On Sat, 15 May 2004 05:47:00 GMT, Gunner
wrote:



http://members.misty.com/don/lede.html
Why LEDs can be 10 times as efficient as incandescents in some
applications but not in general home lighting!

They do work well in flashlights, though. Flashlight bulbs fail,
usually on turn-on and often after only a few hours or use. LED's
typically last for 20,000 hours or more and they don't fail abruptly.

Present offerings still may not meet your "everyman's price" target,
but you can machine aluminum and a 1-watt Luxeon Star can be had for
about $12 in onesies.

My current favorite LED flashlight was a gift from son-in-law. It's
made by Zweibruder in Germany. It's a pocket light about 4.5" long
and a bit less than 1" dia, runs on 3 AAA cells and uses a 1-watt
Luxeon Star. Blows the sox off a Minimag 2AA. If aimed at a
white ceiling it illuminates an entire room sufficient for easy
reading or preparing a meal,

Jerry Martes and I have made "showoff" LED lights with 3-watt Luxeon
LED's. We used 3" dia reflectors from a $4.68 Eveready lantern
from Home Depot, machined aluminum stud-mounts and heatsinks for
Luxeon 3-watt emitters. These LED lights perform at least as well
well as 6-volt lanterns,

I don't know that anyone really needs a light this bright, but it's
fun to show off. It illuminates things 100 meters distant, makes
them jump out of the dark. Do not look directly into this light
with your remaining good eye.....