LED Lighting Solutions

[CM]

Cree bought this company not that long ago and they have a real nice "can" light solution.

http://creelighting.com/index.aspx and look for the LR6 link on the right frame. I went to Lamps Plus which carry these and I was amazed at the performance. It's rated 3500K color temperature. Looking at a 60W incan fixture next to it, it was virtually indistinguishable from the incandescent. Input power is 12W (very high power factor which is good). The only down side is cost at $125 each. However, I think this is the benchmark light for home fixtures because it exhibits none of the "cool" tint of LED's. There are 43 LED's in this fixture so I do not think they are using any XR-E's. The company has a patent on mixing of red, green/yellow LED's to produce this tint. I may just buy one and replace the light over the kitchen sink. Heck, what's $125 for a conversation piece?

Oh, here's the link to download the PDF spec:

http://creelighting.com/downloads/CREE_LLS_LR6.pdf

If you want the important stuff:

Nominal output = 650 lumens
Nominal input power = 12W
CRI=92
CCT=2700K-3500K

They claim it's dimmable but until I see it used with a cheap dimmer, I would assume that it isn't.

 

[McGizmo]

Cool! I think the CRI above 90 will make a real difference in the success of these. Color temperature alone doesn't tell you enough when it comes to LEDs.

 

[CM]

Cool! I think the CRI above 90 will make a real difference in the success of these. Color temperature alone doesn't tell you enough when it comes to LEDs.

You really have to see this next to a traditional incandescent fixture. The high CRI is the result of mixing different colors as described in their patent here:

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/7213940.html?highlight=7213940&stemming=on

It will just be a matter of time before I take myself off the grid

 

[gnarly]

I bought a few of these... things that impress me:
- decent heatsinking, these guys know what they are doing
- very uniform light coming from the diffuser disc, with no hint of color mixing going on
- perfect color... plenty of red even from the 'cool white' one I got for the kitchen
- ultra hitech look when on or off

The instant on is really great, so much better than compact fluorescent where you get this murky half-light for the first minute or two. I'm pleased with the purchase and I don't think the purchase price is too bad considering you get a much better looking luminaire than a normal downlight can.

I think these folks have got it made if they can get the costs (and weight) down a bit. RGB mixing is definitely the future.

 

[gnarly]

Oh - one other thing - you do need to check your cans are deep enough. My place has a few shallow cans where a normal reflector bulb doesn't fully recess back into the can. These aren't suitable for the cree fixture...

 

[CM]

...I think these folks have got it made if they can get the costs (and weight) down a bit. RGB mixing is definitely the future.

If they can drop the price to about $50 per, I will be buying enough to replace all the incandescents in my can fixtures (about 12). As far as RGB mixing, I agree this is the way to go. It is very difficult to get good color rendering when you have a single wavelength source like "white" LED's.

It would be interesting to see how these lights maintain their output. While they have good heatsinking, the heat has really nowhere to go but up where it is sealed. The large surface area helps but in my application, the attic above is probably about 140F in the summer. I'd love to talk to the engineers who designed this so I can pick their brains (mainly about thermal management).

 

[JB01245]

http://www.lampsplus.com/products/0...Recessed Lighting-_-Recessed Lighting-_-02464

 

[VanIsleDSM]

I'd you go read all about the LR6 you'll see that it's designed for commercial buildings with vented ceilings... who knows how well it'd work in a home? ..might get a little hot.

 

[CM]

I'd you go read all about the LR6 you'll see that it's designed for commercial buildings with vented ceilings... who knows how well it'd work in a home? ..might get a little hot.

The link below:

http://creelighting.com/residential.htm

is for residential (note the word RESIDENTIAL in the link). I don't see where it says it's designed for commercial buildings with vented ceilings.