zlacker

This is super interesting, and I'd actually be quite interested in buying a 60K-Lumen lamp... but not at $1200.

Years ago, there was an HN article "You Need More Lumens"[1], which in turn led me down a rabbit hole.

I ended up purchasing:

   4 standard table lamps from Target,
  28 2000-lumen Cree LEDs bulbs[2] and,
   4 7-way splitters[3].

The end result is somewhere around 56,000 lumens. And I LOVE it. Makes me much happier in my home office, especially in the winter months.

[1] >>10957614

[2] https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08H4RJQTT

[3] https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01FKIE6M4

>>mmh000+(OP)
Curious if LEDs can really match the black-body that is our sun (and therefore incandescents).

I would get/build such a thing for my mental health, but I worry the LED illumination will be counter-productive.

>>mmh000+(OP)
Just a fun random fact from me: We do need more lumens. Not for normal (non-production) indoor lighting in most situations, however, I always want a bright light for my outside lights, and I find that most 100w-equivalent (1500 lumens) are just not quite enough. 2,000 lumens is almost there, however, 2,500 lumens would be beneficial. Both 2,000 and 2,500 lumen bulbs either don't last in temperature extremes, or are super expensive. The power on time (think hours per day of use) and color of the light matters as well. In my use case, I need a bulb that can withstand long periods of time being run from dusk till dawn. I am willing to pay a decent amount for a guaranteed warranty for X years, however most bulbs of ANY amount of lumens only guarantee 1-3 hours a day for 1-5 years. When you need 7-10 hours a day, well...

>>JKCalh+83
I've found that a 250w incandescent bulb (can be had for ~$10) paired with a 4000 lumen LED produced decent results on a budget. Search for "reptile" or "chicken" lamps, they are usually red. You can feel the HEAT from a 250w light bulb.

The only thing to watch out for is that the lamp base you're using can support the high wattage.

>>eek212+U3
Have you seen the Philips TrueForce Core 40W LED bulbs? Not sure if they're sold in the US, but they're 4000 lumens, "last up to 15,000 hours" (whatever you make of that phrasing). They're quite huge but fit into a normal light socket. Not very expensive either.

>>eek212+U3
I throw 200w led onto my garden. Enough to see where you are but a long way from daylight.

>>eek212+U3
I have a pair of PAR38 LED bulbs from Cree Lighting (2100 lumens) that are rated for 25,000 hours. They're in a flood-light mounted under the eaves of my house.

I never got around to putting them on a dusk-to-dawn timer, so they've been burning 24/7 since I purchased them at the end of 2020 (except for the occasional power outage, of course). I paid $20/each for them.

Sample size of 1 (technically 2), but there are definitely products on the market that meet your criteria.

>>mmh000+(OP)
I did something similar, but a slightly different approach. I installed grow lights in my ceiling conches: amazon.com/dp/B07BRKT56T?ref_=ppx_hzsearch_conn_dt_b_fed_asin_title_1

In my office I have 6 of these, for a total of around 13,000 lumens. It effectively 6x'd my light output for around $150. Worked wonders, especially in the PNW winter.

>>eek212+U3
Relinking what I've already linked in a sibling comment, but I've just started having these die after 4 years of continuous use ~12hrs/day: amazon.com/dp/B07BRKT56T

Interestingly, 4 of the 6 that I had running all died in the same ~3mo period, but still I was pretty happy for 4 years of use for $25/ea.

>>Rychar+K9
Don't know enough about your neighborhood, and I might have misread your comment (the "under the eaves" makes me think these are outdoor)

but as someone who appreciates darkness I'd be really upset to live near someone who did this.

Unless you can keep your light on your property (as in, you are extremely rural).

why are you lighting up outside unless you are outside in the light?

>>eek212+U3
Try looking into videography COBs. I would recommend something like the Zhiyun Molus G300, SmallRig RC 220B or similar.

The absolute cheapest lumens per dollar COB would be the GVM SD300D, although I highly question the reliability and light quality.

>>eek212+U3
Why do you need bright lights on outside all night?

>>mylife+Wg
The lights are indeed outdoor, and cover most of my backyard. It's a neighborhood within a major metropolitan area, but the light doesn't bleed beyond my property lines.

As for the "why", the answer is security. If someone attempts to hide in my yard, they'll find it quite difficult to remain unseen.

Most of my neighbors have floodlights of their own (though mine are easily the brightest), and I've gotten no complaints in the years I've had them. If any of my neighbors voiced concerns about them, I would try to work with them to find a solution. I have to live next to them, so it only makes sense to stay on good terms.

