Low Cost LED Bulb Plus 12 volt Power Pack=Multiday Lighting

[connecticut_yankee]

Too... many... lights... but... can't... resist... efficient... lumens...

[raptor]

I thought I would bump this thread for an update and to show some of the new members a simple alternative area lighting system. It is much preferable to any type of lantern for lighting a room.

An update on the Wallyworld LED bulbs. All have failed well short of their rated time however as I mentioned up front the cost was low, the light output was good and the power consumed was as stated. The lifespan of about 3,000 hours is still decent.

Wallyworld has stopped stocking the Lights of America brand bulbs and switched to FEIT brand. The FEIT $7 in my area vs. the $5 which is still a bargain. I have had quality issues with Lights of America products in the past. IMO FEIT is higher quality producer. The 3 FEIT bulbs I bought at Wallyworld to replace the 3 LOA bulbs have run over 4,320 hours without a failure. They are on 24/7 which may extend their life since they is no on/off.

Just a quick update on this I have run these bulbs about 5,640 hours with no end in sight for them.

Just a quick update these bulbs have been running about 8,000 hours (24/7 no cycling) and are still going strong.

[Sckitzo]

Very interesting set up, I like this idea a lot! I wonder if there would be a way to hook a solar panel I acquired to this system to charge the jumper pack?

[raptor]

Very interesting set up, I like this idea a lot! I wonder if there would be a way to hook a solar panel I acquired to this system to charge the jumper pack?

It would be very easy to hook up any kind of charger. This has clamps on the cable ends to hook up to a car battery. Just attach the solar panel there. You should route the power through a voltage regulator, but it should work fine.

[Xale D]

A couple of notes from a sometimes lighting guy:

The lamp life you see published for light bulbs is the Median Life. That means half of all lamps fail before that point and half fail after it. It's not an average. This drives many of us in the lighting biz batshit.

With Phillips buying ColorKinetics a few years ago, they bought a VERY impressive patent portfolio as well as some of the leading researchers in solid state lighting. This has allowed them to leap to the front of the pack for LED producers in very short order. It also means that LED research got a MAJOR influx of research money, since the world is regulating incandescent lights out of popular use, and several countries moving to restrict fluorescents because of the headaches caused by setting up safe/proper disposal methods, LEDs are the light source of the future.

The biggest issue with their production it the need for several rare earth elements, most of which are found in a Chinese mountain range, and also used for things like cellphones and TVs. Now, this concern may be mitigated by the recent discovery of high concentrations of those rare earth elements off the coast of Japan, in the Pacific. Now we just need more efficient deep sea mining methods to extract them...

Nothing is easy anymore, not even changing a lightbulb.

[doitnstyle1]

Do you have a bar code for that bulb? I want to see if I can find it online cause I can't find it at the local Wally World.

[raptor]

I do not have a barcode for that light bulb but this site has it listed as UPC number of 0-17801 20801-6. If you look at this site they have other types of LED bulbs.

http://www.feit.com/feit_led_accent.html

I just bought this at Wallyworld today for $6.87. 150 lumens, 2 watts and a regular edison base.







It is much brighter than the bulb I used in the OP and significantly higher quality to boot. The power consumption per my test meter is around 2 watts. The light output appears to be roughly equal to a 7 watt CFL. It is brighter than a 5 watt CFL.

[PsycoBob]

In my BOV/camper build, I needed to redo the lights. I ended up with a pair of LED flexible strips wired in series to work on my 24v batteries. "Warm White 5M 600 LED 3528 SMD Strip Light Waterproof"
500+ lumens per meter, cut to length (~4m each) & sealed to the ceiling with clear silicone sealant. They draw only a couple of amps at 24v & make the same light as 3+ 100w incandescent lamps. Total cost was about $70, including fast-cure silicone, with some of the strips left over for future use. Nice, diffuse light with no shadows, with a comfortable 'halogen' color.

[raptor]

In my BOV/camper build, I needed to redo the lights. I ended up with a pair of LED flexible strips wired in series to work on my 24v batteries. "Warm White 5M 600 LED 3528 SMD Strip Light Waterproof"

Can you post a link to the product?

