DIY Cree Eave Lighting
- Thread starter Mike M
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Think this may be more cost effective instead of a recessed can. I ordered 12 of them:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/MR16-Ceiling-Cabinet-Halogen-LED-Light-Lamp-Fixture-/250914046832
http://www.ebay.com/itm/MR16-Ceiling-Cabinet-Halogen-LED-Light-Lamp-Fixture-/250914046832
Illum
Flashaholic
Before LuxDrive came up with that stuff there's a product called Ducky Electro Seal that essentially does the same thing
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001BW68ES/?tag=cpf0b6-20
thumblessprimate
Newly Enlightened
Hi I just joined the forum. One of my co-workers has eave lights put in recently and inspired me to do something similar. I considered LED lights, searched it in Google and found this thread.
I hope that you guys from here could help me get some light work looking good like that of the OP.
I picked up materials that fmzip bought except for the heat sinks I think and the CREE XR-Es so far. I couldn't find them for a reasonable price. When I did, there was only a limited supply left. I might just have about 10 CREEs on the way. My plan is to have about 30 of them. Instead I might resort to 1/3 of my lights being the 3W CREEs and the rest HEROs either 1W or 3W.
I have some questions below:
1) So I found these 3W HEROs producing 130 lumens. Also some a 1W version that produce light at 70 lumens. I'm wondering whether either would be a good substitute.
2) My house was built in 2006 and has aluminum eaves. Would the eave material be sufficient to act as heat sink?
Thanks in advance everyone.
I hope that you guys from here could help me get some light work looking good like that of the OP.
I picked up materials that fmzip bought except for the heat sinks I think and the CREE XR-Es so far. I couldn't find them for a reasonable price. When I did, there was only a limited supply left. I might just have about 10 CREEs on the way. My plan is to have about 30 of them. Instead I might resort to 1/3 of my lights being the 3W CREEs and the rest HEROs either 1W or 3W.
I have some questions below:
1) So I found these 3W HEROs producing 130 lumens. Also some a 1W version that produce light at 70 lumens. I'm wondering whether either would be a good substitute.
2) My house was built in 2006 and has aluminum eaves. Would the eave material be sufficient to act as heat sink?
Thanks in advance everyone.
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blasterman
Flashlight Enthusiast
- Joined
- Jul 17, 2008
- Messages
- 1,802
Hero is a Chinese site, right? You can get Warm and Neutral Rebel ES's from Steve's LEDs for $2.99.
At 350mA sheet metal Aluminum is fine for XT-Es, XP-Gs and Rebel ES's. It's not thick enough for 700mA, and in that case you'll need an intermediate heat spreader, which is basically a thicker piece of aluminum.
At 350mA sheet metal Aluminum is fine for XT-Es, XP-Gs and Rebel ES's. It's not thick enough for 700mA, and in that case you'll need an intermediate heat spreader, which is basically a thicker piece of aluminum.
thumblessprimate
Newly Enlightened
Thanks!
cdrake261
Enlightened
Looks nice, but had a question....compared to regular light bulbs, how does the warm 3k cree leds compare as in tint?
AnAppleSnail
Flashlight Enthusiast
What is a "regular light bulb?"
Tungsten filament?
Halogen-filled bulb?
CFL? Cold white?
Daylight CFL?
Bright CFL?
Outdoor CFL?
Warm white CFL?
Cold white LED?
"Snow white" LED?
Neutral white LED?
Warm white LED?
Sodium-vapor orange?
3k just about matches an incandescent mag lite, or 60W tungsten bulb. It will be a bit warmer than a well-driven halogen bulb, and look yellow/red next to neutral-white sources. I do not suggest mixing cold and warm white lights, as the change in apparent tints is strange.
Summary: The task lighting I use in my kitchen is 4000K neutral white, which I find to play well with the CFLs I have, along with daylight and food preparation. I chose this because it is a compromise between my 3500K CFLs I get for $0.50 and daylight (5000K) coming in the kitchen windows. It also works with the oven hood light (3000K tungsten filament).
Edit: A camera will exaggerate the color differences under these sources. In theory I could take an HDR-type photo, which expands a picture's dynamic range. This would compress the color range, and if I don't tone-map the photo to recover those tints it would look more like what the human eye perceives. But then it's still specific to my eyes and my computer screen.
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cdrake261
Enlightened
Sorry, should have specified...incandescent or warm CFL is what I'm aiming at. I was going to use XM-L's but the one I sampled is the cool white and it feels weird using it as a light, so I'd suspected that using the warm tint one would be better in my situation.
thumblessprimate
Newly Enlightened
I'm hoping that there will be an update from Mike on his outdoor LED setup. I'm in the midst of have something similar completed. I'm still a little concerned about the lights handling moisture and other outdoor conditions.
