Bob Adkins wrote:
I can't believe the lack of vision about the future of white LED's I have
encountered. I think they will largely supplant other home lighting within
5-6 years, and will become even more efficient. Even a 20% efficiency
increase in LED's will spell the death of other lighting.
Geez, Bob, it really sounds like you're asking people to just tell
you what you want to hear. You didn't start off this thread asking for
speculation about the advantages of white LEDs in 5-6 years, you asked
why we don't hear more about their energy savings. When several people
point out that they aren't very energy efficient for many
applications, you change the parameters to include LED's long life.
Someone points out that their life might not be as long as you thought
and you change the question to "what about in the future?". It seems
to me that several people are making a good faith effort to tell you
of their current knowledge & experiences with white LEDs and your
response is to call them short-sighted.
I don't know about all the other folks that responded, but I told
you why I'm not replacing all my fluorescent fixtures/CFLs with LEDs
TODAY. If white LEDs are better, more efficient and longer lasting in
the future, then that's when I'll buy them - in the FUTURE.
I met the same resistance on rec.photography a few years back on digital
cameras. The word "never" came up every day. Never is a long time, but has
come and gone.
Bottom line, most people are slow to adopt new technology. People can be
stubborn and dogmatic.
Maybe. So how many LED fixtures are _you_ using in your house now?
You don't need our approval to buy them. I'm sure we'd all like to
hear of your experience with them (I'm not being sarcastic here).
BTW, it sure sounds like you've got a problem with your fluorescent
fixtures (poor ballasts?) or maybe a power/wiring issue. I'm no expert
& I don't have any hard numbers, but I'd expect the lamps to last
several years. We replaced all the fixtures at work with new T8
fixtures ~2 years ago; I'll ask the electricians how the lamps are
holding up. I did buy a couple of crappy Walmart ($15 ?) T40 fixtures
last year, but replaced the ballasts after a couple of weeks with
Advance electronic T8 ballasts - I couldn't put up with the buzzing
and poor starting. I don't know what effect the new ballasts will have
on the lamp lifetime, though.
R,
Tom Q.