>>ungrea+Yi
In my case, I park a car in my driveway overnight. My lights also help deter anyone who might wander near my neighbor's open carport. I run GE daylight 100w equivalent bulbs purchased from Lowe's from dusk to dawn. They last for years and are cheap. Two bulbs at my driveway and two 60w equivalents on my porch.

>>JKCalh+83
Look for the CRI rating of bulbs that you buy. It's a measurement of how close to a blackbody spectrum the bulb is putting out, the highest fidelity being 100. Note that this is not the temperature measurement, and you can have e.g. 2700K or 5000K bulbs with high CRI.

Newer LED phosphors are typically 90+ CRI, and I commonly find 93 CRI bulbs available off the shelf.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Color_rendering_index

>>syncsy+uo
Sunlight diverges significantly from a black-body spectrum because the atmosphere absorbs so many wavelengths.

>>syncsy+uo
Interesting. The Wikipedia entry mentions SPD and I think that is where I think LEDs fall down—having a skewed and/or incomplete spectrum. Even though it may make certain target colors look correct.

>>mmh000+(OP)
$1200 is a lot, and it would be a straight dealbreaker to me as well. But I also noticed it draws 580W, which is a lot too.

Besides not wanting to waste the money, I doubt the lamp will last 5 years (not 5 years of projected use of XX minutes per day…). 580W converted to heat on a small disk will take its toll.

>>404mm+mv
It is way too expensive for me as well. Yeh, world's brightest lamp is costliest to buy & maintain.

>>mmh000+(OP)
don't worry, there soon will be knock-offs way cheaper

>>Nition+r7
Interesting. 25000 hours actually.

>>eek212+U3
You can derate/"underclock" a regular LED and it will run significantly cooler, heat being one of the big drivers of LED lifespan. Downsides are less output per lamp (so need more lamps, probably why long-life lamps are expensive on a per-lumen basis) and you need to do a bit of DIY.

bigclivedotcom video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ISTB0ThzhOY

>>mmh000+(OP)
You can also buy photographic lights and umbrellas; it's dirt cheap and works well.

>>syncsy+uo
Even high cri lights have a huge blue spike that doesn't match the sun. I don't know what chip OP uses, but you need a full spectrum light if you actually want very sun-like light. This page has some details:

https://optimizeyourbiology.com/best-natural-full-spectrum-l...

No idea if there's any evidence or not of the blue spike actually mattering for human biology.

>>JKCalh+83
I have seen a couple studies that show having/adding deep red is an important part of LED lighting because deep red penetrates your skin the deepest and is used as a signal to your body that it is receiving light/sun.

Personally if I wanted "daylight" replicated by LEDs I would go for a higher quality white grow light that included deep red LEDs. Just be sure you don't get one that is also outputting in the UV range, although most don't.

>>404mm+mv
~100 lumens per watt is rather poor, especially given the cost. It's the same as a standard LED lightbulb, and that includes the miniature AC voltage converter.

150lm/w would make it at least a cut above domestic lightbulbs.

200lm/w would make it a premium product.

>>SPICLK+691
> ~100 lumens per watt is rather poor

Is it, though? Most of the LEDs I've seen are very similar, and lower temp LEDs are slightly less efficient. If it were 60lm/watt I'd be a bit surprised, but 100lm seems pretty typical. Maybe not "well engineered", but average. (Which, with all due respect to the founder, seems the quality of the product.)

>>Rychar+bj
My neighbour has a motion activated flood light. It's annoying. Not annoying enough to risk a feud by telling them though. It also completely ruins any natural habitat for nocturnal animals.

The whole concept of permanently lighting your garden is crazy! Where do you live that you're so worried about people hiding in your yard? Could you not solve that with cameras and an infra-red floodlight?

>>jjcm+Ka
> the PNW winter

It rains only once ... but for six months :)

>>user_7+Xa1
CREE offer a variety of LED types with efficiencies 150lm/w (eg CMB, XT-E), up to 230lm/w (eg, 5050).

While 100lm/w is typical for domestic LED lighting, it's going to cause problems when the total power is several orders of magnitude higher but the form factor is approximately the same size. That heatsink will probably fry an egg, and I wonder about the lifetime of the diffuser plastic.

>>leoedi+zb1
Even infrared is weird to me. Insects and other creatures living in the garden have issues with it, while they are important for a healthy environment ...

