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Simply put, watts are the amount of energy dissipated by an electrical circuit. For example, in
a traditional light bulb, the more power dissipated the more light energy emitted. A 150 watt bulb will provide
more light energy than a 7 watt night light but, this is not the entire story of light energy dissipation. When we
step outside of the traditional light bulb to fluorescent tubes, halogen bulbs, and LED light sources we find that
these light emitters do not hold true to the basis of measured power dissipation. If two light emitters, halogen
and fluorescent are rated at 100 watts of power dissipation, why is the light output so different? Simple, how
much energy a light emitter can dissipate has nothing to do with how much light it can emit or what the quality of
the emitted light will be for the intended application, i.e... plant light, office light, or display lighting.
In the beginning, LED light emitters were rated by the amount of light energy emitted (typically a thousandth
of a candela MCD at a given current). This was fine for "white" light LED emitters however, some LEDs such as
those used in your TV remote do not emit light visible to the human eye, so those LED light emitters were
measured in milliwatts of power. Most entertainment center remotes emit a very bright light; bright enough to
change the TV channel from 20 feet away in a brightly lit room, yet you cannot see this light with the human eye.
Simply put, rating the effective power of a modern LED is still very subjective today. To say that one LED is
brighter than another simply based on how much power it consumes prior is misleading. Some companies may
boast that their LEDs will dissipate 1 watt, or 3 watt, or even 15 watts of power, thereby implying bigger is
better. The back story is that an LED is only bright until it burns out. A poorly designed 3 watt LED product may
produce a lot of light for a relatively short time, then die. Or, that same light might produce a much lesser
amount of light for a much longer time. It all depends on the implementation of that 3 watt LED, and proper
implementation costs money, something most manufacturers are not willing to accept.
So, why use 3 watt LEDs in a product if you’re only going to drive them at 1 watt or less power dissipation?
Simple, it looks good on paper, and in print, bigger is better right? Now, going
back to that home entertainment center remote in your living room, and
changing your favorite channel. Most remotes use a simple pair of lowly 3mm
or 5mm LEDs to project that much light across a brightly lit room. Why a pair?
Not for the added light, but because they can be aligned in a “V” to widen the
light emitted so you don’t have to point the remote exactly at the
entertainment center, just the wall.
So, watts the point here; I thought bigger was better? LED power usage,
watts, has some correlation to light output, but not as much as most
manufacturers place on it in advertising. Proper product and circuit design is
the true test of product value, as well as designing a product to best serve its
intended application. While it's true that a plant will grow under any light
source, plants absorb very little green or yellow (wavelengths that appear
brightest to the human eye); plants prefer light wavelengths that would be
poor light sources for lighting a room. Wavelengths of light most absorbed by
plants are least visible to the human eye. A plant will absorb these
wavelengths into their leaves, leaving very little light energy to be reflected
back. Watts are only a measure of power dissipation (usage) and not an
actual value delivered as plant lighting.
--SolarOasis
a traditional light bulb, the more power dissipated the more light energy emitted. A 150 watt bulb will provide
more light energy than a 7 watt night light but, this is not the entire story of light energy dissipation. When we
step outside of the traditional light bulb to fluorescent tubes, halogen bulbs, and LED light sources we find that
these light emitters do not hold true to the basis of measured power dissipation. If two light emitters, halogen
and fluorescent are rated at 100 watts of power dissipation, why is the light output so different? Simple, how
much energy a light emitter can dissipate has nothing to do with how much light it can emit or what the quality of
the emitted light will be for the intended application, i.e... plant light, office light, or display lighting.
In the beginning, LED light emitters were rated by the amount of light energy emitted (typically a thousandth
of a candela MCD at a given current). This was fine for "white" light LED emitters however, some LEDs such as
those used in your TV remote do not emit light visible to the human eye, so those LED light emitters were
measured in milliwatts of power. Most entertainment center remotes emit a very bright light; bright enough to
change the TV channel from 20 feet away in a brightly lit room, yet you cannot see this light with the human eye.
Simply put, rating the effective power of a modern LED is still very subjective today. To say that one LED is
brighter than another simply based on how much power it consumes prior is misleading. Some companies may
boast that their LEDs will dissipate 1 watt, or 3 watt, or even 15 watts of power, thereby implying bigger is
better. The back story is that an LED is only bright until it burns out. A poorly designed 3 watt LED product may
produce a lot of light for a relatively short time, then die. Or, that same light might produce a much lesser
amount of light for a much longer time. It all depends on the implementation of that 3 watt LED, and proper
implementation costs money, something most manufacturers are not willing to accept.
So, why use 3 watt LEDs in a product if you’re only going to drive them at 1 watt or less power dissipation?
Simple, it looks good on paper, and in print, bigger is better right? Now, going
back to that home entertainment center remote in your living room, and
changing your favorite channel. Most remotes use a simple pair of lowly 3mm
or 5mm LEDs to project that much light across a brightly lit room. Why a pair?
Not for the added light, but because they can be aligned in a “V” to widen the
light emitted so you don’t have to point the remote exactly at the
entertainment center, just the wall.
So, watts the point here; I thought bigger was better? LED power usage,
watts, has some correlation to light output, but not as much as most
manufacturers place on it in advertising. Proper product and circuit design is
the true test of product value, as well as designing a product to best serve its
intended application. While it's true that a plant will grow under any light
source, plants absorb very little green or yellow (wavelengths that appear
brightest to the human eye); plants prefer light wavelengths that would be
poor light sources for lighting a room. Wavelengths of light most absorbed by
plants are least visible to the human eye. A plant will absorb these
wavelengths into their leaves, leaving very little light energy to be reflected
back. Watts are only a measure of power dissipation (usage) and not an
actual value delivered as plant lighting.
--SolarOasis
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