Posted on 07/22/2019 5:27:15 AM PDT by napscoordinator
Light bulbs
Now that the price of LED’s is down I have them in much of house. I especially like them when I’m in an area requiring more exact eye use (i.e. in the garage when I’m marking measurements before cutting or drilling). I still like incandescents in the living room area for a softer feel.
We have pretty good luck with the longevity of the Cree brand.
"Okuno et al. [119] evaluated the blue-light hazards from many different light sources and reported that the exposure (even for less than a minute) to blue light from the sun, arc-welding lamps, and the arc of discharge lamps is hazardous to the retina, whereas the exposure to blue light from fluorescent lamps or LEDs does not pose a significant hazard.UV can do significant damage to your eye as anyone who has looked too long at a welder at work can tell you. Again interesting stuff, but as was stated in the article it was mostly done with nocturnal rodents (rats and mice).Emphasis mine. ...
Finally, ultraviolet (UV) light is a risk factor for age-related macular degeneration. "
Thanks, I’ll check those out (don’t feel like making my own from parts).
“LEDs are super fast. If you drive them with DC, they will not flicker. But, LEDs use very low voltage (around 1 volt) and converting 12 or 120 volts to a small DC using resistors or transistor in old-fashioned “linear” regulation wastes most of the power. So, folks usually pulse width modulate (PWM) LEDs. This turns them on and off at a very fast rate. It wastes very little power and allows you to vary the brightness by changing the % of the time it is on. If the on/off frequency is high enough, you can't see any flicker. One issue is that if you move your head quickly, the LED will look like a dotted line. Modern car tail lights have this problem.”
It was the CFLs that sucked. I love LEDs. They last longer and burn cooler.
I have received the same instructions from my ophthalmologist (eye Doctor) - that blue spectrum LED's can damage eyesight; specifically, they stimulate macular degeneration. He wears tinted lenses.
Perhaps my Doctor is merely superstitious.
I do believe he knows more about eyesight than I do.
This explains what I suspected was going on in Cadillac tail lights. They flicker in “normal” mode, but when they are lit for braking, the flicker seems to go away.
There is an art work in the Seattle bus tunnel (Assuming it is still there) that uses the phenomenon of “Precise” flicker in LEDs. It uses the concept of a crawling picture in a tall LED array, but it crawls across a single vertical array of LED’s. There are ten or so of these single vertical arrays spread randomly across a large wall. When you just look at one, the lights seem to sort of randomly flash. But when you look away, you can see the shape being formed as if all of the vertical rows for that image are there.
It’s kinda cool.
Nativeson gave some interesting references in post#70
Sun & welding - I wear eye protection. But in the office (especially these days) and at home, people spend a large amount of time with their eyes focused on a LED display and do not wear eye protection. The damages over time are photochemical and physical.
You can have my LEDs...from my cold, dead hands - I’ve been thrilled about them since I was young. I wear blue-blockers (gaming glasses) so I can keep on enjoying them.
Early LED home lighting was crap. Tech was not there yet. CFL was never viable since you break these egg shell fragile things and you have a hazmat situation on your hands and they audibly hum and put out EM interference.
LED tech is there. Love them and they are only going to get better and cheaper. There are some hellaciously bright ones that don’t glare (Color temp). https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07B8WK8DR/?tag=reactual-20
500W incandescent light equivalent for the energy of a 60 watt bulb. (My garage is brighter than an OR)
I was po’d that the gubmint was, once again, forcing us to do something.
We have a contractor that did some electrical work for us though, and whatever generation of bulbs he used looks good, and saves electricity, I presume. Replacement costs are higher, but I've found that I'm not replacing bulbs nearly as much.
Personally, I enjoy the Phillip Hue light bulbs that integrate into, and can be controlled through our home network. The output can be easily adjusted for warmth, or even color, if desired. There are built-in timers, too.
My problem was never the lights. It was the government mandate. And the fact that is was CFLs when the mandate happened, and they just plain suck.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07B8WK8DR/?tag=reactual-20
Not ER light. Dimmable. Full power they are bright as hell but the light is warm.
So LEDs could actually cost some people who live in colder climes more money.
My electronics skills have really declined over the past two decades so...
I’ve got an attic full of old-school incandescent bulbs I bought before the ban went into effect.
And there they stay. My church relamped with all LED’s which saved them $80K on the annual electric bill. That grabbed my attention.
I live in New York State. My gas and electric bill for June was $69. I have central air, and all electric appliances, and I use regular bulbs. I’ll never buy the more expensive bulbs.
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