What does LED stand for?
LED stands for Light Emitting Diode.
Is a LED a bulb?
LEDs do appear to be bulbs but in fact are not. LED's are tiny semiconductors encapsulated in plastic which protect their components and help focus the light.
What is the difference between an incandescent bulb and an LED?
Incandescent create light by use of a filament. When power is applied, the filament glows, generating heat, in turn, producing light. LEDs are the opposite. LEDs create light though a "cold process", when power is applied to semiconductors (usually gallium, arsenic and phosphorus) they're stimulated by the movement of electrons; thus creating photons, the light that is visibly seen by humans.
Do LEDs have a wire filament?
No, LEDs operate using entirely different components. LEDs are diodes; they only allow power to move in one direction. The anode (+) is where the current comes in and the cathode (-) is where the current goes out, much like the positive and negative terminals of a battery. Incandescent bulbs project light in every direction (omni directional) where LEDs due to their package design and layout, project light in specified directions such as 20, 50 or 120 degrees.
Why do LEDs use such little power?
LEDs do not use a filament where a conductor is heated and light is created. Filament based lighting consumes more power than the light produced. LEDs produce very little amounts of heat and do not use filaments making them far more efficient in consumption and output.
Do LEDs produce heat?
LEDs produce very little amounts of heat; the heat noticed in some instances is due to on board components and other factors of the circuit. In comparison to incandescent, LEDs produce a fraction of the heat. If LEDs are hot to the touch, they are being overpowered due to improper circuitry.
Can LEDs be damaged if hooked backwards?
Yes, they can. LEDs being diodes, only allow power to pass in one direction. To ensure that you will get the most life out of our LED devices we add additional circuits to prevent this from occurring in both AC and DC applications.
Are there differences between LED manufacturers?
Yes, there are. We use Nichia brand LEDs and have found through testing and usage that other brands create varied results and staggered outputs. Nichia licenses their LED technology to other companies to develop other LED types but SailboatStuff have found that Nichia manufacturers superior LEDs which yield consistent results.
Are LEDs affected by extreme conditions?
LEDs are geared for harsh environments. LEDs function from -40 F to 180 F; there is no delay or required "warm-up" time for LEDs to function.
Do LEDs attract insects?
No they do not. Insects see entirely different spectrum of light and are attracted to ultraviolet light. A side note, flowers create "nectar guides", invisible to the human eye, ultraviolet light attracts insects to flowers for reproductive purposes. This is not to say that all bugs aren't attracted to LED lights but most can't see the light that LEDs produce.
How long do LEDs last?
LEDs are rated by manufacturers to operate under normal conditions for approx 10 years or 100,000 hours of continuous use. As LEDs get older, they tend to dim and fade but aren't susceptible to blinking like incandescent or fluorescents.
LEDs are more expensive than other lighting options, why?
LEDs can operate as stand alone devices, but when grouped or clustered they require additional steps to operate properly. LEDs need proper components such as a circuit board, driving components and some cases, housings; to endure the elements. LED circuits can be designed rapidly yes, but to ensure that they will operate correctly and for long periods of time they require testing. Although this process could be automated, SailboatStuff would have to compromise quality in production and forfeit custom assembly entirely.
Will LEDs evolve?
Yes they will. LEDs are rated in luminous and radiant intensity, measured and best described in millicandellas [MCD]. In 1998 Nichia released a 2,200MCD, in 2002 output jumped to 5,400MCD; then in 2004, 6,400 and 9,400MCD units were released. Now in 2005, an 18,000MCD LED has been released. LEDs, like semiconductors will become smaller and more efficient as time passes. The next step in LED development will incorporate organic materials into LEDs similar to Organic LEDs [OLEDs].
Q.LEDs are more expensive than other lighting options. Why?
A: LEDs can operate as standing alone devices, but when grouped or clustered they require additional steps to operate properly. LEDs need proper components such as a circuit board, driving components and some cases and housings to endure the elements. LED circuits can be designed rapidly, but to ensure that they operate correctly and for long periods of time they require testing.
Q. Can LEDs be dimmed?
A. It's useful to think of an LED as a current-driven device. Instead, pulse width modulation presents a technique to safely dim an LED from 0 - 100% of its' nominal brightness. By pulsing the LED with current, and varying the duty cycle of the current waveform, the LED rapidly transitions between on and off, and the relative times spent give the impression of being dimmed.
Q. How do you get more light out of an LED?
A: LEDs are made by a process that deposits the junction materials on a substrate material. One of the limitations of LEDs is that imperfections in the material deposited on the substrate reduce the efficiency. Improvements in the manufacturing process have given us brighter LEDs, as have new junction materials.
To a certain extent, you can also make the junction larger to get more light. But you can't extend that very far, mainly due to those imperfections. Their accumulated effect prevents a junction from growing much bigger than a square millimeter. So we won't likely see larger LED junctions without some advance in materials science to overcome that limitation.
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