LED replacement for 200-watt incandescent bulb

[lightcrazed]

I'm a carpenter who requires a lot of light on the job. My favorite worklight is a 200-watt bulb in a strong clamp-on worklight.The problem is the fragility of the bulb. Does anyone know of a 120 volt LED bulb with a standard screw-in base,or a complete LED worklight? Halogen's no good because it's fragile,too,as well as too hot. Thanks for any ideas
John

[paulr]

Not one with anywhere near that much power, and even if such a thing existed and you are willing to pay for it, it would run at least as hot as the halogen bulb. The most powerful LED's currently available are 5 watts and they cost about $30 each. They might be a little more efficient than halogen bulbs, but you would still need dozens of them to equal the brightness of the 200 watt halogen. You could also do it with an even larger number of 3-watt LEDS which are about $12 each because of their simpler construction. Fluorescent lights will be more efficient than either LED or halogen.

Your best bet is get a halogen or fluorescent worklight with better bulb protection than your current one has. If you want a screw-in bulb that runs cooler than the halogen, try a compact fluorescent, though it still be fragile.

[lightcrazed]

Good points, Paul.The bulb I use is a 200-watt incandescent, not halogen, so it wouldn't take quite so many Luxeons to equal it. I have a couple 1-watt Luxeon flashlights which put out a surprising amount of light.The main thing I want to get away from is glass and filaments. I wonder if I could step down 120 volts to 3-12 volts to run Luxeon bulbs, or if stepping down just produces lots more heat.The 200-watt incandescent runs plenty hot, but just seems safer than the halogens I've tried in the past

[hotbeam]

I presume you want a flood light so Paul's suggestion would be perfect. Just get a 110V driver and 6 Luxeon IIIs and you will get a sturdy flood of white light.

[paulr]

It takes a heck of a lot of Luxeons to equal 200 watts of incandescents. A normal 100 watt household light bulb is 1710 lumens according to the package. A 3 watt Luxeon is maybe 60 lumens.

[jtr1962]

One thing everyone failed to take into account is that the 200 watt bulb sends light in all directions, including where it is not needed. I'd say easily 50% of the light is wasted, if not more. A 200 watt bulb gives 3800 lumens. Since LEDs are more directional (even Luxeons with no optics send all their light over less than a hemisphere), you can get by with probably 2000 lumens or less for starters. Now add in the fact that the bluer light from LEDs is about 60% more effective for seeing than an incandescent and you're down to 1200 or so lumens. You may even be able to get by with less, but 1200 lumens puts you at maybe 18 LIIIs consuming 2.4W (@700mA) each, or about 43 watts total. Sure, this will be very expensive (~$200 for the Luxeons alone), but the heat can be dealt with by using a 5"x10" heat sink available in online surplus stores for maybe $10 to $15. The Luxeons can be mounted directly on the heat sink. The whole thing will probably get no hotter than maybe 50°C.

Depending upon how much you use the worklight, this may be a viable solution. If nothing else, the LEDs will last many, many years even being used 60 hours a week.

[3rd_shift]

Inretech has a good 14 watt 180 led worklight.
www.inretech.com on this web page

[The_LED_Museum]

I was going to suggest the InReTECH WORKLED but I see I already got beaten to it, [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]
I have an evaluation of it right here if anybody is interested.

[Ken_McE]

Not what you asked for, but I'll mention it in passing. I've found that a cheap ceiling fixture with two four foot flourescent bulbs can be leaned up against a wall for a good worklight. Also, they make "Rough Service" incandescent bulbs that are more vibration and shock resistant than the usual.

[lightcrazed]

Thanks, Gents. The Inretech looks nice, if pricey. A wall wart and it would make a good combination.The clamp-on light I use has a large aluminum reflector to send the light in one direction. I still may see if I can rig something up to work with it, since it's so handy.
John

[3rd_shift]

That Inretech product is a 12 volt product.
Should come in handy for anyplace that doesn't have power yet.
I have worked security at some construction sites where there was no power yet.

[udaman]

Get a 12v to 110v inverter and run one of these fluoresecent work lights as they are direct replacements for the halogen work lamps. Less heat, better durability, electronic ballast to run in cold weather...to a point. Definitely more lumens than the Inretech. No clamp on capability however, but basically the same design as the Inretech. Need more light with better angle adjustiblity get the expensive dual light.

http://www.naturallighting.com/store...p;parent_id=31