http://www.micromark.com/bright-white-led-flexible-light-strip-5-meters,10717.html?ns_md=Email&ns_sc=Marketing&ns_cn=12WS049&ns_pc=12WS049&utm_source=Marketing&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=12WS049
Has anyone tried these LED lights? Are they best for structure (interior) lighting or overhead layout lighting? They are quite a bit more expensive than rope lighting but appear to have many more lights per strip. How is the quality of the lighting.
These look very interesting, but the cost is still very high. You are getting 960 lumens of 5000k lighting per meter - a total of 4800 lumens of light. A 5000k 13 watt CFL will put out 800 lumens - I can see putting them in 'tight' spaces, but for valence or layout lighting they may not be what you want. They are on strips and you can cut them into 3 LED segments - they just need 12 volts to feed them. Normally I would think you can find them on the Internet far cheaper than Micro-Mark - but a quick search of SMD5050 LED found them priced at about $100-$150 for that 5 meter/300 LED strip.
This is interesting - I was looking at LED lamps last week at the local Menards - they were about 3 times more expensive than CFL's and most of the time they had 1/2 the lumens of light.
Jim
Modeling BNSF and Milwaukee Road in SW Wisconsin
5000K is bluish/white light. Not a very pleasant color.
Kyle
Joe Staten Island West
5000k is a 'daylight' rating. 6500k can be a little harsh. I use 5000k or 'full spectrum' CFL's in my work area - it's like working outside. Normal 'run of the mill' CFL's are usually around 2700k - a very yellow-ish light like an old incandescent lamp. I am thinking about using 5000k CFL's in track lighting forthe new layout. The present layout is using standard dual 40w tubes in a fixture. As they needed replacement, I purchaded color corrected tubes for daylight. I tried the filters that slide over the tubes, but they really cut the amount of illimination and are almost as expensive as new color corrected tubes! About the olny good thing with the filters are that they cut the IR spectrum so you do not have fading. Maybe that is important in a store display that is on all day, but for a train layout that sees maybe 5 hours of light per week?
Someone posted in the Layout section on his progress, a very nice layout, and he has a section that is double decked and installed LED lighting It looks quite nice. Not at all cheap looking, but it wasn;t exactly cheap, either. Main benefits though are no heat and it will last forever. Even CFL bulbs get pretty warm, so having a row of them under upper deck benchwork can get mighty warm.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
Search on New York&Long Branch and you will find the post. Jerry used 5 meter strips with 150 LED's rated at 5500k. He bought his from www.TheLEDLight.com....