It's time for LED home lighting!

Erasmus

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Hi folks!

The efficiency of the new Cree XR-E LEDs exceeds all those of common home lighting (incandescent, halogen, fluorescent lamps) so I think it's time for LEDs to make their entry in this world. Plus these new Cree LEDs have a beam angle of 75°, which is ideal for this kind of lighting. Last week I started thinking about a reading lamp with XR-E's and I started drawing. I found someone on this forum who could possibly make the heatsink I wanted, so I started drawing and calculating. Today I finished the sketches and I was satisfied of the result :)

I have designed a reading lamp to mount on a Locline flexible stalk (http://www.locline.com/) the screw thread of the Locline connector can be directly screwed into the bottom of the heatsink, through which the wires come. The lamp contains 4 Cree XR-E LEDs which are directly mounted to the heatsink. There is also space for a 28.8mm lens (available from Flashlightlens.com). Diameter of the light is 38.8mm and the length is 70mm (needed for proper heatsinking of the LEDs). I will mount the XR-E's from my own sale (P4 flux bin, WH tint, very nice warm white tint and suitable for reading light). This lamp will consume around 4.4W and have a typical flux of 336 lumen which makes an efficiency of 76 lumen/W. Output will be comparable to a 30W incandescent lamp.

This afternoon I found the free 3D-drawing programme Sketchup (http://www.sketchup.com/) and I started experimenting with it. I just finished the drawing and it looks a lot better than my handmade sketches :)

Here's the result :

Sideview compared to the Cree LED :
1.jpg


Rounded edges on top :
2.jpg


A look at the naked heatsink/lamp :
3.jpg


Top view :
4.jpg


Who's peeping out there?
5.jpg


4 Cree XR-E's!
6.jpg


Top view of these little *******s :
7.jpg


Small surface for the lens to sit on (I'll buy a 28.8mm diffused lens from flashlightlens.com for this) :
8.jpg


Close-up inside the lamp :
9.jpg


This is the first time in my life I used a 3D drawing software, so forgive me if everything isn't as smooth as it should be. Yet all dimensions are 100% correct.

Is anyone able to make this heatsink for me? Made from a solid piece of aluminium is fine :)

Cheers,
Erasmus.
 
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Erasmus

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The center is only 7mm x 7mm and the emitter is 7mm x 9mm. You can put 1, 2 (opposite each other), 3 (in an angle of 60°) or 4 (will fit right in) emitters in the lamp :) In the center is a hole for the wires.

By the way, when designing the heatsink I have taken into account that there are a positive and negative path between the thermal path under the LED. The positive nor the negative path will touch the heatsink.
 
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Erasmus

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I found someone to make one for me :) He just wants to make 1 prototype for me, so far no big production.

Anyone who's interested can download the Sketchup files from this site. Sketchup is free to download if you don't have it :)
 

Erasmus

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Thanks for your nice comments :) Here a picture of the lamp with a diffuse lens installed :
10.jpg


Diameter of the light is 38.8mm or ~1.53".
 

jch79

**Do Not Feed The Vegan**,
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On the asphalt.
McGizmo has a huge page somewhere on his website :shrug: :thinking: about his home lighting setup... although I can't remember where it is now!
Nice work!
john
 

AndyTiedye

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Santa Cruz Mountains
I'd like to see this! We have CF's all over the house, and would happily replace them
with something that was more reliable, more efficient, and puts out a better color of light!

Our electric rates here are high and go higher the more electricity we use,
so there is a strong incentive to conserve!
 

Brum

Newly Enlightened
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Nov 10, 2006
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NL
Nice!

But a what current are you gonna drives those Cree's. It better not be any more then 20mA, otherwise you'd be blinded! Very, very nice!
 

chesterqw

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singapore,jurong
ROFL. 20ma and you will lose your night vision capabilities!

1A< and you are going to need some very good sunglasses.
 

McGizmo

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Erasmus,
Here is my living room lit with Cree XR-E LED's:

LED-Lighting.jpg


Kitchen behind living room is lit with U bin Luxeon III's. I still use and believe in the small Nichia 3 mm LED's but I agree that the new high power LED's can step in and handle brighter lighting jobs. The fixture below the ceiling fan in the pic above has 28 XR-E LED's on it.
 

MikeSalt

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Stoke On Trent, Staffordshire, UK
The only problem is that LEDs have a high colour temperature, which can make things look cold. Typically, incandescent light gives out a 'warmer' feel. If colour temperature could be adjusted, then it would be ideal.
 
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