Custom made LED Flood lights for my house

[mds82]

Hi All,

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?...1&l=986226064a

So i have been working on this project for a while and wanted to share with everyone. As a new homowner i needed to get lights in the back of the house. i decided it was the least expensive and most benificial to make my own. So far there are 2( out of 3) mounted high up on the house, and a different one mounted under the overhang by the patio area. Here is how i made them:

2x Top flood lights:
- 24 inch long 3inx3inx3in aluminum C-channel
- 15 Cree XT-E 4500k 80+cri R5 bin LED's
- Recom RACD60-1050/IP67 LED Driver
- strip of reflective metal stovepipe/furmace pipe similar to this: http://images.orgill.com/200x200/0553073.JPG
- Lexan clear cover
The 15 LED's are spaced out 1 inch apart, with the stovepipe having cutouts every 1 inch to go around the LED's. the stovepiope works as a reflector to help shoot the light

Patio light:
- 8 Foot u-Channel, 2inx 1in high
- 15 Cree XT-E 4500k 80+cri R5 bin LED's
- Recom RACD60-1050/IP67 LED Driver
- Lexan cover
For this the 15 LED's are evenly spaced along the 8foot piece and the light shoots up as the white soffit to diffuse the light.


Thoughts???

[idleprocess]

That is an impressive amount of light assuming that the camera's representation is close to how it's perceived by the eye. The use of polished stovepipe as a reflector is also creative - should greatly increase the forward intensity.

Don't want to rain on your parade, but the following came to mind:
Assuming that only the exterior surfaces on the yard lights are acting as radiating surfaces, you've got about 14 square inches of surface area per LED. Not sure what kind of power you're running the LED's at (assuming 3.3V @ 1000mA, you're just below 50W), but that might be on the low side for passive heatsinking - I seem to recall that 10 or 12 square inches per watt is a common recommendation for passive heatsinking. Your other fixture is doing better at around 25.6 square inches per LED - assuming only exterior surfaces are radiating.

[mds82]

Thansk for the feedback about the surface area. I did let this run for about 30-40 minutes and the surface of the metal was still relatively cool to the touch. The heat was my first concern and i can always add a strip of aluminum fins on the back to help with the cooling as well. I'll let it run for an hour or so and go take a temp reading to verify the temps are not getting too warm. Thanks!

[Blazin_Jason]

Looks nice and bright to me! But no pics of the actual lights

[mds82]

I'll get some soon

[purduephotog]

Thansk for the feedback about the surface area. I did let this run for about 30-40 minutes and the surface of the metal was still relatively cool to the touch. The heat was my first concern and i can always add a strip of aluminum fins on the back to help with the cooling as well. I'll let it run for an hour or so and go take a temp reading to verify the temps are not getting too warm. Thanks!

That, unfortunately, means nothing really. You need to measure the temperature of the diode itself- so if you have a DMM with a temp probe, tape it to one of the LEDs or get a non-contact IR thermometer and blacken one of the areas next to the star in order to measure the temp easier.

In the end, it's just lifetime

[thumblessprimate]

I like the illumenating effect of the lights. I'll await the durability results. Let's see some pictures of the build when you get a chance to post them. If everything is good, I build something like yours. I got to blind and deter any thieves who may try to climb my backyard fence.