Re: MR16 LEDs for Landscape Lights

[amakyonin <amakyonin-u1@xxxxxxxxx>]

LEDs are all less efficient than halogen lights (of the MR16 type). If
you research them you will find that they all have fewer lumens per
watt than any comparable halogen. They are getting close to parity
nowadays but they still aren't there yet. Also be aware that some high-
output LEDs like the Luxeon-V have a significantly reduced halflife of
only 1000 hours. This is much worse than any halogen. When you add in
the factor of the price premium for these more exotic lighting systems
it doesn't make sense to use them in any application where a halogen
will work. The newer Luxeon K2 is the first with a useable lifetime
that is long enough to justify the higher cost. If you're still set on
going with LEDs, the only option worth considering right now is a lamp
with a K2 emitter. Don't buy any lamp that you don't know for certain
what type of emitter is used in it. Otherwise, you can't look up its
performance on a datasheet.

I think that a lot of the misconception that LEDs are more efficient
comes from the fact that they don't put out any infrared light that
can be felt when you put your hand in front of them. All of the high-
output LEDs, however, require significant heat sinking and this is
where they dump all of their waste heat to.