JD
Well-Known Member
Ok, there has been a push to convert all of our house lighting systems to LED and, as a conservationist, I have been on board. The side lights, sconces, all the PAR38s, no problem! So, then we came to the hanging lights over the congregation. 14 of them.
Each contained: Three, 75 watt R30 lamps facing up, Three 75 watt A-style lamps to light the body of the fixture, and one big old R52, 500 watt down-light. (total 950 watts each)
Since the up-lighting did nothing, I planed on changing those out to 2700k 11 watt LEDs. It was the down-light that worried me. As fat and inefficient as it was, it still was rated at about 7600 Lumens. I had good luck using the 17 watt PAR38 (2700k) LED lamps in other locations, but they are rated at 920 Lumens. So, for the heck of it, I placed three of them in the former "body light" position (which happened to face down) and put a mogul to medium adapter in the R52 position and put an 11 watt LED in that to light the body. According to my calculations, that would only give me 2760 Lumens of down-light. The PAR38's had a 40 degree spread. The R52 had no beam rating, but looked to be about 60 degrees. With one fixture equipped this way, and the other 13 still with the old lamps, it was time to kick things on and see HOW BAD the output would drop.... Remember, prior total wattage 950, new wattage 95.
So, the new unit is substantially brighter in every way! The down-light (28 feet elevation) is a total blow-away. I do not have a light meter, but it wasn't even in the same ballpark. The beam is somewhat tighter, but not enough in my mind to explain why the unit is so bright. Of course everyone was happy, so I should be happy. My problem is having an outcome that was so different then what I expected! I examined the old R52 to see if the loss was due to blackening or voltage, but they are 120 volts, and there was no real degradation to the reflective coating in the lamp. Just one of those things I guess.
Each contained: Three, 75 watt R30 lamps facing up, Three 75 watt A-style lamps to light the body of the fixture, and one big old R52, 500 watt down-light. (total 950 watts each)
Since the up-lighting did nothing, I planed on changing those out to 2700k 11 watt LEDs. It was the down-light that worried me. As fat and inefficient as it was, it still was rated at about 7600 Lumens. I had good luck using the 17 watt PAR38 (2700k) LED lamps in other locations, but they are rated at 920 Lumens. So, for the heck of it, I placed three of them in the former "body light" position (which happened to face down) and put a mogul to medium adapter in the R52 position and put an 11 watt LED in that to light the body. According to my calculations, that would only give me 2760 Lumens of down-light. The PAR38's had a 40 degree spread. The R52 had no beam rating, but looked to be about 60 degrees. With one fixture equipped this way, and the other 13 still with the old lamps, it was time to kick things on and see HOW BAD the output would drop.... Remember, prior total wattage 950, new wattage 95.
So, the new unit is substantially brighter in every way! The down-light (28 feet elevation) is a total blow-away. I do not have a light meter, but it wasn't even in the same ballpark. The beam is somewhat tighter, but not enough in my mind to explain why the unit is so bright. Of course everyone was happy, so I should be happy. My problem is having an outcome that was so different then what I expected! I examined the old R52 to see if the loss was due to blackening or voltage, but they are 120 volts, and there was no real degradation to the reflective coating in the lamp. Just one of those things I guess.