In a drive to reduce our carbon foot further (in addition to the
Wood Burner project) we have invested in
LED flood lights from
City Electrical Factors. We have started off with just 4 - because I am
still unsure of low energy lights, as most have failed in a short time and one a
halogen failed after 3 days! - I know LED lights are a different technology from
CFL's (Compact Fluorescent Lamps) and they only get slightly warm so hopefully
will last close to the manufactures quoted life.
We have lots of halogen flood lights, in fact if they are all on in the 3
barns and yard, we were using over 5000 watts of electricity!
In the Lambing barn we started out with 3 flood lights each 500 watts,
so here we using 1500 watts or the equivalent of a
kettle boiling for many hours at a time. To save electricity when the halogen tubes
need replacing we changed them for 300 watt tubes. But now we noticed that the
lamps fail often (Cheap as Chips from China), it is hard to find light bulbs/tubes or many
other things that
last now.
So we decided to buy LED flood lights. The equivalent of a 300 watt
Halogen is a 30 watt LED lamp. They are very expensive compared to the old
halogens but will save energy/money and me climbing a ladder to replace the
tubes as the LED lamps have a life expectancy of 50,000 hours or over 4166 days!
So at 8 hours a day or should that be a night the lamps may last 17.1 years.
As opposed to 2000 hours the halogen lamps. We have installed a 10 watt LED
outside to light up the path to house, I am amazed how bright it is. But LED
light is very different from Halogen light, I think brighter.
Here is one of the new LED lights installed along side one
of the old halogens just before it was removed. The LED is a bit bigger and a
lot heavier - I used coach screws not screws! Also the new lamps are on a fly
lead so you need a junction box to connect them instead of connecting them
inside the lamp fittings.
These lamps are manufactured by Tamlite Lighting in the UK
The first LED was switched on today 12 December 2012
We liked the lights so much we have bought another 10 watt
to replace the one on the front of the big barn.
The Halogen flood lights that were replaced by the energy
efficient LED lights, so we have gone from 2500 watts down to 110 watts.
This lamp is on the front of a high barn, they do look
bright. This is one of the 10 watt versions- it lights up most of the
upper yard.
06/01/2013 the LED lamps have been installed 20 days during which they
have been running for less than 3 hours a day but even if they had
been running 24 hours a day I would still have 4146 days before they fail!
10 February 2018 all lights still working
UPDATE 10 March 2018 first 10 watt has started to
fail I spoke to CEF and they said that the lamps only have a 3 years
guarantee even though they are rated at 50,000 hours.
Elsewhere I have said that the LED lamps should
have lasted over 15 years. but the guarantee is only 3 years I am not sure
if we made any saving by installing LED lamps
This is the Lambing Shed which has the new LED lights, only
3 are used to light a large space, the roof is about 15 feet high.
