ECN Forum Forums General Topics of the Trade Non-US Electrical Systems & Trades The End of the Bulb

Who would?

At that price they will only be used for fixtures that are costly to re-lamp.

However I have no doubt that like all electronic stuff the price will nose dive once China, Korea etc start mass production of these.

CFLs where not nearly as cheap as they are now.

The LED lamps will make there way in mass production one day.
It will all depend upon price.
I have some CFL's in my lounge which have done 12000 hrs now and still going strong. NZ$7 (US$4) each so they were a good deal.
In my workshop I prefer the normal 5 or 6 footers Triphosphor tubes. ( these last for 15000 hrs + )
Nice bright and new tubes only cost NZ$3 ea.

For our normal lamps the filament lamps are the most practical option at about NZ0.89 ea. with their usuall inefficiencies. (they go for about ±800 hrs).
As you know I'm the meterman and have quite a few meters hooked up in my house to do these surveys.
Edited to add something in I forgot.

[This message has been edited by RODALCO (edited 04-16-2006).]

I have seen a few newer cars in my area with funny looking tail lights. On closer inspection i find they are lots of smaller lights clusterd together to make up one normal sized brake light. Not shure if these are LCDs or not but it looks like they are and becoming more popular with car makers. (my 6 year old ford sill has proper lights that normaly fail its MOT)

There are certainly LED tail lights and signals in use on railway vechicles here. The tail lights look like clusters of bright LEDs.

Some piccies from LED traffic lights in Auckland N.Z.
We have problems with some of the orange LED lamps, which seem to have a few faillures that sections of 4 to 5 LED's are not working.
I have spotted about 10 faulty orange ones over the last year, and reported them to the councils to get replaced under warranty.
The irony is that the orange lights are ON for the shortest time, you expect them to last the longest.
The red ones do most ON hours but I haven't seen those faulty yet.
Could have been a faulty batch with a cracked circuit board or series resisitors, or LED's??
http://static.flickr.com/53/131302228_a5a86c9829.jpg http://static.flickr.com/45/131301312_28773dd0c4_o.jpg http://static.flickr.com/55/131301311_b0b65e12ab.jpg http://static.flickr.com/1/131300136_fd70b17b83.jpg

Soon someone will invent an LED that gives out the same light as an incandescant. Then it will become feasible to have LEDs in the lounge.

I have lots of downlights in my home and I'm forever changing bulbs. If LEDs last longer then I'm willing to pay extra for that privelege.

Hi Kenbo, and welcome to ECN.

LED lights on cars have been creeping in over the last few years. First it was just LED versions of the third, high-level brake light, now they're sometimes used for brake lights and turn signals too. The latter really catch the eye, as the light snaps on and off very smartly.

Out here in the boondocks we have to go miles to find any traffic lights, but over in Norwich I've noticed a few LED versions appearing in the last couple of years, including one intersection which has LED for all aspects. Some of the others just seem to have LED for the reds.


What's the sequence of N.Z. lights? Do you go straight from red to green like American lights, or do you have the British-style red-&-amber combined phase before green?

Hi pauluk

The NZ traffic lights are sequenced to go straight from Red to Green.

They are not sequenced like in the UK and Germany that Red and Orange are coming on at the same time prior to going to Green.

It has probably something to do here with people driving a lot through Red lights while the other ones have gone Green. If the extra phase, Red Orange, was given as a pre warning for Green we would probably have a lot more crashes here. Especially in Auckland

Regards Ray

Orange light before green...first I've heard of this. It's not like you need a warning to slow down or something.
However, I do notice of late where there's traffic lights for the sole purpose of a pedestrian crossing (ie. not at an intersection) the orange light flashes a few times before you get the green light. The only reason I can guess this is for is to remind you to check the crossing before taking off. Incidentally, when new things like this appear there isn't any publicity about what they mean...seems to be left up to you to guess.
As much as I dislike LED's for general lighting, for car brake lights they do have the advantage of alerting the driver behind faster. Apparently, the time taken for an incandescent filament to warm up and become visible does mean the difference of a few metres stopping distance for the car behind.

France.

Red = Stop [optional].

Amber = Stop [optional].

Amber, (flashing) = Shut eyes & go.
[Used at road repairs/ temporary signals etc.]

Green = Overtake, [up the sidewalk].


Alan