Ask me anything you want about LED lighting. LED professional inside

[flashy_mcflash]

Can you recommend some specific sellers or brands in the Toronto area for this stuff? Or even somewhere that'd ship to Toronto would be fine. I really want to convert all my basement potlights into LED but feel a bit lost in the woods if the stuff at the major hardware stores seem to be crap.

e: if you don't want to post your own company you could PM me, but I don't think it'd be considered spam if you posted it here.

[sspikey]

sspikey,

you mentioned garage lighting, what do you have in your's? What's the price comparison/premium compared to fluorescent's?

I need more light, currently 2*60W + 100W incandescent results in too many shadows for working on the car. I was thinking of putting in 5 pairs of 48" t5/t8's.

Does your co sell to the homeowner? (please send via pm if possible)


THanks,

Hi,
I dont really sell to house owners etc. Most of the batches I sell are quite a bit bigger. As I said we manufacture and design not really retail. We have a few distributors I could point you to though by pm.

Regarding lights. I am a car fanatic too (7 years racing experience on track with another year co-driving a rally prepped subaru) so I understand the issue with lighting!

LED T8 tubes would deffinately be the way to go for space saving and light angles. The ultimate setup (although a little costly) would be two T8 tubes run in sequence on the side of the car (think -....- where the - are the tubes) along with two stacked in front and finally two double housings on top. Of course, One trusty LED work light on a tripod would round off the mix and be absolutely perfect for specific on car work (run switches to each side so you dont have 500 watts blaring you down at any given time! Try to find something around the 45K hour rating and look at the power factor! Stick to something higher than .85 not because it makes a difference in billing but shows quality parts! You should be paying at retail level I would say roughly 65-75$ per tube for good quality.

[sspikey]

Is it reasonable based on today's technology to install LED lights in the kitchen ceiling (instead of regular pot lights)? We're re-doing our kitchen next summer and the idea of LED lights is kind of cool. If yes, what brand should I be looking at? Since it's a new build, I don't mind spending a bit more money, especially if the bulbs last a while. How much would I have to spend for say 8 bulbs and their housing?

TIA

I always caution home owners on using LED products as the return on investment is still not attractive enough for a house running 5-6 hours of lighting a day.

One example I could give you is an MR16 (common kitchen pot light). We will be nice and say they are lasting roughly 2500 hours (I am being nice trust me especially in a kitchen with all the oil residue from cooking in the air etc)

LED bulbs in our case last roughly 45000 hours that mean over the economic life of the bulb you would have to change 18 MR16 regular bulbs

At a cost of about 3$(cheap again!) thats 54$ saved. A good quality LED MR 16 will be about 30$ so sure there are savings there but not much yet! the biggest savings component for LED bulbs is in the energy!

When you consider I can power the same 20-25W MR16 with a 4-5W led. You see I can consumer 1/5 the power as before.

How much exactly?
Assuming 7 hours running time a day for the bulb over 365 days a year at a cost of .1344$ per kilowatt (look at ur hydro bill I bet youre around there) You would be saving 55$ over 8 years on each bulb (the bigger the project the better this sounds). So there you have it! These are the numbers. There good but the quantum leap in LED quality you will be seeing in 3-6 months will blow you away.

So whats with all this fancy numbers you just want an answer right?

Hold off for now! Be patient and I am willing to bet what I call industrial grade today in 6 months to a year will be standard household quality! One thing is for sure there is a very good chance that by the time you do install your kitchen the new generation will be out and it is extremely impressive, cheaper and overall where I want to see the numbers for home owners to be!

Feel free to ask me further questions once you shop around and get quotes. LED lighting is one of those things that can be an absolute nightmare if you get a bad product. I would love to use your kitchen as an example of buyer pitfalls (I have an LED training program I visit my suppliers with to train them in LED lighitng and selling the stuff as most people are clueless on it) in exchange you get great and free advice if the boss agrees!

[sspikey]

Can you recommend some specific sellers or brands in the Toronto area for this stuff? Or even somewhere that'd ship to Toronto would be fine. I really want to convert all my basement potlights into LED but feel a bit lost in the woods if the stuff at the major hardware stores seem to be crap.

e: if you don't want to post your own company you could PM me, but I don't think it'd be considered spam if you posted it here.

