LED Lights for the home

Did a quick look about LEDs. There are plenty of unanswered questions because little research has been conducted. The problem of blue LED lights is not the color but the frequency that is on all LED lights. This includes light from your TV, handphone screens, .. LEDs are also being used on in lights

Someone from http://www.ledsmagazine.com/articles/2010/11/light-and-human-health-led-risks-highlighted.html made the following suggestions:

Plus, keep the following tips in mind for your eye protection against blue light:
1. Shorten the time to get the exposure of blue light.
2. Consider a computer eyewear which has the ability to filter the blue light. Like Taime computer eyewear (http://www.halovis.com), I am wearing now and you can also have a try if needed.
3. Rather than switching on the hallway or bathroom lights, use a small nightlight when you need light in the middle of night.
4. Reduce blue light exposure by keeping digital devices out of your bedroom.
5. Reduce the time of playing smartphone and computer, watching TV. Look away from the computer, smartphones, Tablets, kindle, iPod,etc. every 40-50 minutes. You can download an app to remind you the time to free eyes from computer. EyeFoo is an example to make timed period to relax your eyes.


I have a pair of spectacles with Hoya lenses & when I got the spectacles I didn't know that it filters out blue light

http://www.hoya.eu/index.php?SID=54759fadd1ff2902697354&page_id=27007

lifeafter41 said:

Have been to shops that put on the LED lights, always finds it is not bright enough, unlike those filaments or fluorescent lights.
It always gave me the impression that the place is dark...... or does my eye sight got problem.

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The LED lights I am using is not a single bulb but a round ring embeded with many, , many ... surface mounted LEDS. You can get versions which provide 12w, 15w, 18w & 24w. The one I have is rated as 24w & it is damn bright & provides more light than my old 32 watt circular fluorescent tube bulb.

Go to a shop which specialises in LED lights. The shops I went to have the lights on display & I can assure you that they are very bright. Suggest you visit LED ECO LIGHTING & see for yourself.

johnny333 said:

I have the LED light installed in my kitchen. It is as bright as my previous fluorescent energy saving light. The biggest disadvantage with those fluorescent lamps is that they become dimmer over time.

It's a new installation so it is now running great but I worry about the longevity of the chinese product.

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all have llfe light loss factor but LED is not this problem their key problem is the driver which normally will not last more than couple of years at best. there is of course energy saving on comparative scale unless you switch to electronic ballast which can stand on its own feet with LED.

johnny333 said:

That is a good price. Does it include the power thingee & LED ring

I am going to buy a spare in case of problems with my unit. Where did you get it for $6

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if you need some can get from my friend, her travels to china often, my chinaman worker, haha

virus said:

all have llfe light loss factor but LED is not this problem their key problem is the driver which normally will not last more than couple of years at best. there is of course energy saving on comparative scale unless you switch to electronic ballast which can stand on its own feet with LED.

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My unit comes in 2 pieces. A round box where you connect the mains power & from this round box you have small cables that connect to the LEDs.
Is the driver the little power box that is connected to the LED unit

terry1965 said:

if you need some can get from my friend, her travels to china often, my chinaman worker, haha

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I thought you had a lobang from a local source.

Local prices are not that high I've seen one place selling with the wire connectors & a 3 month warranty
15 watt $9.90
18 watt $10.90
24 watt $12.90

Some places only give 1 month warranty & don't provide the wire connectors. You can get those wire connectors from a hardware store for $1.60

johnny333 said:

My unit comes in 2 pieces. A round box where you connect the mains power & from this round box you have small cables that connect to the LEDs.
Is the driver the little power box that is connected to the LED unit

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yes. i have 2 rings of leds and choice of daylight, warmwhite and both

virus said:

yes. i have 2 rings of leds and choice of daylight, warmwhite and both

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Next time I'll ask for the price of the power supply. However at one shop they showed me the various circular LED models & I was told that the newer models came without a separate power supply because it was built into the LED ring. So you only have the ring & nothing else. However the 24 watt model cost over $50 & I wasn't willing to spend that much as the shop only provided a 1 month warranty.

johnny333 said:

I was using those circular fluorecent lights & when one of them failed I took the opportunity to replace it with LED unit. The hardest part of the installation was to remove the old transformer, ballast, tube holder fixture,...
The units I installed looks something like this http://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/Gear-shape-12W-magnet-retrofit-5730_1938036294.html

Curious to know if anyone has tried this type of LED light How long have you had the lights & if the brightness remains constant, or does the light dim over time?

