Driveway gate post lighting?

[Blazin_Jason]

Hey guys just signed up and am a total n00b when it comes to high power LED's. Used superflux for 12v but nothing past that yet. I plan on building a couple post caps that will be at the end of my driveway. My original plan is to try using 2 6" ccfl lamps like used in PCs on each cap. I'm not out to light up the driveway, just more or less to make it visible without being too much. Also I want it to draw as little current as possible. Are there other options out there that I should look into while doing this?

This is basically what the cap will hopefully look like.

 

[Ken_McE]

... just more or less to make it visible without being too much. Also I want it to draw as little current as possible. Are there other options out there that I should look into while doing this?

LEDs sound perfect for your specs. Do you have power at the end of the drive?

 

[Blazin_Jason]

Currently no power at this time. It is in the plans to do as I would like to eventually install automatic openers onto the gates. Are there some LED's that won't mind running constantly for 6-8 hours in an enclosed area? The posts will be 6" steel so there is room to put other electronics.

 

[blasterman]

If the glass is textured like that LEDs will light them up very nicely. Just run them in the inside pointed up or down along the edge of the glass. Will look really classy...especially if you stick to neutrals or even warms.

Won't take much light to do it either. You could probably even do it with 5mm/10mm wide angles if money is tight. Or, two stars at 350mA on each side if you really want to stand out. Heatsinking is required, but it won't take much at low currents like this.

 

[Blazin_Jason]

I was either going to use clear plexiglass, or maybe frosted glass. It won't be textured like that since I will be making them. My other idea was to use some Nichia superflux's. With those I was also concerned about long term heat issues possibly. I would rather use something overkill and dial it back a bit to have them last.

 

[Lynx_Arc]

Forget the CCFLs, they can struggle at cold temps to light up well. I would use underdriven crees or luxeons skipping the 5/10mm LEDs completely so you can dial up the light more if you find you need to with proper heatsinking.

 

[Ken_McE]

Are there some LED's that won't mind running constantly for 6-8 hours in an enclosed area?

They can run continuously for years if you want. Just don't let them overheat. I am picturing the entire surface of the cap being used as a radiator.

 

[blasterman]

or maybe frosted glass. It won't be textured like that since I will be making them.

True frosted glass is textured quite heavily, and when you run LEDs along the edge of the glass at 90degrees it produces a very nice 'glow' because the irregular surface really grabs the LED light. Milk plexi on the other hand is smooth on both sides, and really doesn't do much.

Glass store in town as all kinds of cool textured glass such as ripple patterns, etc., and LEDs produce fantastic textures when lines up against it. Sad thing is nobody makes a clear plastic version. That would make projects like this extremely easy.

 

[Blazin_Jason]

Talking with my buddy and he tossed out the idea of using rgb led's. Christmas have one red one green, orange on halloween etc. He would probably be able to program different sequences or patterns if needed. If I do that I was wondering if I also go with some straight white led's as well for the majority of the use? I plan to mount the heatsink on the top of the cap with the leds facing down. I can fit a heatsink about 7.5"x7.5" mounted to the steel cap. Hopefully that will be sufficient.

 

[andersonEE]

You could mount one of these RGB leds facing down epoxied to the heatsink. That would work really well. I have used these LEDs and for the price you can't beat them. 2 for $7...can't beat that!! Your buddy could program all three colors to come on at the same time to produce the white light (although it might take some experimentation to get the color how you want it).