Anyone using LED lighting at home yet?

[HeyBub]

But they should be available via internet-order. We often get stuff from Sam's website that's not available at our local stores - our last order was for bulk ink for ink-jet refills.

[hallerb]

my neighbors would wonder about the green red yellow every nite

[Mark Lloyd]

LED lights are a lot more expensive new, but are supposed to last much longer. That's important when it costs so much to change bulbs.

The stick-on lights I've seen were nearly useless, but the plug-in

70-LED string keeps me from bumping into stuff.

[Mark Lloyd]

I'm thinking of an ad for one that claimed one would save 200% on electricity use. Numerical nonsense is quite common (consider that saving 100% means it uses none at all).

[Mark Lloyd]

There aren't any real white LEDs. Those are blue ones with a chemical that glows yellow.

[Pete C.]

You'd think so, but it said "not available".

[terry]

Fluorescents?

[Phisherman]

I bought an LED (replacing an incandecent Halogen) reflector bulb for my outdoor 12 v. lighting, about $5 at WalMart. Works great for accent lighting, I think it has a bluish cast. The bulb itself contains 7 LEDs. Nice energy saver.

[E Z Peaces]

My favorite LED flashlight is a rechargeable trouble light, a sort of wand that stands 16" tall including the hook. It weighs less than a pound. It provides an even, diffuse light that brings out colors pretty well, so it's easy to see things when I use it as a work light or a flashlight. Its size makes it easy to spot when I need it. It's easy to find a way to stand, lay, lean, or hang it to illuminate my work. Sometimes if I can't see what I'm doing under a hood in daylight, I can see better if I wait until dark and work by this light. It will last 14 hours on a charge, which makes it useful as a lantern during power failures.

I'd say LEDs are supreme in this application. The only problem is that the three AA NiMH cells are soldered in and very hard to get to. It's designed to charge them in series using a C/10 charger. In my experience, nickel cells don't last very long with such a charger. They begin to self-discharge faster and faster, so after a year a light may not work if you've left it on the shelf a week after charging. If it were designed to pop in three freshly charged AA cells, it would be ideal.

Motion-detector lights, indoors or out, look like another application where LEDs could be advantageous. Using a motion detector means you don't need to install a switch (in some cases a three-way switch), you don't need to switch the light on, and it won't be left on accidentally. With LEDs, a set of batteries can last years, so you don't need wiring. The LEDs should stand up very will in locations where they will be switched on and off dozens of times each day.

[Mark Lloyd]

I said the LED is USUALLY enough. I don't spend all day sitting on the toiler. As to aiming, the LEDs are bright enough for that.

[Claude Hopper]

I like blueish white lights.

[The Daring Dufas]

But I'm extremely myopic and the more light I have, the greater the depth of field of my view of the world around me which improves my aim. 8~)

TDD

[HeyBub]

Well, phooey. Here's a bunch from an alternate source:

[me]

what brand and model is it?

where did you buy it?

[E Z Peaces]

It's a Vector LED Rechargeable Bright Bar Model WLB26P. Apparently it's part of Black and Decker.

It was a small general store near here.

I see I was mistaken about how long a charge lasts: 4 hours on high (24 LEDs) and 7 hours on low (16 LEDs). When I took it apart, the quality of construction looked good. I suppose I've had it a year, and so far the batteries have always been charged when I needed it. Still, I wish I could modify it so I could keep charged cells in my pocket and put them in when needed.

[SteveB]

I use the little pop lights under some counters in hard to wire spaces. They are ok in a pinch, but I do not like the color of light they put out. I could not imagine using them on large areas. After a while, the light makes me dizzy.

Steve

[Pete C.]

The keys to lighting design in residential areas is controlling glare and keeping the color temperature consistent. With your LED pucks being a very different color temp than the rest of the lighting in the area you have a huge clash. If you use all the same color temp lighting in an area your eyes will readily adjust to it.

[Wayne Boatwright]

On Wed 05 Nov 2008 06:35:33a, [e-mail] told us...

In my neighborhood, it's best to keep the neighbors guessing. :-)

[pheeh.zero]

Why do you take your camera in there? (canon vs cannon) must be a Froidian slip! (women's clothes yet!) Sorry!

[Jim Rusling]

Check out this LED flash light. I bought one and it really throws a beam a long way.