jeff kushner
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Long story first....
A week or so ago, I stated one of the reasons that I prefer LED lighting to halogen bulbs. I noted that while halogen bulbs tend to be very inefficient turning a large percentage of the power into heat energy instead of light energy. Now I find myself wondering if I need to backtrack a little.
I have one of those great big rechargeable flashlights that uses a large 60 watt halogen bulb(same size as our headlights are). It works great and according to the manufacturer, it will throw out over 1100 lumens but my complaint about it has always been the short 15-20 minute use time before it needs to be recharged, even when new. This wasn't a surprise as the manufacturer clearly stated this before I bought it.
So anyway, I decide to see what's out there that uses LED bulbs. I already have a half dozen of those little triple AAA battery types and they are fine for a dollar but I wanted a bigger one that I can use in ambient lighting and it will still light things up.
I thought that the run time should be greatly increased since LEDs are much more efficient. I found & bought a kickass flashlight that contains 10 -XML T6 led bulbs. It's powered by four 3.7Volt #18650 lithium batteries( if you took a AAA battery and lay it next to a AA battery, then lay one of these...this would be like the next size up from the AA....11/16" x 2-5/8"). The entire light is approx. 6" tall by 2" diameter, made of 6010 aluminum and weighs about a pound or so and according to the manufacturer, it will throw out over 30,000 lumens! This thing is really every bit as bright as one of my headlights! Holy crap!
I charged up the four batteries then turned on the light to measure how long it would stay lit. After 45 minutes, it was still nice and bright, not full power but a nice solid increase in run time.
THEN I went to pick it up and it was HOT! Not quite too hot to handle but darn close. I was really surprised that it produced so much heat. Put another way.....if you were out in the cold weather and didn't have any hand warmers to slip into your gloves....this thing would hook you up for hours.
Now to the point finally....was I wrong about the heat potential of LED's or is the heat being generated by the circuitry inside the light?
jeff
A week or so ago, I stated one of the reasons that I prefer LED lighting to halogen bulbs. I noted that while halogen bulbs tend to be very inefficient turning a large percentage of the power into heat energy instead of light energy. Now I find myself wondering if I need to backtrack a little.
I have one of those great big rechargeable flashlights that uses a large 60 watt halogen bulb(same size as our headlights are). It works great and according to the manufacturer, it will throw out over 1100 lumens but my complaint about it has always been the short 15-20 minute use time before it needs to be recharged, even when new. This wasn't a surprise as the manufacturer clearly stated this before I bought it.
So anyway, I decide to see what's out there that uses LED bulbs. I already have a half dozen of those little triple AAA battery types and they are fine for a dollar but I wanted a bigger one that I can use in ambient lighting and it will still light things up.
I thought that the run time should be greatly increased since LEDs are much more efficient. I found & bought a kickass flashlight that contains 10 -XML T6 led bulbs. It's powered by four 3.7Volt #18650 lithium batteries( if you took a AAA battery and lay it next to a AA battery, then lay one of these...this would be like the next size up from the AA....11/16" x 2-5/8"). The entire light is approx. 6" tall by 2" diameter, made of 6010 aluminum and weighs about a pound or so and according to the manufacturer, it will throw out over 30,000 lumens! This thing is really every bit as bright as one of my headlights! Holy crap!
I charged up the four batteries then turned on the light to measure how long it would stay lit. After 45 minutes, it was still nice and bright, not full power but a nice solid increase in run time.
THEN I went to pick it up and it was HOT! Not quite too hot to handle but darn close. I was really surprised that it produced so much heat. Put another way.....if you were out in the cold weather and didn't have any hand warmers to slip into your gloves....this thing would hook you up for hours.
Now to the point finally....was I wrong about the heat potential of LED's or is the heat being generated by the circuitry inside the light?
jeff
