I just bought a 5 pack of 9 led flashlights for $5. I looked at a 60W equivalent light bulb and it was $15. Why is there such a difference in price between LED flashlights and light bulbs?

jon van duinen wrote:
I just bought a 5 pack of 9 led flashlights for $5. I looked at a 60W
equivalent light bulb and it was $15. Why is there such a difference in
price between LED flashlights and light bulbs?

The LEDs are cheap and the LEDs are expensive.

Bulbs must also dissipate heat.

Greg

On 11/07/2012 09:25 AM, jon van duinen wrote:
I just bought a 5 pack of 9 led flashlights for $5. I looked at a 60W
equivalent light bulb and it was $15. Why is there such a difference
in price between LED flashlights and light bulbs?


Your answer is given by the reason that you didn't list the power output
of the flashlights.

Jon

On 11/7/2012 11:25 AM, jon van duinen wrote:
I just bought a 5 pack of 9 led flashlights for $5. I looked at a 60W equivalent light bulb and it was $15. Why is there such a difference in price between LED flashlights and light bulbs?

What is the lumen output of 9 flashlights versus an equivalent 60W light
bulb.

On 11/7/2012 1:08 PM, bud-- wrote:
On 11/7/2012 11:25 AM, jon van duinen wrote:
I just bought a 5 pack of 9 led flashlights for $5. I looked at a 60W
equivalent light bulb and it was $15. Why is there such a difference
in price between LED flashlights and light bulbs?

What is the lumen output of 9 flashlights versus an equivalent 60W light
bulb.


I'm not buying any more led devices without a lumens quote.
I've got a 21 led lantern you cannot even read by.
OTOH I have a couple of led flashlights with single 3 watt Cree led's
with over 150 lumen output. Flashlights are good enough outside but 60
watt bulbs put out ~850 lumens.

On 11/7/2012 12:25 PM, jon van duinen wrote:
I just bought a 5 pack of 9 led flashlights for $5. I looked at a 60W equivalent light bulb and it was $15. Why is there such a difference in price between LED flashlights and light bulbs?


And you can buy one LED flashlight for a lot more too. The ones you
bought use older inexpensive less efficient LEDs.

Bulbs need dropping resistor, diode, and whatever other parts.

Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
..

"jon van duinen" wrote in message
...
I just bought a 5 pack of 9 led flashlights for $5. I looked at a 60W
equivalent light bulb and it was $15. Why is there such a difference in
price between LED flashlights and light bulbs?

Good idea. I've also bought some 110 volt "corn cob" bulbs that were too dim
to be useful.

I got a couple "5 watt" LED lights off Ebay that draw 2 watts of electric.

Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
..

"Frank" wrote in message
...

I'm not buying any more led devices without a lumens quote.
I've got a 21 led lantern you cannot even read by.
OTOH I have a couple of led flashlights with single 3 watt Cree led's
with over 150 lumen output. Flashlights are good enough outside but 60
watt bulbs put out ~850 lumens.

"Stormin Mormon" wrote:
Good idea. I've also bought some 110 volt "corn cob" bulbs that were too dim
to be useful.

I got a couple "5 watt" LED lights off Ebay that draw 2 watts of electric.

Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
.

"Frank" wrote in message
...

I'm not buying any more led devices without a lumens quote.
I've got a 21 led lantern you cannot even read by.
OTOH I have a couple of led flashlights with single 3 watt Cree led's
with over 150 lumen output. Flashlights are good enough outside but 60
watt bulbs put out ~850 lumens.

Got to watch out for three things. Lumens, lux, color temp. Lumens is total
light output, no matter how spread out it is. A flashlight in a one foot
spot, is going to be high lux in that spot. A 100 lumens spot is much
brighter than a 60 watt led lamp, within the spot area. I never buy LEDs
unless color temp is specified.

Greg

On 11/7/2012 7:50 PM, gregz wrote:
"Stormin Mormon" wrote:
Good idea. I've also bought some 110 volt "corn cob" bulbs that were too dim
to be useful.

I got a couple "5 watt" LED lights off Ebay that draw 2 watts of electric.

Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
.

"Frank" wrote in message
...

I'm not buying any more led devices without a lumens quote.
I've got a 21 led lantern you cannot even read by.
OTOH I have a couple of led flashlights with single 3 watt Cree led's
with over 150 lumen output. Flashlights are good enough outside but 60
watt bulbs put out ~850 lumens.

Got to watch out for three things. Lumens, lux, color temp. Lumens is total
light output, no matter how spread out it is. A flashlight in a one foot
spot, is going to be high lux in that spot. A 100 lumens spot is much
brighter than a 60 watt led lamp, within the spot area. I never buy LEDs
unless color temp is specified.

