Dumb question probably, but I am unfamiliar with LED lights. Do they get real hot? Say compared to T8's? And are they safe in cold weather, like the winter teens here in Ohio????
Leds make almost no heat, can run in any temperatures you'd be in without a problem as well. You should read up a bit, there's some really amazing things coming out. I have replacement cree cargo lights in my truck that put out ~800 lumens using less than half the power of the stock lights. They make foglights cheaper than HID foglights that make MORE light than either as well.. but it's still an expensive technology.
They need CV/CC power supplies to live a long life. Factor in that every LED bulb has inside of it:
AC-DC converter, most likely a latching power supply fed from a full bridge rectifier
power supply conditioning with 'new style' technology using transistors to supplement capacitors.
Transistor based constant voltage / constant current output per led (sometimes in strings, phillips 3-cree based flood light has 3 separate supplies, 1 for each led.
There's more to the cost than just the LED itself. New style computer-generated free-form reflectors are FAR more efficient at focusing light than older style reflectors. Factor in latest generation LEDS have even better light output, and you'll see lots of engineering goes into these things.. especially US-brand ones.
But, they'll never burnout. The electronics are rated very well and shouldn't die before the actual led..
As technology advances, they'll only get cheaper.. but for now, fluorescent isn't too far behind LED, and is cheaper depending on how you look at it.
Goodluck!
