Home LED lights

[hank]

I'll drop in here the lights I am seeing more of that could be either flashlights or house lights -- my hunch is that in five years we'll be able to sit reading a book, get up, pick up the reading lamp and disconnect it from home power, reconfigure it as a flashlight, walk somewhere, reconfigure it as a flat light sheet to illuminate a yard or outdoor space from its stored power --- or read the Internet by making it a flexible display.

So, if nowhere else, maybe I can put the lights here that look to me already to overlap portable and indoor uses -- and invite people to imagine a near future with, you know, brighter and more flexible stuff .

http://www.lumileds.com/products/family.cfm?familyId=5
http://www.moreleds.com/line.htm
http://www.lumileds.com/products/family.cfm?familyId=4
http://www.lumileds.com/products/line.cfm?lineId=12

Edit: adding
http://ledmuseum.candlepower.us/fifth/rlbulbs.htm
review of http://www.berkeleyreclaimedlight.com/
(site under construction, see Craig's review of a sample)

[hank]

Be careful if you buy 110v LEDs.

From this source, all are made in China; the quality's pretty low and descriptions not accurate

http://autolumination.com/
This may be related to the 'spectrumled' site; web page index appearance is similar if not identical. Of the several lights I bought, I liked the one labeled 'spectrumled' .

I ordered what are described on the site as "amber" 110v lights in several forms.

Comments on what I got:

Candelabra-base 3-led 'night light' bulbs:
http://autolumination.com/images/auto_bulbs/nla_wm.jpg

(This picture is overprinted with 'spectrumled')
Good. LEDs are true amber, and lights were labeled correctly.

These are nice replacements for the small 4-watt incandescent nightlights (only for manual switches). We put them into nightlights that have scallop shells glued on -- the amber LEDs shine through the amber shells OK. The three LEDs also make nice multiple shadows from the scalloped edges on the wall.

I wouldn't use them in nightlights with clear plastic covers, the pinpoint glare is too much at night.

I'll buy more of these -- or something that makes similar light -- to slowly put indirect dim amber lights around the house in kickspaces. But see note*
--------

110v candelabra base "amber" LED in a white plastic 'candle' cover
-- LEDs are actually yellow. There's a "yellow" sticker on the light. It works, it's OK.
http://autolumination.com/images/auto_bulbs/e14a.jpg
--------

110v plug-in "amber" photocell nightlight:
-- LEDs are yellow, and so labeled on the light. Three LED under plastic prism cover. Photocell does work properly. In direct view, too much glitter and glare; ok when put out of sight for indirect night light.
--------

LED Small E27 Edison Lamp Lights, 9-LED "amber"
http://autolumination.com/images/auto_bulbs/7leda.jpg
--- LEDs are yellow
--- lamps and boxes inconsistently labeled yellow, or white; one handwritten 'amber' on box;
--- Assembled with low-temp "hot glue" -- circuit boards came loose after they warmed up in use; operated base-up, boards dangle into plastic cover. They still work.

These are salvageable, I can easily fix the little circuit boards in place. On the inside, the cases have ridges that look like they were meant to hold a slightly larger board than was actually used, so the boards were glued because they fail to snap in. Good argument for homebuilding, I guess. Or home modding. I can fix them and use them.

[hank]

http://store.lsgc.com/
----> Applause to LSG for being a banner advertiser at ledmuseum.org

This one is good
-- decent late evening reading light that doesn't include any of the blue spectrum that keeps melatonin suppressed. We are sleeping much better the last couple of weeks after putting in a couple of these as our late evening reading lights.

-- decent looking, rather like modern sculpture, as bare lights.

-- if you live in line of sight to a Florida beach where sea turtles hatch out and head for the brightest blue light (which should be the full moon rising over the ocean) these are approved by the Florida wildlife agency as invisible to baby turtles.

R30 AMBER BUG LIGHT (LONG CONE)
Item #874340000200
http://store.lsgc.com/R30-AMBER-BUG-...CONE-P1C1.aspx

on sale at the moment for $15.95

I know there will be better and cheaper LED lights -- of course. And with the long lifetime, buying now displaces 'something better later' -- but these I think are worthwhile. They're weatherproof, and can be moved outdoors once better indoor amber LEDs come along.

Their website shows several higher-tech LED indoor lamps that are promised 'soon' -- look like they have three of the new superbright LEDs instead of many less bright LEDs. This one's more like a larger version of those multiple-LED flashlight heads.

But for indoor evening 'low blue light' reading use, I actually think the broader sheet of less intense points of light may be preferable. We'll see.