Why is a 100W (equlivalant) LED so large and heavy?

[Paintedcow]

I bought a 100W (equlivalant) LED bulb for my bedroom. With my old eyes, I cant read well, with a 60W bulb. The CFL bulb started acting like a strobe light, so it was time to replace it. I did not want to buy another CFL, so I bought the rather costly LED bulb. I was shocked to feel the weight when I picked it up. Then I got it home and found that it's too big for my fixture. The fixture is one of those (what they call) "Boob Lights". It's only has one socket inside. Since the glass dome wont fit, if I leave it off, the bulb is so heavy it's bending the socket bracket down.

So, for now, I just stuck a 100W incandescent in it. I guess I'll just have to buy a new fixture. I'm thinking about buying a two bulb fixture and using two 60W (equliv) LED bulbs. This 100W bulb will work good in my workshop.

By the way, the 100W LED is a Sylvania.

[Steve Stone]

The Cree 100 watt LED bulbs are even bigger.

[philo]

Don't know , but I had a similar problem with my eyes.

A few years back I got my first set of bifocals and just plain did not like them.

The reading lamp over the bed was 60 watts and just by putting in a

75watt bulb was sufficient to allow me to read most print without glasses.

[Mayayana]

| So, for now, I just stuck a 100W incandescent in it. I guess I'll just | have to buy a new fixture.

Another option might be to get a 70w halogen. They're now available encased in an incandescent- style outer shell, to fit an incandescent fixture. The 70w H is supposed to be equivalent to 100w incandescent. I use them now for work lights. The LEDs are getting better and cheaper, but I don't like them as well for seeing detail.

[Stormin Mormon]

I'm sad to hear you spent good money, and bought a bulb that didn't fit. I don't know why they are large and heavy.

I see a couple things you may do, if you wish.

1) Buy a new CFL, and get a different brand that might work better

2) Use the 100 watt incadescent, and enjoy the heat, since it's cold in most places

3) Different fixture, perhaps a long, straight fluorescent fixture

Best wishes, hope you find some thing that works for you.

[bob haller]

LED bulbs are bigger and heavier to accomodate the large heat sinks, keeping them cool is key to long life/

why not change the fixture to one that fits the bulb

[Frank]

Hope you are getting your eyes examined.

I have very early stage AMD that only vitamins can help put off.

Also early stage cataracts. I don't need them worked on but maybe you do.

I've also been replacing 60 watt equivalent with 75 watt CFL's

Don't yet see 75 watt equivalent at reasonable price yet.

[HerHusband]

The LED bulbs are heavy because of the heatsinks that keep the bulb cool. Heat destroys electronics.

Be careful! Most ceiling light fixtures are only rated for 60 watt bulbs to limit the heat buildup. Also, the wiring in many older homes have insulation that will break down with increased heat.

Installing a 100 watt incandescent bulb could damage the fixture and/or wiring and potentially cause a fire. I replaced a couple of light fixtures at my sister-in-laws old house where the insulation had become brittle from the heat and left completely exposed wires in the attic.

If you're replacing the fixture, you might want to look at dedicated LED fixtures instead of the traditional bulb type fixtures.

Otherwise, I frequently use 75W equivalent LED bulbs in my dual bulb ceiling fixtures. This is safe because the LED bulbs don't put out the heat that incandescents do. However, if you read the LED packaging you'll see that 100W LED's are not recommended for enclosed fixtures due to the heat buildup.

Anthony Watson

[Art Todesco]

I have a lady in my church choir that has AMD. She has to travel 80 miles, once a month to get an injection into the eyeball. The other eye is already too far gone. But, I understand there is now an injection which last for a whole year.

And to keep this on topic, I can get Cree 40 and 60 watt equiv. from my power company for about $2 each. The 75 and 100 are, as you say, still a little pricey. So, use the CFL until the LED bulbs come down ... they will.

[Frank]

Nothing you can do about the AMD but it often leads to the wet kind that can be treated. Right now I just have a slight smudging in the right eye but that is where it goes, to the center, and can eventually ruin your central vision.

I've got several 75 watt CFL's to burn through. Some of them have been a PITA with some humming and some so white that they were only suitable for outside use.

[Arthur Conan Doyle]

Dimable LEDs have a lot of electronics in the base. The non-dimable LEDS are lighter and significantly smaller.

[Paintedcow]

I got prescribed glasses about a year ago. But I dont like the bifocals. I see distance fine, but cant read worth a shit. Paper is worse than the computer monitor. To read paper, I need a lot of light. I probably have

12 reading glasses around here. Anywhere that I need to read something, or use small screws, like the ones on outlets. I got glasses in almost every room in the house, and in my workshop, garage, in my car, and even a pair in the barn in case I have to give a measured medication to an animal.

What is AMD? What vitamins are helpful. I'd rather take vitamins than medications.

The 60W LEDs are cheap now, but anything above that is costly. I paid around $15 for that one 100W equ bulb.

[Paintedcow]

I'm still wondering what happened to the CFL that was in this fixture. It was working fine, then suddenly got real dim. A minute later it turned into a strobe light. That's when I knew it was time to replace it, before it went up in sparks and smoke, because I did have one of them do that some years ago. CFL's seem to be a PITA real often...

[Paintedcow]

I'm leary of halogens. They have a bad reputation for causing fires because they are hotter than incandescents. Plus, the fixture I have, is only rated at 60W. (Yea, I put in a 100W incan bulb, but I left the dome glass off for now). I plan to buy a new fixture this weekend. I'll get one that takes 2 bulbs, and use 2 60W LEDS.

[Paintedcow]

Mine IS dimmable, which I never needed, because I dont use dimmers. Wish I knew this before I bought it.... I just bought this one since it was the cheapest of the 100W ones.

Then it says on the box, "may not be compatible with all dimmers". And says to go to their website for more info...

[SeaNymph]

As you age, your eyes can't absorb as much light as they used to. That's why older people often don't like to drive at certain times of the day.

[Paintedcow]

Car headlights at night really bother my eyes a lot more than they did years ago. I'm not sure if it's my eyes, or all those super bright lights they now use. Many of these newer headlights on dim are brighter than the old incandescent headlights on bright. I think its the lights more than my eyes, but I could be wrong.

[Ashton Crusher]

The photons from higher wattage bulbs are smaller which allow more of them to go thru your pupil. That's why you can see better when you use higher wattage bulbs. Either that or the bulbs are brighter. Arm the photon torpedo's Mr. Sulu. Fire on my command....

[Ed Pawlowski]

You can be sure it is your aging eyes. Even worse is the night in the rain.

This explains some of it:

Glare

When the eye is adapted to a specific light level, sources much more intense than the prevailing level produce "glare." The most common situation occurs at night, when the eye is generally adapted to dark, but an oncoming car's headlights produce glare. The sun may produce glare even during the day due to its high intensity.

In older people, the clouding of the eye's optics causes entering light to scatter and to produce blinding glare. It is usually difficult for younger people, with their clearer optics, to appreciate the enormous debilitating effect that glare has on the elderly.

[Scott Lurndal]

That repuation stems from the unprotected bulbs in some torchier fixtures in the early 90's. None of which have been made for decades. Note that these fixtures used bulbs originally designed for theatrical lighting.

Halogen bulbs in A19, R and PAR styles are no less safe than incandescents.