LED Lighting

[Western]

So far I only have them in my boat. One thing is true, they draw very little power, at least on 12vDC. Have none in the house yet, well one little one I use in the deer blind:thumbsup:

This is the lights I want to put on my tractor, fair price for a water proof.

TruckStar DC LED Utility Light — 12 Volt | Work Lights | Northern Tool + Equipment

 

[IslandTractor]

So far I only have them in my boat. One thing is true, they draw very little power, at least on 12vDC. Have none in the house yet, well one little one I use in the deer blind:thumbsup:

This is the lights I want to put on my tractor, fair price for a water proof.

TruckStar DC LED Utility Light 12 Volt | Work Lights | Northern Tool + Equipment

I looked into this a couple of years ago. Problem with the LEDs for tractors is that you don't really benefit from their efficiency as you have plenty of power to run light and yet the LEDs are more expensive.

 

[California]

It's still early in this new technology. None of the bulbs I've received have a UL tag.

I didn't realize less than 400 lumens is pretty much useless. My first LED bulb is now outside the patio door where a little light is sufficient to see wildlife (dimly), and the second went into a multi-bulb frosted overhead fixture where it doesn't contribute much.

LED #3, 3.5 watt 400~480 claimed lumens, replaced a 15 watt CFL in the hall outside the bathroom door. (and 75 watt incandescent long ago). Its light level isn't quite as high as you would want for an occupied room but for there its fine. That light stays on for days when we aren't at home, so its the most important one to reduce consumption.

#4 6 watt 800 "maximum" lumens is fine for the front porch light that can run for hours. Its color is toward cold gray, not so attractive for room lighting.

The next light with 108 LEDs should have been brighter than 81-LED #3. It wasnt. And it faded over its first 100 hours to no output. It was under $7 from ebay. Lets consider that a gamble lost.

#5 that I described at the top of this thread looks like a winner, a real replacement for a 60 watt incandescent or 15 watt CFL.

So far this project is mostly $50 of entertainment. Lets hope it soon accumulates more than that in cost savings,

 

[shanehobson]

I bought 4 x 5w LED bulbs to replace 15w CFLs. Light is much whiter. Lights up instantly which is nice. Paid $NZ25 ea (about $US20). Unfortunately 2 have failed, less than 1 year old. Just waiting to hear back if they will be replaced under warranty. If they hadn't failed I'd be perfectly happy with them and would be buying more. Now I'm waiting to see how the seller treats my warranty claim.

 

[California]

Problem with the LEDs for tractors is that you don't really benefit from their efficiency as you have plenty of power to run light and yet the LEDs are more expensive.

The elderly Yanmars over in the Yanmar forum generally had 15 amp alternators - and the smaller Yanmars don't have room for a standard automotive alternator. I think early Kubota is similar. If you want to add snowplow lights etc I think LED's are a practical solution.

In fact I think the following is the solution one poster was looking for.

This is the lights I want to put on my tractor, fair price for a water proof.

TruckStar DC LED Utility Light 12 Volt | Work Lights | Northern Tool + Equipment

 

[IslandTractor]

I bought 4 x 5w LED bulbs to replace 15w CFLs. Light is much whiter. Lights up instantly which is nice. Paid $NZ25 ea (about $US20). Unfortunately 2 have failed, less than 1 year old. Just waiting to hear back if they will be replaced under warranty. If they hadn't failed I'd be perfectly happy with them and would be buying more. Now I'm waiting to see how the seller treats my warranty claim.

Exactly what I have feared. The failure rate in practice is way different than the hyped two million hours of light marketing BS. I do not doubt that the LEDs themselves last that long but if the rest of the bulb craps out in 20 hours (like half a dozen of my fluorescent bulbs have) then they are not ready for prime time.

 

[IslandTractor]

The elderly Yanmars over in the Yanmar forum generally had 15 amp alternators - and the smaller Yanmars don't have room for a standard automotive alternator. I think early Kubota is similar. If you want to add snowplow lights etc I think LED's are a practical solution.

In fact I think the following is the solution one poster was looking for.

Yeah, I wasn't thinking about older tractors. LEDs would make sense if the alternator doesn't put out at least as much as the lights require. Not an issue though on most modern CUTs.

 

[forgeblast]

I bought a few off ebay. They throw no where near the light some of the others do, but more light from an led means a lot more $$ up front.
Pros I like the clean daylight type light, most of the other lights have an orangie tinge to them, and its not as harsh as some of the CFLs can be. they do last a long time, I wanted them for our ceiling fans in our great room, replacing bulbs at 18' high is not fun.
cons $$. when they come down, and make led's specifically for outdoors ill get them.

 

[SpringHollow]

LED lights are like anything else - there are good ones and bad ones. You should be able to see how much light they put out before you buy them (the number of lumens should be listed on the package). The quality varies a lot. Also, their light is very directional so the reflector design of the bulb is important for spreading out the light if you need flood capability.

We just installed some LED light fixtures that are a flat 8" wide continuous light. It is amazing how nice they look. The design is such that it just looks like about 40' of continuous uniform light. It really is amazing. But I am sure they were not cheap.

Ken

 

[grsthegreat]

I have alot of issues with the claim that they last for decades. I was at a recent manufactures get together at a local supply house, and of the lights on display 2 had issues. One had a few burnt out LED lights on the fixture and one had 1/2 of the led's burnt out. The dealers were chest fallen and tried to explain this as the fact that they travel alot and are on all the time....wait, arnt LEDs supposed to be on 50,000 hours?? thats like 5.7 years. Since these fixtures are only a few months old....sounds kinda fishy to me. When the prices come down, ill try some. But not till then.

Home depot had a LED work light that supposedly is the equiv of a 300 watt light, but it was next to a compact florescent that was also stated to be equiv to 300 watt. The florescent was at least 3 times brighter. I'm really confused as to how they test/rate these. The florescent was $38.00 the LED was $65.00.