Hey Flashy,
Care to tell me what you have in there right now? Par30? Par38? MR16? GU10? How many?

Heck post a picture and ill give you a good recommendation!

[jijy]

Hi,

I am in the middle of a kitchen reno and am considering under cabinet lighting. LED under cabinet lighting is way too expensive when compared to Xenon or Fluorescent (t5). I am concerned about the high heat factor with Xenon.

Could you please advise me on:

1) Is it worth getting the LED lights now or go with fluorescent for now and change them after 2 years time; hoping that LED pricing and quality will be much better by then?
2) If I am to go with LED, which is better - LED modular or LED direct wire?
3) If I have to pre-wire for modular (12V or 24V), what type of wire should I use?
4) Could you recommend any brands like Kichler, Alico, Sea Gull, Environmental LED etc? (you may PM me)

Thanks a lot in advance.

[akmeikle]

I'm looking at putting in overhead lighting for our family room

15' x 10' area and I was considering something like

http://www.homedepot.ca/product/19-l...shmount/972654

What would be an LED equivalent to this?

Can you even get LED ceiling lights like this (as opposed to pot lights)

Alistair

[adil88]

So I'm getting pot lights installed in my house. Want to go with LED instead of halogen but there seems to be one problem. When I turn on the light there is a loud noise. Installer is telling me it might be problem with transmitter and it won't happen with halogen. The room is empty right now as we getting hardwood installed too but I still think a sound would be present even when the room is filled furniture. Any solution and help will be appreciated.

[marc_t]

1. The bridge component that is on some PCBs to make them accept AC and DC, does it make a LED dimmable as well?

2. What's the place to buy the best LEDs ?

[escapehatch]

Hi,

What would you recommend as a replacement for standard, 60 watt "cool white" incandescent bulbs, to be used in living room sconces and dining room chandelier? They must be dimmable.

I purchased the Sunbeam LEDs you rightly described as "garbage". Terrible!

If this is not possible, where can I get good quality incandescent bulbs? The ones I have burn out too quickly.

Thanks.

[BinaryJay]

I think it's too soon to start switching to LED given that they are still maturing at a rapid pace. Maybe in 5 years they will be at the point where the cost and performance makes the value proposition of switching for high use lights reasonable. Right now you'll never get the return on your investment. Remember that these LED lighting products for residential use have only recently started popping up as readily available alternatives in the hardware stores. They are kind of like hybrid cars, they're more of a statement than they are a money saving tool for most people.

I am considering looking for replacing CFLs in high use floor lamps with LEDs for the simple fact that these are the most likely to get knocked over and broken but I still can't bring myself to pay $30 for a bulb that won't even match in light quality.

[mattpiloto]

I am considering looking for replacing CFLs in high use floor lamps with LEDs for the simple fact that these are the most likely to get knocked over and broken but I still can't bring myself to pay $30 for a bulb that won't even match in light quality.

I've bought a couple of the phillips ones from home depot and the light they put out is exactly the same as incandescents. They are still $30 though.

[Calmuser]

what do you think of these:

http://store.earthled.com/products/l...placement-tube

[Techhead]

sspikey???? You out there???

Last response from ya was mid Dec.

What's a decent LED modular under counter light?

I currently have the 3 puck Xenon, that tends to burn out lamps in under 3 months. I quit buying bulbs and now am down to just one puck working.
The warden is bugging me to replace the pucks with a new set.
I've seen strip LED's at HomeDepot but at $20/ft, that can get a bit pricey.

[DKaz]

I purchased the Sunbeam 4W chandelier LEDs for my dining room. No complaints here. It's a cool white colour but somehow I think it's a nice colour, not offensive just nice and modern in my older home. My dad has then in the kitchen of his newer home over the island, also looks pretty nice there. You just have to understand the limitations of these bulbs. They're pointed up and whatever is reflected back down scatters quite evenly.

I also have the Philips bulb that looks yellow when turned off, it's a great general purpose light, purchased for $15 each through BC Hydro's Power Smart program. I know these things are expensive so I'm not falling over myself to replace every single light but I have effectively banned any new CFLs from being brought into my house because I don't want to potentially expose my kids to mercury. I already unwillingly exposed myself numerous times to broken CFL bulbs when I did not know there were any dangers to them.