replace 40w with luxeon in fridge?

bsafe

Newly Enlightened
Joined
Oct 26, 2005
Messages
4
Help needed, Replace refridge bulb with LED?

I was pondering what it would take to replace a refridge 40w bulb with something of = or + brightness but significantly less electrical consumption.

Given the temperature I don't believe compact flourecents will work well.

hmmn..... how bright are the white christmas tree lights, perhaps one could tack a string throughout the inside....let me see ...the door is open say ten minues a day at 40w per hour, = 6.7 watts per day x 365 days = 2.4 kw per year at ten cents a kwh which would cost 24 cents a year ..... Obviouly I am more interested in the technical "how to" than the cost effectiveness, any ideas?
 

Russell52

Newly Enlightened
Joined
Dec 1, 2005
Messages
142
Location
Memphis
Re: Help needed, Replace refridge bulb with LED?

Led bulbs have circuits in them,With it being in a small conditioned space like a fridge,It would condensate,and short out :( Leds in a fridge would be cool though,how about in the oven,and microwave as well :p..

Maybe someday....Or year even..

You could rig up a 3 volter in there somehow,add a extra door switch,external power adapter,put one in the freezer as well.. Where there is a will there is a way to rig it up...

Rig it up,maybe I will do it first..In my mini fridge..

Edit:A fridge generally only pulls 1.5 amps,and a 40watt bulb @ 120volts only pulls .3 amps..

Russ
 
Last edited:

randyo

Enlightened
Joined
Sep 15, 2005
Messages
398
Location
Hayward (Bay Area) CA, USA
Re: Help needed, Replace refridge bulb with LED?

BUT - a fridge light is only on when the door is open. Maybe a total of 5 minutes a day Maximum. Power consumption is hardly a reason to spend the time and money for an LED replacement. "Just Because", or "I wanna", or "Cool Factor", or longevity are all valid reasons, but not power consumption.
 

Lynx_Arc

Flashaholic
Joined
Oct 1, 2004
Messages
11,212
Location
Tulsa,OK
Re: Help needed, Replace refridge bulb with LED?

Unless you kept your fridge door open for more than a minute at a time the savings using LEDs would be negligable compared to the amount of trouble required to adapt it.
I was considering an LED nightlight that uses a c-7 small base for my fridges water/ice dispenser. I could leave it on 24/7.
 

Russell52

Newly Enlightened
Joined
Dec 1, 2005
Messages
142
Location
Memphis
Re: Help needed, Replace refridge bulb with LED?

Thing is,running a fridge is like running a 100 watt light bulb,A fridge is not a big power drain at all... Led light would just be cool is all :p.. And a fridge doesnt cycle much,untill you get home from work and start opening it alot...
 

Lynx_Arc

Flashaholic
Joined
Oct 1, 2004
Messages
11,212
Location
Tulsa,OK
Re: Help needed, Replace refridge bulb with LED?

I believe newer power saving fridges use about 50watts/hr or so compared to 10 year old ones using about 100-150 watts/hr. If you put too cool of an LED light you would find yourself holding the door open much longer....
 

Oracle

Newly Enlightened
Joined
May 17, 2006
Messages
68
Re: Help needed, Replace refridge bulb with LED?

Russell52 said:
Led bulbs have circuits in them,With it being in a small conditioned space like a fridge,It would condensate,and short out :( Leds in a fridge would be cool though,how about in the oven,and microwave as well :p..

What do you mean? Light bulbs have circuits inside them too. LEDs are encapsulated in plastic so moisture can't get inside. You can run LEDs in fridges just fine. Some higher end models have UV LEDs on 24/7 in the crisper drawer becase it's supposed to make produce last longer.

Russell52 said:
Edit:A fridge generally only pulls 1.5 amps,and a 40watt bulb @ 120volts only pulls .3 amps..
Russ

A fridge uses 6-8 amps at 120 volts when running. While the compressor is starting it gets up around 15-20 amps for a fraction of a second (too short to trip the breaker). Maybe a mini bar fridge is closer to 1.5 amps.
 

chesterqw

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
May 9, 2005
Messages
1,968
Location
singapore,jurong
Re: Help needed, Replace refridge bulb with LED?

if i were you, i would:
connect a luxeon to the fridge :)
you can pot the driver AND the luxeon led,so that moist won't destory them. as for the dome of the luxeon, you can use those transparent epoxy BUT it will be permanant.

you would want to use AA compound to stick a heat sink to the back of the luxeon,as luxeon creates heat AND is more effiecent if the temperature is low(so if you put in the freezer, it will rock!!!!!) and as the fridge will provide cooling, a lux III can be use(of course, use those CHEAP ones found at $3.60 not those expensive bins you get here)
 

Russell52

Newly Enlightened
Joined
Dec 1, 2005
Messages
142
Location
Memphis
Re: Help needed, Replace refridge bulb with LED?

