LED Landscape Lighting Question

[Bull]

Has anyone used anything like this?

http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=productDetail&productId=21018-251-LZ605RPL&lpage=none

I want to know if the technology is good enough to make this thing actually put out enough light to shine a decent beam. All I want to do is to have one pointed at a flag on my barn, so that I can have it flying at night. I also might want to position a few others around the barn to highlight it. I know from some solar lights my parents had years ago, the light output was FEEBLE, but am wondering if the technology has come a long way by now?

[boiler7904]

Looking at Malibu's website, you are going to get a lot less than 10 hours of run time on a full charge. They say about 8 hours in summer and 4 in winter on a fill charge for New England.

They don't have photometric data on the website so it's hard to see how far it can "throw" light and how intense it will be at a given distance.

Malibu LED Solar Light (http://www.malibulights.com/index.php?action=subcategory&did=2&cid=6&sid=15&pid=lz605)

[Bull]

Because I am a tad bit OCD when it comes to researching before I buy a product, I found a number of reviews on the net of this product, and there are enough bad ones that I now think I will stay away.

I just want to get a light in place so I can fly Old Glory! I initially looked at the local HD for a hardwired LED that could mount on the side of the building and shine down on the flag. I couldn't find anything.

Any suggestions? What do you guys use to light the flags on your buildings?

I have found quite a few small halogen lights locally. But, I am wanting to avoid power-hogs so that I don't spend lots of money on nightly lighting of a flag. Aren't halogens pretty inefficient?

[Moto]

Halogens are between incandescent and fluorescent in terms of efficiency. Maybe you could find a fluorescent with a suitable reflector to shine on the flag.

[ddawg16]

Halogens are between incandescent and fluorescent in terms of efficiency

A true statement but not quite accurate......Moto....don't take this as a flame...but lighting effeciency is one of my hobbies....

In relative terms, Halogens are about 10% more effecient than incandescent....their big advantage is the color spectrum and life....they last about 50% longer than the average halogen.....the halogen gas helps re-deposit tungston moleculs back onto the element.....but only if the bulb is hot enough....which is the reason halogens run so hot...but also aids the light color.

LED's and fluorescent's have about the same effeciency...or basically about 1/5th the energy requirement for the same light output.

LED's have a much longer life but their light output tends to be a narrow part of the light spectrum depending on which color you get....for a given amount of energy, the red LED's put out the most light....

Fluorescents have a broader light ouput (but not as good as incandescent's). On average, their life is around 10,000 hours compared to 100,000 hours for LED's...compared to 2000 hours or less for halogens and incandescents.

I came across a great chart on the web that compared all the lights and their outputs.....you should see where the low pressure sodiums rate....

Anyway....based on the research I have done.....LED's have a ways to go yet before they are ready as general purpose lighting....in both cost and output....you can get the output....but it's going to be expensive......

Fluorescents have come a long way in terms of light color....and for the average home and garage are the best light in terms of effeciency and cost. Their downside is that they tend to have problems working in cold climates.

Halogens being only 10% more effecient than incandescent do not seem a good deal to me especially when you consider the considerable hotter temps they run out....potential fire danger......I have some of the low voltage pucks under the kitchen cabinets....but I think I'll swap those out for something else in the near future.

[mmhouse]

I just use regular 12V hardwired landscape lighting. The uplight fixtures will take a 35W MR16 bulb that can be purchased with various spreads...and put out a lot of light.

Even if your flag was high up on a pole two of these should light it up quite well. Mine is about 10' high and is well lit by a single bulb.

It's also very handy that you can put them on their own transformer and set it to be on from dusk to dawn....as a flag should be lit.

I have a lot of these fixtures around my house and since they are low voltage (I guess) the total power useage is very small. You could even mount them on your wall if you wanted....I converted two landscape lights to wall lights for my storage shed and they work great.

[Kevin54]

Has anyone used anything like this?

http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=productDetail&productId=21018-251-LZ605RPL&lpage=none

I want to know if the technology is good enough to make this thing actually put out enough light to shine a decent beam. All I want to do is to have one pointed at a flag on my barn, so that I can have it flying at night. I also might want to position a few others around the barn to highlight it. I know from some solar lights my parents had years ago, the light output was FEEBLE, but am wondering if the technology has come a long way by now?


I don't think it will be bright enough for a flag for as bright as you may think it would be. Also by morning, you won't have much light at all. My neighbors all have LED solar landscape lights. They start out blue and thru the night get considerably dimmer. By morning they are a dim yellow.

[Stuey]

ddawg16 - great comments!

As for whether these lights will light up a flag - I highly doubt it. These are accent lights meant to identify the perimeter of a porch or to light up a pathway to your front door; they're more for guiding than illumination.

[buening]

No way will they light up a flag, as others have said it's more for accent lighting. LED technology has a long way to go. I've tried LED lighting for taillights and side marker lights on my car and it takes upwards of over 200 LEDs to get a safe amount of light for a brake light. I'd doubt there are over 100 LED's in that so called spotlight, so the result will probably be dissappointing.

[Stuey]

Well, LED technology has come pretty far as it is. Buening, check out the emitters on today's tactical flashlights, and even many consumer models - they are uncomfortably bright. The thing is, they require more power than is musterable (that's not a word, is it) for a solar cell trickle charger.

I am sure that hard wired spotlights lights would be a much better option, even if they are LED equipped.

[Kevin54]

Well, LED technology has come pretty far as it is. Buening, check out the emitters on today's tactical flashlights, and even many consumer models - they are uncomfortable bright. The thing is, they require more power than is musterable (that's not a word, is it) for a solar cell trickle charger.

I am sure that hard wired spotlights lights would be a much better option, even if they are LED equipped.

If you use the LED lights like they use on CSI Miami and Vegas, those suckers light up everything in sunlight at high noon with no clouds:lol_hitti

[Stuey]

Way to highlight my spelling/usage error!! =P

[MAD]

An LED PAR 38 or two in a conventional fixture(s) might work. Something like this:
http://www.ledliquidatorsinc.com/PAR_38_120_LED_light_bulb.php?gclid=CJewtJLcopcCFR JxxwodFUcoeA


edit: The one in the link is not very bright (200 lumens) There may be better ones out there but I would expect them to be pricey.

For comparison, a 90 watt halogen PAR 38 is around 1200 lumens.