[raptor]

Welcome to the forum. When you get a chance please go to the introduction thread and introduce yourself.

[PsycoBob]

Yep- If the eBay link dies from age, just drop the stuff in quotes above into an eBay search to find similar stuff. Suck part about older posts and eBay- people always seem to say nothing specific enough about wtf the expired eBay link was...

http://www.ebay.com/itm/320755492159?ss ... 882wt_1164

http://stores.ebay.com/FactoryKiss/LED- ... 34.c0.m322

[dca2]

Just a quick note about the OP - the inverter will use precious amps. Why not go with a direct 12v led setup? We have wired lights from http://www.oznium.com/high-intensity-led-floodlight with great results on a porch. They are hooked up to an old laptop power supply brick (12v). Think car battery, solar charger, alarm backup battery etc. I also have some other styles in my boat and camper.

Excellent customer service, fast shipping, etc. and NO I don't work for them!

Dave

[raptor]

Just a quick note about the OP - the inverter will use precious amps. Why not go with a direct 12v led setup?

Welcome to the forum Dave! When you get a chance please go to the introduction thread and introduce yourself.

The 12 volt question was answered in this post.

raptor: My question is have you ever thought about taking the inverter out of the equation and using 12v LEDs?

For example: Sunmia 1W 12V DC Round Frosted LED Bulb
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Sunmia-1W-12V ... u=14472553

Yes I have. A 12 volt fixture would eliminate the inefficiency of an inverter converting DC to AC (and the bulb then converting AC back to DC again) and would reduce power draw.

However, for this write up I wanted a standard 120 volt AC household bulb. 12 volt LED bulbs are available in marine and RV stores and do tend cost a bit more. Also the light fixture plug would have to be changed to a cigarette lighter plug limiting the light to this purpose only.

On the other hand with the inverter you can simply use a standard house lamp with these bulbs and all of the components can be used for other day to day purposes. It is simpler for people with little technical expertise to simply plug in a standard household lamp to the inverter.

[raptor]

I do not have a barcode for that light bulb but this site has it listed as UPC number of 0-17801 20801-6. If you look at this site they have other types of LED bulbs.

http://www.feit.com/feit_led_accent.html

I just bought this at Wallyworld today for $6.87. 150 lumens, 2 watts and a regular edison base.







It is much brighter than the bulb I used in the OP and significantly higher quality to boot. The power consumption per my test meter is around 2 watts. The light output appears to be roughly equal to a 7 watt CFL. It is brighter than a 5 watt CFL.

A quick update on the long term test of these bulbs.

I put 3 of these in three different environments on the same circuit as 7 watt CFL as a control. All come from WalMart

Environment 1:
Outdoors in a weather protected position inside a fixture open at the bottom. This light goes on at dusk and stays on until light (say about 10 hours per 24 day). Temperature swings and moisture in this area coupled with debris are the main challenges for this area.

Environment 2:
Inside an interior stairwell. The lights stay on 24/7. This use is very clearly well served by either a CFL or an LED. The climate control and lack of cycling on this circuit always results in a long life for any bulb on the circuit. Lower electrical costs will dictate LED assuming the life promised is at least equal to the CFL.

Environment 3:
A room where the lights are turned on and off several times per day with the "on" portion for about 10 minutes per cycle. So a lot of cycling but little "on time". Say an average of 10 to 15 cycles per day and maybe 100 minutes of on time.

This use generally is a poor candidate for CFL since the bulb life is shortened by all of the cycling. Potential cost savings calculations of LED must include the cost of any replacement CFL. Note due to short duration of use and lower cost of incandescent bulbs this use may be better served by an incandescent bulb.


Results to date 127 days in:

Area 1:
No issues. The winter was mild but on cold nights the CFL appeared slightly dimmer that the LED. light output was still adequate. Run time 127 days = approx 1270 hours.

