Finally bought some LED bulbs

Re: Finally bought some LED bulbs

Electric company didn't send me anything except bills.

However, my insurance company gave me free water detectors and nice hoses for washer and drier. They said it's cheaper than paying huge flood claims. Very nice of them.

Re: Finally bought some LED bulbs

niel wrote: »

very nice of them and smart too. were they the type with the flexible metal braid as those last? i gave up on those cheaper ones as they burst more often than i care for. flooded my basement once when i wasn't home as my basement drain had gotten clogged. that was something to come home to.

Yes they were braided, and long too. Very nice hoses. The guy told us that the rubber hoses burst all the time.

Re: Finally bought some LED bulbs

i don't remember what my pressure was back then for sure, but i think it was around 100lbs. i now have a regulator in place set to about 55lbs. i did have a regulator blow out on me once due to extreme pressure coming in (saw >150lbs and heard a water hammer to beat all) and when i called the water company they had a prerecorded message that said they blew out the lines of sediment in my area. i chewed them a new one even though they did not offer to replace my regulator. i'm lucky my other items did not pop like boiler and hot water tank.

solarvic,
they pretty much just fail at any pressure i believe as they just get old. if your hoses are 5yrs old now then invest in the metal braided hoses.

Re: Finally bought some LED bulbs

Cariboocoot wrote: »

... Oh and a couple of solar-powered LED lamps that mark the dog-walking trail. They don't always get enough sun to charge, but when they do they work fine.

Many of those solar-charged led lights come with pretty crappy AA nimh cells. One option is to replace them with "low self discharge" like AA Sanyo Eneloops. The biggest improvement is that they have very low internal resistance, so charging is more efficient, and have a higher voltage during the discharge cycle. There are others out there that are LSD as well, and can sometimes be seen as "precharged".

Even though they are pre-charged, one should use a smart charger to charge them up fully, and then put them into the lights. Most manufacturers only charge them up to about 70% SOC. Beware of new-old stock and get them from reputable dealers.

These last longer, but still may not make it through a full night depending of course on how much insolation you have. I typically do a full charge with a smart charger on them once a year to keep them healthy.

Although not a critical application for sure, us AA battery geeks put them at the top of the list when it comes to AA rechargeables.

Re: Finally bought some LED bulbs

Some early feedback on Home Depot 'Cree' LED bulbs for 6watt (40w equiv) and 9.5 watt (60w equiv) bulbs.

Generally they have performed well so far. The 9.5 watts (60w equiv) are more efficient in lumens per watt then the 6 watt (40w equiv). These are soft white (2700k) color temps. If you can stand the harsh cool white (4500k) day light bulbs they take about 9.0 watts for same lumens per watt.

The power factor is very good in the 0.97 to 0.99 range. Never before seen that high a PF reading.

Only downside I have found is the glass dome is very thin glass with a sticky feel polymer coating that is glued into the heat sink base. I had one dome come off with moderately light torque while screwing the bulb into the socket. You should use in a setting that allows some air flow across the heat sink at the base.

You can buy in a six pack bundle on-line for about $10/bulb. Home Depot encloses a UPS return label if anything you receive needs to be returned which is a nice touch.

I'd recommend LED's over CFL for locations like bathrooms that are subjected to a lot of ON-OFF cycles which CFL are stressed with reducing their lifespan.

Re: Finally bought some LED bulbs

Received 3x3 = 9W GU10 light bulbs. They look dim to me compare to 50W halogen bulbs, and the color is not as warm. But they only consume 3W each. Imagine that. 9W bulbs cosume only 3W of power. That's some sort of Chinese miracle. They do dim, but do not dim enough for my liking. Anyway, decided to keep them. Looks like they provide enough light for the purpose. Good buy at $40 for 10 bulbs.

Re: Finally bought some LED bulbs

niel wrote: »

part of the problem is also insufficient panel output to charge the batteries year round. those smaller batteries might've done ok with more charge power to them. a higher ah quality aa i would hesitate to place into a solar light as it will not receive a proper charge especially during the winter.

Neil, that's exactly what I am doing with several of my solar powered spot lights. About 3 years ago I bought a couple of these on amazon and they all died within 6 months. Basically, the 2.5w? panel was no match for the battery bank inside. I say battery bank because it was basically five cheap 1.2v C CELLs re-chargables wired together = 6v

What I've done is replace the 6v halogen bulb with an LED equiv. I am now thinking of replacing the dead C-cell bank with five rechargable AA's. Basically, I cut down on consumption, and reduced the ah's to match the panel size. Hopefully it'll bring these back.

On another note, like Wayne I have LED's throughout most of our house. At 55 cent grid electricity, LED's should be a good long term investment for us. Mainly we use GU10's spots which I can direct more accurately. I find the LED E27's (the ones usually with weird coverings that are supposed to replace a 'normal' bulb), either too expensive (see the Phillips one) or not as bright. I tested many GU10's until I found the best one on Amazon UK (shipped 30 of them).

Another thing we do, which is a hold over from our 8 months of no electricity before Solar, is to use lots of those AA LED motion detector lights in areas like the bathroom & kitchen. Sometimes in the middle of the night you just want a dim light to guide you - and to not have to worry about finding the switch. It cuts down on nightly draw down as well.

Another thing left over from those caveman-like months is glow in the dark tape. I put small 1 inch sections of this tape in specific areas around the house that would allow me to move around safely in the complete dark. I put the tape on light switches (to find them but also to use them as reference points), on walls, on a couple of dining room chairs, on tables, on the fridge. After a while I realized that we were almost fully functional at night in a house without any electricity, solar or otherwise. Just like the old days, eh?
SP