Oracle said:
What do you mean? Light bulbs have circuits inside them too. LEDs are encapsulated in plastic so moisture can't get inside. You can run LEDs in fridges just fine. Some higher end models have UV LEDs on 24/7 in the crisper drawer becase it's supposed to make produce last longer.



A fridge uses 6-8 amps at 120 volts when running. While the compressor is starting it gets up around 15-20 amps for a fraction of a second (too short to trip the breaker). Maybe a mini bar fridge is closer to 1.5 amps.

A fridge pulls 1.5 amps usally,And I am talking 25 cubic size,not mini.. The reason I know this is because I work on them.. If you cant weigh the freon in,then you can charge it by FLA full load amps.... And I've never had to go very much above 1.5amps to get a proper charge... They only use 1/3 horse or 1/4 motors....

Leds have circuits incased in resin,fine,But there is yet another circuit to make that little led work on 120v,Cause I damn sure havent seen a 120volt led.. the led bulbs that people put in there light fixtures have circuits and are vented,so one like that would never work in a fridge,I wouldnt try it anyways :/

If you got a fridge pulling 6~8 amps Im sorry,My 4 ton condensing unit outside pulls that....

Russ
 

bsafe

Newly Enlightened
Joined
Oct 26, 2005
Messages
4
Re: Help needed, Replace refridge bulb with LED?

I bought a string of 35 white led tree lights made by Holiday Creations, they were dim and strobed slightly. I thank you for the ideas.

I may try the lux or the store bought bulb next. I like the lux idea because I have glass shelves and could position the light at my whim. Would you like some sinisterly lit ketchup?
 
Last edited:

bsafe

Newly Enlightened
Joined
Oct 26, 2005
Messages
4
I could not find my previous thread seeking ideas for replacing a refridgerator bulb with leds. I tried a string of Christmas tree leds, but they were to dim. I want to replace about 300-400 lumens. Someone suggested an overdriven Luxeon III and a voltage conversion circuit that would convert the 120v to something the Lux (or two) could handle. given the fridge temp and the short period the led would be lit I am willing to consider pushing the Lux a bit. Any ideas, bin codes, schematics would be helpful. Thank you.
 
Last edited:
Joined
Feb 14, 2006
Messages
2,724
bsafe said:
I could not find my previous thread seeking ideas for replacing a refridgerator bulb with leds. I tried a string of Christmas tree leds, but they were to dim. I want to replace about 300-400 lumens. Someone suggested an overdriven Luxeon III and a voltage conversion circuit that would convert the 120v to something the Lux (or two) could handle. given the fridge temp and the short period the led would be lit I am willing to consider pushing the Lux a bit. Any ideas, bin codes, schematics would be helpful. Thank you.

Why?
1. Economic gain is zero. zero point added
2. Implementation cost is high. -1 point
3. Food will look weird in that light. -1 point

- two points
 

LEDninja

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Jun 15, 2005
Messages
4,896
Location
Hamilton Canada
Steps to find your own threads:
1) Click on iour name in the upper left of your post (bsafe). Your profile webpage will appear.
http://candlepowerforums.com/vb/member.php?u=11388
2) Bookmark this page so you can find it again.
3) In the top left box rhere are 2 search links:
-find all posts by bsafe
-find all threads started by bsafe
4) Click on the approate one and you will see a list of your recent posts/threads.
5) When you have thousands of posts in a few months time, and this method does not work very well anymore, use the search function. Enter 'luxeon' and 'fridge' as keywords and 'bsafe' in the user name box.
bsafe said:
I could not find my previous thread seeking ideas for replacing a refridgerator bulb with leds. Any ideas, bin codes, schematics would be helpful. Thank you.
Back to lights for the fridge.
Tak a look at these.
http://www.eliteled.com/products/lightbulbs/e26baselightbulb.html
Reviews. Note the cool white is brighter than the warm white.
http://www.flashlightreviews.com/reviews/elite_110ve26.htm
http://ledmuseum.candlepower.us/fifth/1wbulb-1.htm

