LED Lights - how many - how strong

[Strop]

Well I'm back asking dumb questions, but I have no idea how bright these lights are at night when you are out in your lonesome in the bush. They won't let me take them out of their packaging to try them out at night when they are closed. Very inconsiderate of them.

I look at these LED lights and they talk about Lumens and I have no idea how bright that is in reality. I see the same or very similar light fittings but they say 12 LEDs, 24 LEDs and 36 and more.

Well I want good lighting in the galley while it is bring used so do you buy a unit with 12,24 or more. I want reading lights so I am assuming that a LED reading light would be sufficient but they gave different numbers of LEDs in them too. A cabin light, same issue. Porch lights, the same. I am finding it difficult to judge on the light output.

In another list I was able to clarify that a cool light is bluish and a soft light is whiter and recommended.

I don't want to drill holes and wire up then to find not enough lighting or wrong kind. Heck I don't want to waste money on the wrong lights if I can avoid it. I am just use to the gas lanterns not this new stuff (sounding old here)

So tell me about the brightness of your LED lights around the tear to help me out please.

Laurie

[Dale M.]

Number of LEDS is probably not as important as number of lumen's.... Go to local hardware store and look at standard light bulbs, and say a 25 watt or 40 watt or 60 watt bulb and look at number of lumens... Should give you some sort of idea on how much light output for LEDS.... As for measurement a lumen is a lumen.... Only thing that makes real difference for me, is I like "warn" white (brownish tint) bulbs and not "cool" white (bluish tint), for my eyes the bluish bulbs do not light up area as well for some reason...

Found this in "GOOGLE IMAGES" search... Search string was something like "light bulb lumen output chart"...



Dale

[MtnDon]

Good advice. I will not buy from a vendor that does not list the lumens of their products.
superbrightleds.com does list lumens. Other may too but I have quit searching as so many do not.
Most LED's are quite directional unless they have a difuser or a clouded bulb enclosure like the Cree household 120 vac bulbs. So that complicates how many and where. I like lots of light and have two 480 lumen lamps from superbright. Separate switches.


And the chart linked to by Dale does not come up for me after my initial view. ???

[coyote]

I got 5 meter strings of LED's off E-bay, China. I put one string underneath trailer 110volt, one basically in a 4 foot square on the ceiling above the "head" end of interior 12 volt. I have no idea on specs, but they are very bright, has an adapter for either 12/110 volts, a remote for changing colors, flashing, dancing, chasing. For $15 bucks. I tried the auto stores, but 1/3 of them were inoperative as they sat, were only 16 inches long and cost more. Anyway, it works great for me. ( but I guess my neck is a little red)

[Strop]

Dale,

Thank you for that graphic. I had not found something like that. The lights I am looking at are in Lux. I found a lux to lumens converter and it is very interesting. The light I was looking at for the interior of the teardrop had a rating of 64 Lux with a spread of 2.6m at 1m. Put it in the converter and that is 300watts - ahhh bit strong I think, even with the inbuilt dimmer. Smaller light needed Now I have something to relate it to more easily.

The light I was looking at was a Narva Saturn 87502. It is only 130mm (5") wide but heck that is a lot of light from a little light.

Calculator I used here:-
http://www.rapidtables.com/calc/light/l ... ulator.htm

Though I have been looking at some other lights that are advertised and they say something like 36 LEDs and 200 lumens. They are much bigger - very confusing. It really is difficult to do some shopping online but without it I just wouldn't have the choice.

I know I need a LOT more light than I use to so the packaging with the data is what I will look for now for those main lights.

Fun lights are just for that fun. Definitely allowed

Thanks

Laurie

[shootr]

I don't know if this will help or not, but this thread is where I got help fixing my kitchen lights when putting in the LEDS:

http://www.tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?f=30&t=61410

The first post, the kitchen bulbs are these: http://www.ebay.com/itm/321467323735?_trksid=p2059210.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT
and they are just right for my 50 year old eyes - a little on the "white" side, not warm but you can see the whole kitchen well without being blinded.

For the reading lights, I put these in: http://www.ebay.com/itm/321467353545?_trksid=p2059210.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT
and they are almost too bright because I can't pivot my reading light "pods" enough to keep them from shining directly into my upper peripheral vision - but if they didn't do that, I consider them just right as well for nice cabin illumination and easy reading.

Hopefully the LED count and temperature and what not give you an idea of what to expect, but your mileage may vary!

[Dale M.]

.


And the chart linked to by Dale does not come up for me after my initial view. ???

Browser issue....

Dale

[Dale M.]

I got 5 meter strings of LED's off E-bay, China. I put one string underneath trailer 110volt, one basically in a 4 foot square on the ceiling above the "head" end of interior 12 volt. I have no idea on specs, but they are very bright, has an adapter for either 12/110 volts, a remote for changing colors, flashing, dancing, chasing. For $15 bucks. I tried the auto stores, but 1/3 of them were inoperative as they sat, were only 16 inches long and cost more. Anyway, it works great for me. ( but I guess my neck is a little red)

Auto stores are not the place to shop for anything electrical.... Well except for rudimentary basics like terminals and fuses...

Dale

[mgb4tim]

The Chinese Ebay units with a remote are the way to go. You can, for a couple bucks more, find a US supplier to speed up the delivery. They have a dimmer on the remote because they'll likely be too bright inside a teardrop. Getting the RGB ones are even more fun being able to change colors.

[shootr]

I got 5 meter strings of LED's off E-bay, China. I put one string underneath trailer 110volt, one basically in a 4 foot square on the ceiling above the "head" end of interior 12 volt. I have no idea on specs, but they are very bright, has an adapter for either 12/110 volts, a remote for changing colors, flashing, dancing, chasing. For $15 bucks. I tried the auto stores, but 1/3 of them were inoperative as they sat, were only 16 inches long and cost more. Anyway, it works great for me. ( but I guess my neck is a little red)

I so want to put these around the perimeter underneath for that spaceship glow! Right there with ya' crimson cervical !

[Shadow Catcher]

I purchased marine lights that take a standard G4 bulb, the side arrays have varying numbers of SMD's with varying light output, my wife preferred the warm white.

[astrotrailer]

I have 8 LED light fixtures in my 5x8. I started with one dome light a pair of wall washers. I added two more to the ceiling so a total of 3 lights are controlled by a wall switch. Later I discover bright marine surface mount dome lights that have a white light and red light position. I have two of these above my desk, one just above the side door and one on each wall near our heads so each of us can have our own reading light. I use the trailer for astronomy and the red light position interferes less with night vision and our astronomy friends outside don't complain about white light leakage. With all the white lights on I have enough light to see very well. Most of the time we just have lights turned on at the location that it is needed.

[bdosborn]

It's been 4 years since I've messed with any LEDs and they've advanced quite a bit in that time. I'm still a fan of the star emitter, if you've got the patience . However, there's no reason you can't go to eBay and find a direct replacement for your incandescent these days.

LED Light Conversion

Bruce