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Go IKEA! They are going LEDs! Very simple to install.

johnny333 said:

I thought you had a lobang from a local source.

Local prices are not that high I've seen one place selling with the wire connectors & a 3 month warranty
15 watt $9.90
18 watt $10.90
24 watt $12.90

Some places only give 1 month warranty & don't provide the wire connectors. You can get those wire connectors from a hardware store for $1.60

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Yes , I have lobang from Local source, as my chinaman travels often to china
dont forget there is also a warrentry of only 6 months, however this product has a warrantry of 2 years.
they also provide the magnet, can be installed in 5 minutes if you have everything ready, connectors, magnets etc
if you want I can sell to you , he will bring in for me by end Dec, however at this low price please collect at MRT station ok.

i taobao LED light from tiongland, well one LED light cost me about sgd 17-18.

i think it is quite bright as compared to normal light bulb.

terry1965 said:

Yes , I have lobang from Local source, as my chinaman travels often to china
dont forget there is also a warrentry of only 6 months, however this product has a warrantry of 2 years.
they also provide the magnet, can be installed in 5 minutes if you have everything ready, connectors, magnets etc
if you want I can sell to you , he will bring in for me by end Dec, however at this low price please collect at MRT station ok.

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Ok thanks.

Oh. I already chose a pair of T'aime glasses to filter the blue light since I have to work on my computer all day long. My eyes can't stand the burden anymore. And I already wear a pair of prescription glasses, I can't ignore my eye problem now. The clip-on is really comfortable to me.

Maybe I ignored the LED light damage for my eyes, so I checked this posthttp://www.taimeopt.com/are-led-lights-harmful-to-eyes/. In summary, it's blue light and light pollution.

Caroline said:

Oh. I already chose a pair of T'aime glasses to filter the blue light since I have to work on my computer all day long. My eyes can't stand the burden anymore. And I already wear a pair of prescription glasses, I can't ignore my eye problem now. The clip-on is really comfortable to me.
View attachment 18201
Maybe I ignored the LED light damage for my eyes, so I checked this posthttp://www.taimeopt.com/are-led-lights-harmful-to-eyes/. In summary, it's blue light and light pollution.

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Hi Caroline thanks for bringing up the topic of eye protection. Must admit that I never considered this :o

Well I took a look at Amazon & found many eye protection solutions out there http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_s...ps,376&rh=i:aps,k:blue+light+blocking+glasses

However if you already wear glasses & thinking of getting a new pair you should talk to the opticians about lenses that provide protection against blue light. I know that I will

While looking into ways of blocking blue light I came across an interesting article that blue light(artificial light) is affecting our bodies melatonin production. This may cause obesity & diabetes
So for you night owls beware.


http://www.health.harvard.edu/newsletters/harvard_health_letter/2012/may/blue-light-has-a-dark-side/


Blue light has a dark side

Light at night is bad for your health, and exposure to blue light emitted by electronics and energy-efficient lightbulbs may be especially so.

Until the advent of artificial lighting, the sun was the major source of lighting, and people spent their evenings in (relative) darkness. Now, in much of the world, evenings are illuminated, and we take our easy access to all those lumens pretty much for granted.

But we may be paying a price for basking in all that light. At night, light throws the body's biological clock—the circadian rhythm—out of whack. Sleep suffers. Worse, research shows that it may contribute to the causation of cancer, diabetes, heart disease, and obesity.

But not all colors of light have the same effect. Blue wavelengths—which are beneficial during daylight hours because they boost attention, reaction times, and mood—seem to be the most disruptive at night. And the proliferation of electronics with screens, as well as energy-efficient lighting, is increasing our exposure to blue wavelengths, especially after sundown.

Daily rhythms influenced by light

Everyone has slightly different circadian rhythms, but the average length is 24 and one-quarter hours. The circadian rhythm of people who stay up late is slightly longer, while the rhythms of earlier birds fall short of 24 hours. Dr. Charles Czeisler of Harvard Medical School showed, in 1981, that daylight keeps a person's internal clock aligned with the environment.

