How does an LED dissipate heat efficiently?

XTAR Light

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Apr 26, 2010
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As you know, for LED flashlights, only part of the electrical energy is converted into light output, and the rest is converted into thermal energy. While, the heat would be the great enemy of LED performance. With temperature rising, LED flashlight's useful life is shortened, and its lumen output decreases along with its wavelength output, which affects brightness and color quality. Therefore, the heat dissipation of LED is very important.

Generally, heat is generated from the LED chip and is transferred through heat radiation, heat conduction, and heat convection. LED itself doesn't have infrared and ultraviolet rays, so it has no radiation and heat dissipation function, mainly through conduction and convection. So LED flashlight should have a heat sink, which is the main medium for heat dissipation. After the heat sink absorbs the heat, the heat is dissipated by convection.

Besides, there are also some other factors affecting LED's heat dissipation. For example, how the light diodes are mounted, whether they are encapsulated in a housing, and even the types of adhesive used in constructing a fixture. What's more, some LED flashlights have smart temperature control, such as xtar D20B 1000 dive light, when temperature within rises to 55°C or higher, this dive light itself will reduce brightness to ensure its normal function, which is also a protection mechanism to the flashlight.

Overall, it's important to buy well-designed LED flashlights which take the whole system's heat dissipation into account. They will have good performance for your long-term usage.
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