Area 2:
No issues. Run time 127 days 24/7 = approx 3,048 hours
Watt savings thus far LED vs. CFL (5*24*127 =15,240 watts) or 15.24 KwH * $.12KwH = $1.83
Hours to Break Even on cost differential between CFL and LED (8,366 - 3048) = 5,318 hours or 222 days.

Area 3:
CFL failure occurred day 127. No issues with LED. CFL replaced. Two new incandescent bulbs were added to this test at the same time as the new CFL.
[/quote]


Edited to add an update

I have not updated this in a while so I check these records.

Area 1 - No significant difference between the test subjects - total estimated run time to date is 3,800 hours.

Area 2 - No significant difference between the test subjects - total estimated run time to date is 9,096 hours. This is approaching the maximum life of the CFL @ 10,000 hours but bulbs in these fixture since they remain on tend to last a longer time.

Area 3 - The original LED is still working as is the replacement CFL, one incandescent bulb was replaced.

[Murph]

Bump, because I wish I really had one of these setups the past 20 hours.

Anyone know good packs to use?

[raptor]

I was in NAPA today. They have decent one on sale here for $40.00. Honestly the ones I have all last about 5 years. Just look for the ones without the built in air pump to keep the cost/weight down.

They are all about the same.

[WhoShotJR]

Look at the Clore Jump N Carry line, it's good quality. Just look at each one carefully as some can only be charged with 120v.

[majorhavoc]

Very topical for about 3.5 million people in the mid Atlantic states of the US about now. This thread is giving me some groovy ideas for additional uses for that 900 amp 12 volt jumpstarter I just invested in. Things that make you go hmm..........

[raptor]

BTW I used the clamp light but a floor or table lamp works just as well. Just plug the lamp into the inverter and you have light. Just pay attention to the light bulb. A 60 watt incandescent bulb will go through the battery in about an hour, where as a 13 watt CFL will last many hours while producing as much light.

That and remember cold cranking amps (common size measure on these devices) does not translate into battery amp hours. These are two different measures of capacity.

[raptor]

Although slightly out of scope but still relevant to the thread is the out door battery operated light.

I installed one of these near my trash cans since there is not power in the area. I previously installed solar powered spot lights which worked ok for about 3 years. I had to replace the batteries but the light out put was never at a level I was happy about. It was too dim especially around 10pm when I bring the trash out to the curb.]

I bought this even though it as not solar powered but rather uses 4 c cell batteries. I reasoned that the batteries should last at least a year since it goes on only when needed about 3 times a week. The cost of 4 c cells is about equal to the replacement batteries I needed for the LED solar powered lamps after a year and the overall cost was about equal to the solar powered units. I have been pleasantly surprised by the brightness about equal to 2 minmag lights so more than bright enough. It turns on quickly and goes off quickly after I leave the detection zone.

Time will tell how weather proof it is but I can see a lot of uses for lights like this in a power out situation.



Source at Lowes.
http://www.lowes.com/pd_231039-1390-GU8 ... Id=3371528


Edited to add:

As soon as the weather turned cold these lights stopped functioning. Avoid this light...ignore the above recommendation.

[survivaljoe]

Saved.

[Blacksmith]

Over the last few months I have been able to acquire several LED floods at Lowes for under $10 on markdown. I installed these in exterior floods and have no issues. I don't use the outside floods much but likely would use them more if it cost less to run them.

Also last summer Lowes marked a number of LED fixtures down to 75% off and I bought as many as I thought I would need to finish the basement and shelter. I figure my lighting for the basement and shelter will cost under 200 watts for about 2200 sqft of living space (when fully lit).

[Rednex]

Not to go to far off topic. I use the same jumper pack as Raptor but i hook up a 12 volt utility pump to it as a back up sump pump.

link to pump http://www.harborfreight.com/12-volt-ma ... 94639.html.

I just use an old water supply line for a washing machine to dip into the sump pit. Then a garden hose from pump to a window i do place an ball vavle between the pump and garden hose so after i pump the pit out i shut off the vavle so water dont come back into the pit.

[TCC]

I will definatly be trying this as soon as I can afford a battery jumper. I already have the LED bulbs!