stevenje
Senior Member
- Location
- Yachats Oregon
Any suggestions on a screw-in medium base A-19 LED bulb that can be used in a fully enclosed lighting fixture?
Thanks in advance.
Thanks in advance.
LED bulbs in an enclosed lighting fixture
- Thread starter stevenje
- Start date
- Status
Actually, LED bulbs are safer to use, no massive heat, so safe to use in a fully enclosed lighting fixture. ( But not a very very long time I think )And good for our eyes and health. Just make sure the voltage and fixture are correct.
LEDs produce little heat or UV rays, while traditional incandescent lights emit a large amount of waste heat. And compact fluorescent lamps are reported to generate a multitude of UV rays, which is a potential risk of getting skin cancer.
Because of this benefit of LEDs, LED lights are suitable for objects or materials that are sensitive to heat or UV rays.
winnie
Senior Member
- Location
- Springfield, MA, USA
- Occupation
- Electric motor research
The issue, as the OP is well aware, is that heat kills LEDs, and enclosed fixtures trap more heat than open fixtures.
An LED lamp produces far less heat than an incandescent lamp, but it still produces enough heat to potentially be a problem. The lifetime of the LED elements goes down as they get warmer, and they also get less efficient when they are warmer. The lifetime of the controlling electronics will also decrease.
I noticed that the CREE lamps sold through Home Depot have a very interesting warning on the packaging. "Do not use in multi-bulb enclosed fixtures together with other bulb technologies" No where do they explicitly say 'safe for use in enclosed fixtures', but the warning does imply this.
I rather like these led lamps, but have only used them as a customer for a couple of months.
-Jon
An LED lamp produces far less heat than an incandescent lamp, but it still produces enough heat to potentially be a problem. The lifetime of the LED elements goes down as they get warmer, and they also get less efficient when they are warmer. The lifetime of the controlling electronics will also decrease.
I noticed that the CREE lamps sold through Home Depot have a very interesting warning on the packaging. "Do not use in multi-bulb enclosed fixtures together with other bulb technologies" No where do they explicitly say 'safe for use in enclosed fixtures', but the warning does imply this.
I rather like these led lamps, but have only used them as a customer for a couple of months.
-Jon
- Location
- Bremerton, Washington
An incandescent lamp is a heater that gives off a bit of visible light, 8 % efficient.
LED is about 20% the last time I checked.
LED is about 20% the last time I checked.
TonyBuonocore
Member
- Location
- Upper Darby, PA, USA
LEDs are not approved for use in totally enclosed fixtures.
weressl
Esteemed Member
It seems to me that it would be easy to determine if an LED can be installed in enclosed fixtures.
All enclosed fixtures - in the US - must undergo a thermal testing and the size of the maximum incandescent fixture then stamped on it. Thus the fixture's thermal dissipation is known so it should be easy top detemrine if it is sufficient to remove enough of the generated heat to keep the drive cool enough to last.
weressl
Esteemed Member
That is not correct. For example:
3M? LED Advanced Light for Commercial Applications Brochure states:
"It manages heat so well that our A19 Series bulbs are independently tested and approved for use in enclosed light fixtures."
- Status