LED
lighting solutions for the Australian and world wide market
LED light bulbs supplier
Importers / Exporters
FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) About
LEDs
This page contains questions about LEDs in general
and in relation to our products
In 90% to most cases you will find an answer to your LED related question
in this section of our web site..
All the questions we've encountered over many years of business are
on these web pages We have taken great efforts compiling these FAQs and will update
the pages constantly
Please before you use the email - exhaust
the Frequently Asked Questions pages...!
In the very near future, LED technology will advance
to a level enabling a broad range of new home lighting
products.
Previously, the LED has appeared in numerous low
power indicator applications.
For example, a green 5mm LED incorporated into the
speakers on a sound system for a personal computer,
provides a reminder that the sound system has been
left on.
Within the past several years, LED technology has
advanced dramatically
and now provides the possibility for "illumination applications".
Several newer LED products include night
lights, hand
held flash lights, and area
or task lighting.
The benefits of LED technology are most beneficial
in the low voltage ( 12 to 24 volt DC) automotive,
marine and alternative
power areas.
The next level of advancement will include a line
of products incorporating capable of providing an
even higher level of illumination.
Consumers are now seeing traditional fluorescent,
incandescent, and halogen light bulbs being replaced by
high power LED lights.
In fact, some existing technologies have already
extended beyond the limits of most well known LED
applications!
The key to advancement within the realm of LED lighting
starts with a good understanding of LED efficiencies.
The two primary industry standard concepts of efficiency
include, LED power efficiency, and LED cost efficiency.
Power efficiency provides engineers and designers
with a means to calculate and compare various lighting
systems.
Power efficiency, commonly expressed in "lumens
per watt", provides an indication of the total
luminous output,
compared to overall power dissipation of the device.
On the other hand, sales and marketing agencies
tend to focus more on LED cost efficiency.
Cost efficiency, commonly expressed in "lumens
per dollar", provides an indication of luminous
output
compared to actual costs associated with manufacturing
the product.
A truly successful LED product will most likely
feature a combination of superior power as well
as cost efficiencies.
Existing LED technology can provide lumen outputs
equivalent to many incandescent, halogen, and florescent
bulbs found within the home or office.
In most cases, a professionally designed LED circuit
can provide a level of energy efficiency equal to
or better than most traditional light sources.
However, high production costs offset energy efficiency
to the point where overall cost savings only occur
over an extended period of use.
Over several years, a modern LED light fixture in
the home or office will eventually lead to justification
of the initial investment.
However, many consumers are looking for more immediate
results!
Unfortunately, this only becomes possible after
manufacturing costs have dramatically decreased.
There are many legitimate reasons for the high
manufacturing costs associated with LED lighting.
Most traditional light sources produce heat that
is dissipated directly into the surrounding atmosphere.
For example, a 100 watt incandescent light bulb
dissipates a significant amount heat directly from
the glass bulb, and outward into the air.
The light bulb does not require any additional thermal
management.
LEDs operate much differently! Most of the thermal
energy produced during the operation of an LED light
moves in a reverse direction,
downward into the circuit board.
Standard circuit boards feature a relatively high
thermal resistance, and do not transfer heat very
efficiently.
For this reason, designers and engineers must pay
additional attention to thermal management
to ensure that heat can properly dissipate away
from the LED.
Otherwise, the LED and surrounding electronics may
suffer as a result of induced thermal stresses.
Why use internal LED drivers?
Traditionally LED bulbs have been driven using
series resistance, this usually works okay if there
are no external loads applied to the circuit which
may affect it.
If an external heavy load is applied when an LED
bulb is running for example as the compressor or
pump switch is turned on the current and the voltage
immediately decrease.
These dips in voltage and current seriously affect
the lifetime of the LED bulb.
Examples of heavy inductive loads include swimming
pool pumps and large refrigerators, these can cause
traditional incandescent and halogen bulbs to fail
at times.
Constant current LED drivers however have a small
integrated circuit incorporated which sense any
voltage variations within the lighting circuit and
will automatically compensate for any losses.
LED bulbs are infinitely more susceptible to current
and voltage spikes due to their low start-up demand.
Low battery voltages can cause heat buildup due
to increased resistance and high voltages can cause
the LED to overdrive risking premature failure or
dimming.
Also in the manufacturing process, there are sometimes
minute variations in the chemical substrate, this
can cause fluctuations in current demand.
Temperature is also a serious consideration in that
it is hard to control without proper current regulation.
As current increases the temperature correspondingly
rises.
This can cause the voltage to rise across the junction
leading once again to early failure if not properly
regulated.
Over the last six years The LED Shop Australia
has converted nearly all stock to internally driven
products.