Greg


Yes, but all you will see will be lumens on specs.
For example,"Old Brooklyn Lantern" advertised on TV says zilch about
output even at their website.

Frank wrote:
On 11/7/2012 7:50 PM, gregz wrote:
"Stormin Mormon" wrote:
Good idea. I've also bought some 110 volt "corn cob" bulbs that were too dim
to be useful.

I got a couple "5 watt" LED lights off Ebay that draw 2 watts of electric.

Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
.

"Frank" wrote in message
...

I'm not buying any more led devices without a lumens quote.
I've got a 21 led lantern you cannot even read by.
OTOH I have a couple of led flashlights with single 3 watt Cree led's
with over 150 lumen output. Flashlights are good enough outside but 60
watt bulbs put out ~850 lumens.

Got to watch out for three things. Lumens, lux, color temp. Lumens is total
light output, no matter how spread out it is. A flashlight in a one foot
spot, is going to be high lux in that spot. A 100 lumens spot is much
brighter than a 60 watt led lamp, within the spot area. I never buy LEDs
unless color temp is specified.

Greg


Yes, but all you will see will be lumens on specs.
For example,"Old Brooklyn Lantern" advertised on TV says zilch about
output even at their website.

All the old spots gave candle power.

Greg

On 11/07/2012 06:39 PM, Stormin Mormon wrote:
I'm not buying any more led devices without a lumens quote.
I've got a 21 led lantern you cannot even read by.
OTOH I have a couple of led flashlights with single 3 watt Cree led's
with over 150 lumen output. Flashlights are good enough outside but 60
watt bulbs put out ~850 lumens.



Here's a MagLite flashlight that puts out 320 lumens:

http://www.maglite.com/maglite_magta..._bezel_LED.asp

With expensive lithium batteries.

Still, if you really need it, the battery cost is not an issue.

Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
..

"devnull" wrote in message
...

Here's a MagLite flashlight that puts out 320 lumens:

http://www.maglite.com/maglite_magta..._bezel_LED.asp

Attribution corrected.
If you have a quote? You didn't write that!

Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
..

"devnull" wrote in message
...

From: "Frank"
I'm not buying any more led devices without a lumens quote.
I've got a 21 led lantern you cannot even read by.
OTOH I have a couple of led flashlights with single 3 watt Cree led's
with over 150 lumen output. Flashlights are good enough outside but 60
watt bulbs put out ~850 lumens.



Here's a MagLite flashlight that puts out 320 lumens:

http://www.maglite.com/maglite_magta..._bezel_LED.asp

Frank wrote:
On 11/7/2012 7:50 PM, gregz wrote:
"Stormin Mormon" wrote:
Good idea. I've also bought some 110 volt "corn cob" bulbs that were too dim
to be useful.

I got a couple "5 watt" LED lights off Ebay that draw 2 watts of electric.

Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
.

"Frank" wrote in message
...

I'm not buying any more led devices without a lumens quote.
I've got a 21 led lantern you cannot even read by.
OTOH I have a couple of led flashlights with single 3 watt Cree led's
with over 150 lumen output. Flashlights are good enough outside but 60
watt bulbs put out ~850 lumens.

Got to watch out for three things. Lumens, lux, color temp. Lumens is total
light output, no matter how spread out it is. A flashlight in a one foot
spot, is going to be high lux in that spot. A 100 lumens spot is much
brighter than a 60 watt led lamp, within the spot area. I never buy LEDs
unless color temp is specified.

Greg


Yes, but all you will see will be lumens on specs.
For example,"Old Brooklyn Lantern" advertised on TV says zilch about
output even at their website.

I always get these thing screwed up..

http://www.theledlight.com/lumens.html

Greg

On Wed, 7 Nov 2012 09:25:52 -0800 (PST), jon van duinen
wrote:

I just bought a 5 pack of 9 led flashlights for $5. I looked at a 60W equivalent light bulb and it was $15. Why is there such a difference in price between LED flashlights and light bulbs?
Simpler current control for one - larger sales volume for another -
and no regulation like UL to meet.

On Wed, 07 Nov 2012 12:08:16 -0600, bud--
wrote:

On 11/7/2012 11:25 AM, jon van duinen wrote:
I just bought a 5 pack of 9 led flashlights for $5. I looked at a 60W equivalent light bulb and it was $15. Why is there such a difference in price between LED flashlights and light bulbs?

What is the lumen output of 9 flashlights versus an equivalent 60W light
bulb.
Actually pretty close if the flashlights are 1 watt.

