Evolution of LED lights

LED lights have advanced significantly from 2010 – 2014, as can be seen in the photo to the left. The older bulbs put out very little light and were blue in colour compared to today’s technology that is a suitable replacement for everyday household bulbs.

A single LED chip is very small and emits a small amount of light. A number of chips are combined together to increase the light output. This led to the development of LED strip lighting which made the most of the characteristics of LED lights. However this does not work so well when you are trying to replace a traditional light bulb.

LED chips were originally encased in glass. A number of these were mounted next to each other in an attempt to provide sufficient brightness. This gave a bubble effect to the bulbs and earned them the nick name “corn cob bulbs”. Combining many small bulbs was an attempt to make the bulbs bright enough.

These LED bulbs produce too little light and are NOT a viable replacement for a 50w Halogen

Surface mount LEDs were the next step in the technolgy continuing to use a number of LEDs to generate sufficient brightness. With no reflector it is difficult to focus the light and the white colour is more difficult to replicate with no lens to alter the colour characteristics. Surface mount LEDs were a step forward in the technology and are still used today in some bulbs where a large surface area is possible.

These LED bulbs produce too little light and are NOT a viable replacement for a 50w Halogen

Advances in the brightness of LED bulbs reduced the number of leds required to generate sufficient light. But there was a downside high powered LEDs meant more heat to dissipate. Keeping LED chips cool is very important to prevent the LED from melting. Initially large heatsinks were required which meant the bulbs were much larger than the bulbs they were to replace.

These LED bulbs were a different size and are NOT a viable replacement for a 50w Halogen.

Phillips went as far as installing minature fans in their bulbs to keep them cool. The use of fans added to the cost and complexity of the bulb. While Phillips is a world leader in LED lighting this idea proved to be very costly to manufacture and required a fan running which would impact on the reliability of the bulb.

These LED bulbs were very expensive ($80 each) and are NOT a viable replacement for a 50w Halogen

Advances in heat sink design allowed the bulbs to be reduced to the same dimensions as a standard bulb. These bulbs incorporated small reflectors for each LED to focus the light as well as a lens to protect the chip and modify the colour of the light output. Finally LED bulbs were becoming viable to replace traditional bulbs. Savings were significant over traditional bulbs.

These bulbs were the FIRST viable replacement for a 50W halogen bulb but used at least 12w of power.

The latest evolution in LED bulbs uses a light source at the base of the lens and makes full use of the reflector, in the same way a traditional bulb does. Colour can also be adjusted in the base of the bulb as well allowing the use of a clear lens on the bulb. Affordable LED provides the latest technology LED bulbs which are significantly more efficient than previous versions of the product. The electronics in the bulb have also improved significantly so they can be used with existing transformers and dimmers.