A person mentioned using LED sealant. Is that something one would spray on the entire surface of the PCB except for the emitter or would one spray on the the PCB plus the emitter?
I've got some liquid electrical tape lying around the house, is that something that might work as well? I was going to use some to cover any exposed copper wire at the solder joints to prevent oxidation of the metal anyways. Thanks.
A person mentioned using LED sealant. Is that something one would spray on the entire surface of the PCB except for the emitter or would one spray on the the PCB plus the emitter?
I've got some liquid electrical tape lying around the house, is that something that might work as well? I was going to use some to cover any exposed copper wire at the solder joints to prevent oxidation of the metal anyways. Thanks.
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cdrake261
Enlightened
Why xr-e over xm-l?
XP-Gs and XM-L's did not exist when the OP and I did our eave light projects. They run 12+ hours a day (through the evening hours) so they are getting their durability test daily. So far neither of us have had any issues.
cdrake261
Enlightened
I see...if you could do it over again, would you still go with xr-e? Or go with one of the other two? Also, do you have an idea how much it cost you every month to run those for 12 hours a day, all month long?
Illum
Flashaholic
Depends on what, where, and how though. I still use XREs in certain places even though I have on hand XMLs... the high forward voltage is sometimes an advantage if the installation cost prevents the use of a constant current driver. The closer the V+ and Vf is, the LED can often police its own forward current if the duty cycle is short enough.
cdrake261
Enlightened
Interesting...
Illum
Flashaholic
When the led's forward voltage is a tad higher than the input voltage, the LED acts as its own resistor. This is especially useful for accent lighting that was not designed to illuminate spaces but as a functional indicator.
I did a mod for a friend a couple weeks back, making LED drop-ins for his Toyota's courtsey lights. The Ebay bought six 5mm LED dropins were simply not bright enough.
DIY LED Dome/door light driver
Along the way I tested the setup using a Nichia ElaraMoon LED [Vf 3.5V @ 150ma] on a POL DC/DC converter that outputted 3.3V, and found the LED running nicely at ~90ma without a resistor and not increasing in current even as the LED package warms. In the end an XRE was used because at 350ma Vf = 3.3V. Even as the led heats up and the forward voltage decreases, the voltage margin is still around .1-.2V. In such situations, only a tiny bit of added resistance can underdrive the LED and let it stabilize the foward current on its own. For Eave lighting this is not cost effective, but for many indoor lighting siuations [photo lighting, under the counter lighting, night lights, etc.] it is.
I did a mod for a friend a couple weeks back, making LED drop-ins for his Toyota's courtsey lights. The Ebay bought six 5mm LED dropins were simply not bright enough.
DIY LED Dome/door light driver
Along the way I tested the setup using a Nichia ElaraMoon LED [Vf 3.5V @ 150ma] on a POL DC/DC converter that outputted 3.3V, and found the LED running nicely at ~90ma without a resistor and not increasing in current even as the LED package warms. In the end an XRE was used because at 350ma Vf = 3.3V. Even as the led heats up and the forward voltage decreases, the voltage margin is still around .1-.2V. In such situations, only a tiny bit of added resistance can underdrive the LED and let it stabilize the foward current on its own. For Eave lighting this is not cost effective, but for many indoor lighting siuations [photo lighting, under the counter lighting, night lights, etc.] it is.
cdrake261
Enlightened
When the led's forward voltage is a tad higher than the input voltage, the LED acts as its own resistor. This is especially useful for accent lighting that was not designed to illuminate spaces but as a functional indicator.
I did a mod for a friend a couple weeks back, making LED drop-ins for his Toyota's courtsey lights. The Ebay bought six 5mm LED dropins were simply not bright enough.
DIY LED Dome/door light driver
Along the way I tested the setup using a Nichia ElaraMoon LED [Vf 3.5V @ 150ma] on a POL DC/DC converter that outputted 3.3V, and found the LED running nicely at ~90ma without a resistor and not increasing in current even as the LED package warms. In the end an XRE was used because at 350ma Vf = 3.3V. Even as the led heats up and the forward voltage decreases, the voltage margin is still around .1-.2V. In such situations, only a tiny bit of added resistance can underdrive the LED and let it stabilize the foward current on its own. For Eave lighting this is not cost effective, but for many indoor lighting siuations [photo lighting, under the counter lighting, night lights, etc.] it is.
Interesting...so I did learn something today. Not really relating to your topic, but I have managed to direct drive an XM-L with a single Lithium Ion and a resistor. Now, I'm trying to figure out a cost effective way to power 3 or 4 xm-l's as under shelf lighting for my desk that I can dim to several levels of brightness...any ideas? Here's my thread to keep from cluttering up this thread: http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb...im-under-shelf-light-fixture-need-suggestions