Our light bars, marine products
and halogen replacement bulbs now all utilise internal constant
current drivers.
GENERAL QUESTIONS:
About the LED Shop:
Where
is The LED Shop Australia? The LED Shop is situated just outside Herberton in Far North Queensland, Australia.
Do you have a shop where I can see and purchase your products? No we don't have a retail premises, This is how we can offer LED products at such reasonable prices. Our website is updated regularly and has a fully comprehensive list of all stock items.
How long have you been in business? Since 2003 and we've learned heaps !
Do you have catalogues and price lists available? Maintaining a printed catalogue and price list has proved almost impossible due to the fact that we change prices, products and descriptions so often we'd never be able to bring out a current hard copy. Our current price list is available here -- please feel free to contact us if you want more information.
Where do you get your LED lights from? We have several established factories in Taiwan and China. We use US, Korean and Taiwanese chipsets mainly.Some of the best commercial LEDs in the world are now being produced in Taiwan and China is fast catching up.
How do I become a reseller and what are the terms? Most certainly we do encourage resellers to contact us for wholesale pricing. Our business is trade direct to the public from the manufacturer and we do not discount heavily but we will treat each enquiry as an opportunity to quote.
What Are LEDs?
LEDs are light
emitting diodes - in layman's terms they're like electrical
one-way only valves that glow instead of getting hot when
a lot of pressure is put through them.
They simply put out light (glowing photons) instead of heat
like a normal diode on a PCB board.
These diodes are also then sealed in resin to make them
shockproof and waterproof.
This is very different to the traditional filament bulbs
that rely on a very thin piece of wire strung between two
poles that burn very brightly when a current is passed through
it.
The wire burns continuously whilst giving off quite a deal
of wasted heat.
Glass filament bulbs are thin and also fragile which keeps
an industry alive replacing light bulbs.
Advances from VHS to DVD get a lot more attention these
days than cheaper, better lighting although the outdoor
enthusiasts have recognize the incredible potential of LED
lighting particularly in the form of headlamps and torches.
The difference at night time is incredible -you will see
colors truly represented as they are seen during daytime
- spiders and other insects eyes glowing back at you !
How long do LEDs
generally last?
The industry standard for LED is around 50000hrs.
As all things do they will degrade initially up to 10% over
the first 1000hrs of operation followed by a slower rate
of decline to 30% loss after 50000hrs.
Commercially available LEDs are generally blue LEDs with
a fluorescence applied to them and its the fluorescence
that degrades not the chip/diode itself.
It also depends if the LEDs are being "driven"
hard or voltage is variable.
The types of commercial dome-typeLEDs available these days
are called "static sensitive" and can be badly
affected by variations in voltage and current - that's why
they're OK on batteries (if not run too low) but sensitive
to other forms of power like 240vAC/12vAC transformers.
Will flat batteries affect them? Nowadays - no - the new constant current drivers take care
of this problem.
Slowly we've been introducing an 8~30vDC range in nearly
all our low voltage bulbs.
What
about using 240v LED bulbs? Our 240vAC customers certainly using less power when they
use LED bulbs but they are also getting substantially less
light - the new 3x1w available in the GU10 E27 and B22 base are
generally 60% of the luminous output of a 50w halogen bulb.
I
am in the USA. I am looking for comparable LED lighting
for my home. What would you recomend for me? My bulbs right
now are Medium Edison socket 120V 60 watts
We
have produced some new E 27 (Edison
screw bulb) and GU10
bulbs.
They have a voltage range of between
90 and 260 V which allow for both Australian
and US markets.
They are 120° units powered by the latest /3 x1 watt LEDs from Cree and Nichia.....equivalent to 60% of the luminous output of a 50 w halogen bulb
We use Cree's diodes for the Cool White and Nichia for the
Warm White, this has been the most successful combination
so far.
We are currently fitting out a display home here in Australia
with this type of bulb and retail prices for these units
are approximately $40~$45 Australian.
They are the best of the best and fade rates for
these units are extremely low meaning that they should last
for many years giving consistent light output. Australian
GST and Overseas Shipping For Australian customers we charge 10% GST
on all products with a maximum charge of $9.75 shipping per
entire order.
For international customers we use that 10% GST component
to offset the extra shipping charges involved with shipping
internationally.
You pay the same price as Australia for the products but
we charge only $15.00 Australian per entire overseas order
for first-class air mail shipping.
RoHS
stands for Restriction of Certain Hazardous Substances.
More
detailed information on the the website: http://www.rohs.gov.uk/
;Here
some info in a nutshell:
It is aimed to remove six hazardous substances from the
manufacturing process: " Cadmium
(Cd)
" Mercury (Hg)
" Hexavalent chromium (Cr (VI))
" Polybrominated Biphenyls (PBBs)
" Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers (PBDEs)
" Lead (Pb).The aim of the
standard is to restrict hazardous substances polluting the
environment when being disposed of at end of serviceable
life.