"Frank" wrote in message
...
On 11/7/2012 1:08 PM, bud-- wrote:
On 11/7/2012 11:25 AM, jon van duinen wrote:
I just bought a 5 pack of 9 led flashlights for $5. I looked at a 60W
equivalent light bulb and it was $15. Why is there such a difference
in price between LED flashlights and light bulbs?

What is the lumen output of 9 flashlights versus an equivalent 60W light
bulb.


I'm not buying any more led devices without a lumens quote.
I've got a 21 led lantern you cannot even read by.
OTOH I have a couple of led flashlights with single 3 watt Cree led's with
over 150 lumen output. Flashlights are good enough outside but 60 watt
bulbs put out ~850 lumens.

Exactly right. Lumens are the right way to do light output comparisons.

Tomsic

On Wed, 07 Nov 2012 13:42:34 -0500, Frank
wrote:

On 11/7/2012 1:08 PM, bud-- wrote:
On 11/7/2012 11:25 AM, jon van duinen wrote:
I just bought a 5 pack of 9 led flashlights for $5. I looked at a 60W
equivalent light bulb and it was $15. Why is there such a difference
in price between LED flashlights and light bulbs?

What is the lumen output of 9 flashlights versus an equivalent 60W light
bulb.


I'm not buying any more led devices without a lumens quote.
I've got a 21 led lantern you cannot even read by.
OTOH I have a couple of led flashlights with single 3 watt Cree led's
with over 150 lumen output. Flashlights are good enough outside but 60
watt bulbs put out ~850 lumens.

It's not just the brightness difference of the bulbs, but also the
associated electronics. A flashlight is just LEDs and a few resistors.
A 120v bulb has electronics that have to convert 120 volts AC to a
regulated low voltage DC. This adds to the price. However, I do agree
that the LED light bulbs for the home are still overpriced. They will
come down in a year or two, the same way the CFL bulbs did. Anything
new on the market is always overpriced. Look at the first HDTV prices
compared to what they are today. And I recall when making a cellphone
call cost over a dollar per minute in the early days.

On 11/8/2012 1:33 AM, wrote:
On Wed, 07 Nov 2012 13:42:34 -0500, Frank
wrote:

On 11/7/2012 1:08 PM, bud-- wrote:
On 11/7/2012 11:25 AM, jon van duinen wrote:
I just bought a 5 pack of 9 led flashlights for $5. I looked at a 60W
equivalent light bulb and it was $15. Why is there such a difference
in price between LED flashlights and light bulbs?

What is the lumen output of 9 flashlights versus an equivalent 60W light
bulb.


I'm not buying any more led devices without a lumens quote.
I've got a 21 led lantern you cannot even read by.
OTOH I have a couple of led flashlights with single 3 watt Cree led's
with over 150 lumen output. Flashlights are good enough outside but 60
watt bulbs put out ~850 lumens.

It's not just the brightness difference of the bulbs, but also the
associated electronics. A flashlight is just LEDs and a few resistors.
A 120v bulb has electronics that have to convert 120 volts AC to a
regulated low voltage DC. This adds to the price. However, I do agree
that the LED light bulbs for the home are still overpriced. They will
come down in a year or two, the same way the CFL bulbs did. Anything
new on the market is always overpriced. Look at the first HDTV prices
compared to what they are today. And I recall when making a cellphone
call cost over a dollar per minute in the early days.


Many LED flashlights, (torches to Brits) have some fairly sophisticated
electronics between the LED and the battery. It's usually a small IC
chip in even the least expensive ones to regulate voltage or boost it in
LED flashlights that have a single 1.5 volt battery. The LED replacement
modules for standard flashlight bulbs have the electronics inside the
case which is basically the same size as an incandescent lamp housing.
My little cheap key chain LED lights have an LED and a single 3 volt
lithium battery, my more expensive LED key chain lights have an
electronic circuit between the battery and LED. The LED flashlights that
may only use a resister to regulate voltage are those with three 1.5volt
batteries. ^_^

http://www.bcae1.com/flashlight/flashlight01.htm

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flashlight#LED

TDD

I haven't bought any LED bulbs but I do have a bunch of LED flashlights, and I'd say another factor is making sure that the light output of the bulbs has to be somewhat evened out- if you shine a flashlight on the floor you get a weird (not evenly round) pattern. That's okay for a flashlight, not so okay if you're reading and one part of the page is brighter than the rest of it.

I like fluorescent lights for reading.

Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
..

wrote in message
...
I haven't bought any LED bulbs but I do have a bunch of LED flashlights, and
I'd say another factor is making sure that the light output of the bulbs has
to be somewhat evened out- if you shine a flashlight on the floor you get a
weird (not evenly round) pattern. That's okay for a flashlight, not so okay
if you're reading and one part of the page is brighter than the rest of it.

wrote in message
...
On Wed, 07 Nov 2012 13:42:34 -0500, Frank
wrote:

On 11/7/2012 1:08 PM, bud-- wrote:
On 11/7/2012 11:25 AM, jon van duinen wrote:
I just bought a 5 pack of 9 led flashlights for $5. I looked at a 60W
equivalent light bulb and it was $15. Why is there such a difference
in price between LED flashlights and light bulbs?

What is the lumen output of 9 flashlights versus an equivalent 60W light
bulb.


I'm not buying any more led devices without a lumens quote.
I've got a 21 led lantern you cannot even read by.
OTOH I have a couple of led flashlights with single 3 watt Cree led's
with over 150 lumen output. Flashlights are good enough outside but 60
watt bulbs put out ~850 lumens.

It's not just the brightness difference of the bulbs, but also the
associated electronics. A flashlight is just LEDs and a few resistors.
A 120v bulb has electronics that have to convert 120 volts AC to a
regulated low voltage DC. This adds to the price. However, I do agree
that the LED light bulbs for the home are still overpriced. They will
come down in a year or two, the same way the CFL bulbs did. Anything
new on the market is always overpriced. Look at the first HDTV prices
compared to what they are today. And I recall when making a cellphone
call cost over a dollar per minute in the early days.

Yes, LED lighting prices are dropping fast, but not for every product. The
Philips screw-in bulb that I bought a little over a year ago at HD for $44
is now $25 and the retrofit downlight kits (Cree and many others) have
dropped from $100 to $35. It's the market at work and nice to see, but you
still have to watch out for the junk stuff. And do compare the lumen and
color values so you get what you want.

Tomsic

On Thu, 8 Nov 2012 06:40:12 -0800 (PST),
wrote:

I haven't bought any LED bulbs but I do have a bunch of LED flashlights, and I'd
say another factor is making sure that the light output of the bulbs has to be some
what evened out- if you shine a flashlight on the floor you get a weird (not evenly
round) pattern. That's okay for a flashlight, not so okay if you're reading and one
part of the page is brighter than the rest of it.

One question that I have is this:
Do the LED lightbulbs still have that blueish tint that the flashlights
have?

I know that pure white LEDs exist, but I hear they are very costly
compared to the blueish ones. I have not bought any LED house bulbs
yet.

By the way, I noticed that the police lights on newer squad cars are now
LED. In fact I think they are brighter than the old ones. Our local PD
just bought some new squads with them. I noticed it the other night
when a cop pulled someone over. After he was done, he was on his way
to the donut shop. That's when I asked him how he likes those lights.
He said "they're better than the old ones". He said they are quite a
bit more costly, but they should never need bulbs replaced.

wrote:
On Thu, 8 Nov 2012 06:40:12 -0800 (PST),
wrote:

I haven't bought any LED bulbs but I do have a bunch of LED flashlights, and I'd
say another factor is making sure that the light output of the bulbs has to be some
what evened out- if you shine a flashlight on the floor you get a weird (not evenly
round) pattern. That's okay for a flashlight, not so okay if you're reading and one
part of the page is brighter than the rest of it.

One question that I have is this:
Do the LED lightbulbs still have that blueish tint that the flashlights
have?

I know that pure white LEDs exist, but I hear they are very costly
compared to the blueish ones. I have not bought any LED house bulbs
yet.


They dont tend to cost more, but the rated lumens is less.
Color temp 2700-3000 is a warm white.
Brighter LEDs have tended to be bluish, especially smaller sizes.
To push lumens they compromise, especially flashlights.

Greg


By the way, I noticed that the police lights on newer squad cars are now
LED. In fact I think they are brighter than the old ones. Our local PD
just bought some new squads with them. I noticed it the other night
when a cop pulled someone over. After he was done, he was on his way
to the donut shop. That's when I asked him how he likes those lights.
He said "they're better than the old ones". He said they are quite a
bit more costly, but they should never need bulbs replaced.

I notice the front turn signal lights on newer Chevys not brought enough.

Greg

On 11/8/2012 2:33 AM, wrote:
However, I do agree
that the LED light bulbs for the home are still overpriced. They will
come down in a year or two, the same way the CFL bulbs did.
Lowes now have a 60w replacement for $9.98. The lowest price for a 60w.
I put up 4 in the basement.