The health risks

While light of any kind can suppress the secretion of melatonin, blue light does so more powerfully. Harvard researchers and their colleagues conducted an experiment comparing the effects of 6.5 hours of exposure to blue light to exposure to green light of comparable brightness. The blue light suppressed melatonin for about twice as long as the green light and shifted circadian rhythms by twice as much (3 hours vs. 1.5 hours).

In another study of blue light, researchers at the University of Toronto compared the melatonin levels of people exposed to bright indoor light who were wearing blue-light–blocking goggles to people exposed to regular dim light without wearing goggles. The fact that the levels of the hormone were about the same in the two groups strengthens the hypothesis that blue light is a potent suppressor of melatonin. It also suggests that shift workers and night owls could perhaps protect themselves if they wore eyewear that blocks blue light. Inexpensive sunglasses with orange-tinted lenses block blue light, but they also block other colors, so they're not suitable for use indoors at night. Glasses that block out only blue light can cost up to $80.

Less-blue light

If blue light does have adverse health effects, then environmental concerns, and the quest for energy-efficient lighting, could be at odds with personal health. Those curlicue compact fluorescent lightbulbs and LED lights are much more energy-efficient than the old-fashioned incandescent lightbulbs we grew up with. But they also tend to produce more blue light.

The physics of fluorescent lights can't be changed, but coatings inside the bulbs can be so they produce a warmer, less blue light. LED lights are more efficient than fluorescent lights, but they also produce a fair amount of light in the blue spectrum. Richard Hansler, a light researcher at John Carroll University in Cleveland, notes that ordinary incandescent lights also produce some blue light, although less than most fluorescent lightbulbs.

What you can do



Use dim red lights for night lights. Red light has the least power to shift circadian rhythm and suppress melatonin.

Avoid looking at bright screens beginning two to three hours before bed.

If you work a night shift or use a lot of electronic devices at night, consider wearing blue-blocking glasses.

Expose yourself to lots of bright light during the day, which will boost your ability to sleep at night, as well as your mood and alertness during daylight.

OK thanks very much. Just collect more and more useful tips now.

johnny333 said:

Hi Caroline thanks for bringing up the topic of eye protection. Must admit that I never considered this :o

Well I took a look at Amazon & found many eye protection solutions out there http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_s...ps,376&rh=i:aps,k:blue+light+blocking+glasses

However if you already wear glasses & thinking of getting a new pair you should talk to the opticians about lenses that provide protection against blue light. I know that I will

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Caroline said:

OK thanks very much. Just collect more and more useful tips now.

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Since I was ordering some stuff from Amazon I decided pruchase the specs that fit over my prescription spectacles. Worried about the LED affecting my bodies melatonin levels since I use an LED monitor. Will see if it improves the quality of my sleep.

I had changed some of my circular fluorecent lights to Led lights early this year.
18 watt cost around $30 at Ubi opposite Car Mart and 24 watt bought at Pasir Ris shop cost $42.
It comes with 2 ring of Led Lights and 3 magnets to attach it with the existing metal plate.
Very easy to fix, don't be confused by so many wires, because of the 'starter'.
After dismantling the transformer and starter, only 2 wires left. Connect these 2 wires
to the Led lights wires and you are done. It will not flicker when you on it because on starter.
You can also test the Led lights by inserting
the 2 wires directly to the 3 pins plug. It needs very little power, I believe it will also light
up by batteries, though I never try it.

Baimi said:

I had changed some of my circular fluorecent lights to Led lights early this year.
18 watt cost around $30 at Ubi opposite Car Mart and 24 watt bought at Pasir Ris shop cost $42......

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Price is now cheaper.

The hardest part of the installation for me was in removing all the parts used by my older fluorescent lighting, because I had to get the tools to remove the nuts holding the transformer & ballast.
The shop where I bought the LED lights did not provide me with the connectors to connect to the house power. I had to get them from a hardware store.

I went to Home Fix & found a product called Wago which looks like this http://www.amazon.com/Wago-222-412-...17364217&sr=1-3&keywords=wago+wire+connectors It is a better solution to connecting wires because you don't need a screw driver. You just have to flip the orange lever. A packet of 3 cost me $3.50.

How to use a wago(compact connectors)

[video=youtube;_KhBoxgyXgI]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_KhBoxgyXgI[/video]