Quote:
Originally Posted by hellosailor
(...) Philips and Sylvania are among the many companies now making LED lights that replace conventional screw-in 120VAC bulbs, and while the prices for anything over 60W-equivalent are still outlandish, they've gotten the light color and distribution very nicely matched.
One of the differences between a cheap 25c LED and a $10 LED are the beamspread. The cheap LED may have "the same" brightness as the expensive one, but the cheap LED has that brightness over a 15-20 degree cone, while the expensive one may be a 120-degree cone. You get 36x more light form the one with the 120-degree cone, even though the "brightness" of both may be the same. (...)
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Where we are a USD 10 LED bulb is actually the cheap one. Various 'marine' makes are trying to sell us 'better' LEDs which tend to fall between USD 15-25 per unit. The 25c LEDs I do not even touch - the amount of light they give and the temperature of the light are completely unacceptable to my eye.
I have not seen the 120-degree cone LEDs yet in shops. I think 60-degree is the best we can get now (here).
The reason why I favour 12V LEDs over 220V fluo is that in our
small boat any modern fluo gives TOO MUCH light for the job at hand - good in harbour (and no
inverter required). Also, an inventer is yet another item that can fail and so a 12V LED system makes plenty of sense
offshore.
b.