Often they are simply just dumped in landfills. The substance
of most significance is Lead as it is the main element in
solders and solder pastes.
Solder comprises 60% Tin (Sn) and 40% Lead (Pb).
The challenge is to find alternative materials to Lead to
make solder.
This is no easy task, there been many attempts to find suitable
alternatives to solder and undoubtedly in the future this
will happen but right now best replacements for traditional
tin/lead solders are copper bismuth and silver.
These have drawbacks which still need to be resolved. " Insufficient
standards for leadfree solder, tin and lead has been used
down through the ages with no equivalent.
" Leadfree solders melt at higher temperatures than
traditional tin/lead solders, this can lead to damage to
the sensitive electronic components.These are targeted
maximum concentrations allowable after ROHS standards have
been applied:lead - Pb
.1% max concentration mercury - Hg
.1% max concentration cadmium - Cd
.01% max concentration hexavalent chromium
- Cr(V1)
.1% max concentration polybrominated
biphenyls - PBB
.1% max concentration polybrominated
diphenyl ethers - PBDE
.1% max concentration
PAYMENTS
How
do I pay you for my order? We accept several forms of payment for our orders
-
you can either order online through our secure server
and
You can pay with Visa/MasterCard,
Bankcard and American Express
or you can pay through Paypal or you can send the funds
directly to our bank account:
NAME
OF ACCOUNT: The LED Shop
BANK: Westpac Atherton - North Queensland
BRANCH NUMBER: 034160
ACCOUNT NUMBER: 171808
Will
you include a tax invoice? Yes - we are a Queensland registered business
and our ABN is 11 873 113 002
Are
my credit card details secure? Yes - our gateway is provided by Verisign and its
on their secure site that you actually place your numbers.
Make sure the padlock in the bottom right hand corner
of your screen is in the locked position.
Regularly check your credit card statement online and
ring the bank immediately you see something which doesn't
make sense.Despite
the media attention given to the miniscule risks of consumers
being defrauded by online merchants, it is nearly always
the merchant who is the victim of Internet credit card
fraud.
The incidence of fraud perpetrated by online merchants
against consumers is fairly rare - how would they get
away with it?
Consumers are typically only liable for the first $50
of any fraudulent transaction, and even this liability
is often waived by the credit card issuers. On
the other hand, credit card fraud can be important depending
upon the online merchant.
We've had a lot of problems from people using stolen cards
and we ourselves must be extremely cautious in dealing
with the public knowing that we the merchants are liable
for 100% of any loss incurred by the greedy banks.
Significant losses are incurred by merchants - especially
sellers of digitally delivered products.
For digitally delivered goods, there is no time to check
out the validity of the information provided by the customer,
and the e-mail identity and address may be as fraudulent
as the credit card number.
We
usually post from here in North Queensland three times
a week although we sometimes post every day depending
on the volume and urgency.
Express Post parcels take about 3-4 working days to states
like WA and 3 days into Victoria and South Australia.
New South Wales is 2 days and Queensland parcels can be
either overnight or next business day after that.
Overseas orders can take between one and six weeks, depending
on the postal service in the destination country.
Am I covered if the parcel gets
lost? If your parcel doesn't show up we launch an investigation
through Australia Post and dependent on the outcome we
replace or refund your money.
In the case where the parcel has been officially logged
as delivered (and you didn't receive it) we cannot replace
these parcels.
If you've elected to send via Registered Post then of
course you (and us) are covered.
Of the very very few parcels that have ever been lost
every one was recovered and delivered.
What
do I do if it doesn't show up? The first thing to do is ask at your local post
office. Often, the postmaster will hold parcels and you
have to go in and ask if there is any extra mail awaiting
collection.If
your postmaster has not received your parcel, either contact
us by email or ring us directly and we will give you a
tracking number, so you can find the parcel's last logged
address. Australian
GST and overseas shipping For Australian customers we charge 10% GST on all products
with a maximum charge of $9.75 shipping per entire order
For international customers we use that 10% GST component
to offset the extra shipping charges involved with shipping
internationally.
You pay the same price as Australia for the products but
we charge only $17.50 Australian per entire overseas order
for first-class air mail shipping.
WARRANTY
RETURNS
Ok
so I have a faulty unit - what now?
Contact info@ledshoponline or Australia 0740962838.We
will replace the item ASAP - just describe the nature
of the failure to us. You will incur no additional postage
fees for warranty replacements.Our
policy is that goods can be returned for either replacement
or substitution....see our link to the warranty
pages
Use
the XE.com®