb are brighter and more reliable than a single bulb whilst using much less electricity. The other advantage is that if one led fails in the cluster the rest continue to work, thus giving and obvious health and safety benefit.

Another application for led bulbs is within the Christmas decoration industry. Because LED bulbs use so much less power than traditional Christmas lights they can be powered from a simple battery pack rather than have the need for a transformer and electricity supply to light your exterior Christmas lights. Another advantage is seen with interior Christmas tree lights. Because LED bulbs run much cooler that incandescent lamps they are a much safer option when lighting your indoor tree, far less chance of a fire with less heat.

A less obvious application for LED bulbs is in the vintage automobile industry. If the original bulbs are replaced with super efficient LED equivalents there is much less drain on the vintage car’s electrical system. This reduces the strain on an already over tired charging system and there is much less chance of a catastrophic failure of the antique electrical system. There is an added advantage that headlights do not go dim when stationary and not revving the engine as they need much less power to remain bright.

All in all LED bulbs are a fantastic replacement for more traditional forms of light bulb and they will continue to gain popularity over the coming years. Who knows, one day Edison’s original incandescent invention may be a dim memory.

Super bright LED flashlights, more commonly known as torches are by far brighter than the regular incandescent flashlight bulb. Super bright LED flashlights may come in many variations with different numbers of LED bulbs installed. But LED flashlights also vary in brightness depending on a user’s need for the flashlight. The brightness of an LED flashlight is measured by Lumens. The LED flashlights commercially available in the marketplace today give out between ten to a hundred lumens of brightness. So that one has a clear picture of lumens, imagine your whole kitchen with all its’ lighting fixtures, that is equivalent to 12,000 lumens. Also with LED bulbs, you can use it for many years without having to replace the LED bulb in the flashlight.

There are super bright LED flashlights commercially available today. The most recent super bright LED flashlight available in the market today is the one that gives out 742 lumens, the kind of light that LCD overhead projectors use. Other super bright flashlights may have more LED bulbs installed and one can adjust the brightness or dimness of the flashlight when they opt how many bulbs will be turned on. But in choosing super bright LED flashlights, one has to consider the lumens output, rather than the number of LED bulbs installed. One LED bulb can be as bright as ten LED bulbs.

One great feature of having a super bright LED flashlight or torch is that it will give bright light using simple AA or AAA batteries. The LED flashlight will also run longer on these batteries than the regular incandescent bulb flashlight. The brightness of an LED flashlight depends on the power output from its energy source. Super bright flashlights used by policemen use about three watts. The lumens or bright light of these police flashlights are at ninety lumens. The power input and output also determines the hours that you can use your batteries with the LED flashlights.

It is advisable to have two flashlights when camping outdoors. The smaller flashlight can be used so that when you are looking for something, you don’t have to wake up everybody in the tent. Another function with LED torches in case you don’t want to bring an extra flashlight is to set it to “dim”. Most LED flashlights have a switch to either set to dim or bright light. The dim light can be used in order to conserve the batteries. But even dim lights in LED flashlights can be brighter than the regular incandescent bulb flashlight. Having a super bright LED flashlight doesn’t mean that you have to carry extra batteries. The LED flashlight can run as much as ten times longer on batteries than the regular incandescent bulb flashlight.

The super bright LED flashlight may be a bit more expensive than the regular incandescent flashlight but it can be worth it when it comes to its use. Getting a LED flashlight can save you money in the long run because you don’t have to replace the batteries as often as you would with regular incandescent bulb batteries and the LED bulb can last as long as ten years so you don’t have to worry about its’ bulb burning out.