>>Nition+r7
It's a literal streetlight. It has the bigger E40 screw, not the standard E27 screw. It has an awful spectrum, it's basically blue + yellow, with a massive gap inbetween.

>>mmh000+(OP)
Costco sells a ceiling light that does 24k lumens for just over $100.

https://www.costco.com/p/-/enbrighten-ultrabrite-hex-lights/...

>>SPICLK+691
fwiw, LEDs with higher CRI will generally be less power efficient, so the premium category has a 3-way tradeoff between brightness, power, and color quality. It's common for high efficiency LED lightbulbs to be much worse at illuminating red objects.

>>antono+jM1
True enough, although CREE's XT-E offers 140 lm/w at a CRI of 80 and a colour temp of 3000k.

I assume this product has not met any regulatory requirements, because selling a ~600W hot plate suspended at eye level cannot be legal.

These LEDs are just the ones found on imported LED strips. Adjustable colour temperature is a novelty that is not compatible with LED efficiency or lifetime.

>>hillac+t51
Kind of what I worry about—the spectrum mismatch. Damn but incandescents sound pretty good for just this one application. I must be (am) getting old.

>>JKCalh+83
Any spectrum you want with the right phosphor mix, but are they commercially produced, or must you make your own?

>>SPICLK+pN1
CRI of 80 is not great. From my reading, you want CRI 90 if you want light that's pleasant to exist in.

>>camtar+A02
Fair point. Given that this product has adjustable colour temperature, I really doubt all of the lumen, CRI and watt values. It sounds like the designer also got stung when the chosen LEDs didn't give the expected power output.

>>SPICLK+691
The 'wasted' electricity is turned into heat, which should be welcome by their target customer base.

>>ortusd+ka2
I can't imagine the customer base for people who want a ~600W metal disc suspended at eye level is very big.

>>fanati+XE1
The problem with lights like that is the CRI[1].

Getting just lumens is cheap. Getting a full spectrum of light is where costs increase.

This is the reason I chose to go with the specific Cree bulbs (linked in original post) that get a 90+ CRI rating

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Color_rendering_index

>>brewda+9l
We have a gated garage in the building, well lit as well, but cars are regularly broken into, bicycles stolen etc. Doesn’t discourage, in fact the light probably helps them do their job, haha.

>>mmh000+5i2
The Costco lights list a CRI of 90 in the user manual.

https://enbrightenme.com/cdn/shop/files/85837_QSG_v4.pdf?v=3...

>>mmh000+(OP)
Related thread I wrote a bit ago: https://www.reddit.com/r/Lighting/comments/1po7sxb/are_there...

I do think it's actually quite hard to beat the Brighter lamp on all of: Lumens, $, QoL (ie: Google Home integration + temp control), Form Factor (ie: not looking ugly), CRI.

I personally noticed issues w/ CRI & Form Factor quite a lot with my previous options.

>>leoedi+zb1
I live in a not-so-great area of town. There were two murders in the last 6 months. One in my neighborhood, and the other in an adjacent public park.

The always-on lighting is a deterrent to anyone trying to hide from police.

>>fanati+RC2
Oh my... Thank you for finding a thing I need to spend money on now. =D

>>SPICLK+4d2
Q: Does it get hot/how is it cooled? A: It's cooled through our large heatsink and ultra quiet Noctua fan. The fan only turns on above 75% brightness. At max power, the heatsink is cool enough to put your hands on it for a couple of seconds.

>>fanati+XE1
I hate dark/dingy basements, so one of my first purchases with my new house was 100k lumen of Costco shop lights. I do find myself cleaning the basement, doing laundry, and working on projects more when the sun starts to set at 5PM.

>>accide+8r1
Oh I see. I can explain my confusion: They come in two varieties, one is E40 an the other is bayonet (B22). Here in NZ interior home light sockets are sometimes E27 and sometimes B22. I have a couple of the bayonet Philips 40W bulbs here and they do fit a normal socket size, so I figured the screw version would be the normal size as well. But I see you're right that it's a larger size, and I know you guys don't use bayonet. Sorry!

>>holler+tp
I didn't want to mention that CRI is matched against the spectrum of _daylight_ because of the confusion that happens with color temperature when you mention the "daylight" word. You're right though, the CRI reference spectrum is matched against sunlight rather than a true blackbody.

>>ortusd+qF3
It's still dissipating near 600W. "I can put my hands on it for a few seconds" tells me it's dangerously hot and would not pass any kind of safety certification. How many other objects do you have in your house that heat up to a similar degree? How many of those objects would you like suspended at eye level with no particular safety guards?