As pointed out in the previous post, what is the point? Luxeon bulbs are expensive and the energy savings are nil. I use them as close in reading lights in summer to keep me cool. Otherwise I use compact flouresents.
 

nerdtoy

Newly Enlightened
Joined
May 3, 2006
Messages
106
Location
Greater New Orleans Area
bsafe said:
I could not find my previous thread seeking ideas for replacing a refridgerator bulb with leds. I tried a string of Christmas tree leds, but they were to dim. I want to replace about 300-400 lumens. Someone suggested an overdriven Luxeon III and a voltage conversion circuit that would convert the 120v to something the Lux (or two) could handle. given the fridge temp and the short period the led would be lit I am willing to consider pushing the Lux a bit. Any ideas, bin codes, schematics would be helpful. Thank you.


I disagree with the turbo charger dude, its about saving electricity period. We should be looking to Luxeon to build edison socket modules. If not, make your own, I have a TON of edison LED lamps from the 2002 Lighting Expo Convention that we went to in San Francisco. Back then it was the rage producing these things, I believe it still is but a lot better quality is going in to them now. What about Luxeon? Hallway lighting, Bed lighting, fridge lighting, patio lighting, Desk Lamp lighting, and on and on. Those small places you need light but not a 50 Watt Incan. energy sucking bulb.


I had this idea on taking Luxeon Stars and gluing them to my ceiling around the house about every 8 feet or so and running them to a battery bank in a closet inside a box with a vent tube and a trickle charger in the attic on a simple relay that when the electricity goes out, the relay closes and turns on the Luxeons. We have a serious problem where I live with electricity going out even during strong thunderstorms, think about hurricane season, add one of those Harbor freight 45 Watt Solar Pannels and you have free lighting so to speak. I even considered drilling homes for 5mm super bright white LED's in the rock in the ceiling doing the same. I want Luxeons though, they throw a lot more light.

Its about energy conservation and putting these low voltage efficient LEDs to good use rather then dropping them into flashlights. I love the flashlights but how many do we really need lol. I used a lot of mine during Katrina but it was my generator that saved our asses - then it became a fuel issue, where do we steal gasoline from next? We drained every car in the neighborhood at one point, then hit friends and relatives left behind vehicles for fuel. Thankfully my "credentials" gave me free fuel once the sheriff took over a fuel station with a generator. Should we have had these luxeons, we would only had to run the generator for washing clothes and for the computer going online to update the web site. It would have saved us a good hundred gallons of gasoline. We burned about 10 gallons a night, a good 5 during the day for fans and washing clothes for ourselves and some police officers - now consider how much we were sucking in our Expedition with that big V8 running all over the place with the boat in tow and doing the S&R work. We burned so much gasoline that its hard to fathom sitting here right now and that is just on the ganerator alone for lighting and washing clothers.

Solar and battery technology for lighting alone will save a ton of fuel.
Just my ten cents.

EDIT:

I edited this because I say "Stealing Gasoline" but nobody took the money to replace it once they arrived home and we did have permission from neighbors and friends to take the fuel. It just felt like stealing. My truck had red and blue flashing emergency lights on it to prevent the self imposed nuts with guns from shooting me :) I regret using that word too.
 
Last edited:

KuoH

Newly Enlightened
Joined
Nov 6, 2005
Messages
178
I have nothing to add on the refrigerator lighting issue, but this comment was rather disheartening to read.

KuoH

nerdtoy said:
I used a lot of mine during Katrina but it was my generator that saved our asses - then it became a fuel issue, where do we steal gasoline from next? We drained every car in the neighborhood at one point, then hit friends and relatives left behind vehicles for fuel. Thankfully my Homeland Security and Court ID gave me free fuel once the sheriff took over a fuel station with a generator.
 

Ken_McE

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Jun 16, 2003
Messages
1,687
I had this idea on taking Luxeon Stars and gluing them to my ceiling around the house about every 8 feet or so and running them to a battery bank in a closet inside a box with a vent tube and a trickle charger in the attic on a simple relay that when the electricity goes out, the relay closes and turns on the Luxeons.

What you can do is pick up an emergency lighting unit on eBay, get rid on the incan heads, and add LEDs, a lot of them. I have a couple units like this, they work good. I use one 5mm per step on a staircase and it's fine for going up and down. I have some one watt units but I have been moving towards using superflux LEDs because I believe I'm putting less energy into heat with the SFs.
 
Top