LeD lighting

[sunnybob]

Forgot to ask....
what colour temperature do you think is best for a workshop?
warm white / white / cool white?
Once upon an older lifetime I used to have north light tubes as the closest to daylight but havent heard that description for many years.

 

[Gerry]

Mike, thats explained a fair bit thanks. But now I'm bogged down in constant voltage or constant current. (lol)

LED's are semiconductors and require a constant current otherwise they will quickly destroy themselves.
If your going to be using led strip then you don't need to worry about current as they have built in resistors (Ohms law) . All you need to have is a beefy enough 12v PSU to supply the required current for the length your using. You can't have too big a power supply as long as the voltage is correct
One of the major problems to overcome is heat. I would suggest sticking the led strips on to some aluminium box or channel to sink excessive heat away. Excessive heat will reduce the life span of the LED's considerably.

Gerry

 

[Gerry]

Forgot to ask....
what colour temperature do you think is best for a workshop?
warm white / white / cool white?
Once upon an older lifetime I used to have north light tubes as the closest to daylight but havent heard that description for many years.

Cool white gives a brighter light than warm white in the workshop but warm white is easier on the eyes and more natural.

Gerry

 

[sunnybob]

I'm learning,
done some more surfing and heres my best guess so far.

I want 5000k and a Colour rendition of more than 90.

Plan A was to just stick them to some thin planks and suspend them above the work areas (appearance of finished work is irrelevant, cost drives everything).
Additional was an idea to stick Aluminium reflective tape to the boards then the leds to the tape to increase brightness. This should (hopefully) aid in heat dispersion.

 

[Gerry]

I don't think that aluminium tape will dissipate much heat. You could stick the strip to any metal object but Ali or copper would conduct the heat more efficiently. If you don't have any Aluminium then use a length of 15mm copper pipe or similar. Good heat management means long life.
make sure you get 5050 size LEDs or you will be disappointed with the light output.

Gerry

 

[Hot stuff]

Screwfix do drivers for £18 or so, used them for years without a problem in domestic situations. I also have led strips in the caravan running directly off the 12volt battery via a panel switch. Easy peasy.
Loads of suitable aluminium profile available if you want to make enclosures but the affordable ones usually come from the Orient which may be a problem in your situation.

 

[sunnybob]

I found some locally. i had to ask though.
Big electrical wholesaler with not a single led on display. i know them well so asked the question, and i got taken up stairs away from the shop floor and shown drawers full of leds, it was like the old mucky book shops of the 60's.

I was getting pressure from the mrs regarding suitcase space on the homeward journey as well so I braced myself and did the deal.
i dont think I did too badly though,
a 5 metre strip of V-tac smd 5050 leds in 6400K
2 x led power supplies
for 42.50 euros (£37.50).

Considering the hassle factor saved, I can live with that. It will also bring my electric consumption down from 290 watts to about a 100 watts or less if I only have one side on.
Got a couple of 3 metre battens to hang them from 4.50 euros (£3.97) so the whole thing comes to under 50 quid, which is what I was originally quoted for a single 900 mm unit..
Just need to find out now how serious I need to be about shedding heat because i thought leds didnt produce any?

 

[woodenstx]

Mike, thats explained a fair bit thanks. But now I'm bogged down in constant voltage or constant current. (lol)

LED's are semiconductors and require a constant current otherwise they will quickly destroy themselves.
If your going to be using led strip then you don't need to worry about current as they have built in resistors (Ohms law) . All you need to have is a beefy enough 12v PSU to supply the required current for the length your using. You can't have too big a power supply as long as the voltage is correct
One of the major problems to overcome is heat. I would suggest sticking the led strips on to some aluminium box or channel to sink excessive heat away. Excessive heat will reduce the life span of the LED's considerably.

Gerry

These LED tapes dont really chuck out much heat at all.
I've a 5M run that pulls around 1.1Amps on full bore, so thats about 13.2Watts. Id reckon, as its an older set, that its around 30LED/M, so thats 0.08W/LED

A modern LED may pull a bit more but its marginal, and not like the CREE LED torches that do dump a ton of heat out but they are running bonkers power

 

[sunnybob]

i've got one section of 2.5 metres up and working. Very pleased with it. At first it looked a bit anaemic, but i had to get used to the difference. I've removed 3 x 70 watt warm white spots and fitted this which appears (on paper) to be about 30 watts all in.

The other run needs some work before I can mount the batten
Thanks to all who tried to help.

 

[Bodgers]

I'm learning,
done some more surfing and heres my best guess so far.

I want 5000k and a Colour rendition of more than 90.

Plan A was to just stick them to some thin planks and suspend them above the work areas (appearance of finished work is irrelevant, cost drives everything).
Additional was an idea to stick Aluminium reflective tape to the boards then the leds to the tape to increase brightness. This should (hopefully) aid in heat dispersion.

Heat isn't a huge deal with the majority of these strips as the diodes are spread over a wide area. They have a long life span because of it.

The LED GU10 mains bulbs are the worst as the driver (generating heat itself) is bolted into the same unit as a tightly spaced group of LEDs.



Sent from my MI 3W using Tapatalk

 

[sunnybob]

I ended up with 6500K waterproof, which is a bit of overkill for my workshop, but time and pressure made me compromise. The starter unit is completely seperate from the led strip so i'm hoping for no problems.

 

[MMUK]

Ignore lumens, its a BS statement, and thats before you get into chinese lumens :lol:

300/5M is about the minimum you want, 600 would be dandy but (obviously) doubles power consumption on the same run
Not see 4 side by side before, they tend to be single rows

No, 300/5m would be SMD 5050 chips, 600/5m will be SMD 3528 chips. Although you get less per meter, the 5050 chips are much higher output than 3528. They are actually better in both terms of lumens and efficiency.

 

[MMUK]

I'm learning,
done some more surfing and heres my best guess so far.

I want 5000k and a Colour rendition of more than 90.

Plan A was to just stick them to some thin planks and suspend them above the work areas (appearance of finished work is irrelevant, cost drives everything).
Additional was an idea to stick Aluminium reflective tape to the boards then the leds to the tape to increase brightness. This should (hopefully) aid in heat dispersion.

The only noticeable heat will be from your power supply. As LEDs are directional beam, the alu tape won't serve any purpose.

 

[sunnybob]

got it working fine. ended up with two runs of 2.5 metres on the batten over the main bench.not as fierce as the spots, but lovely to have no shadows anywhere.

Most likely will do the same again for the other side in january