Tech Forum

I am going to try to answer your question from the standpoint of a person solving your problem on a contractual basis, and who, therefore, must deliver the best design at the lowest cost. I think that this is the most objective, efficient way to approach the problem and to give you a reasonable answer.

With all due respect, you have left out important — or included ambiguous — information needed in order to arrive at a design which meets your exact needs.

For example, you have not specified any type of physical form factor. Do you want to replace a single 300-watt incandescent bulb, or an array of bulbs emitting 5900 lumens? What do you mean by “fool the human eye into thinking it is seeing a brighter, more pleasant level of lumens.”

Regarding the latter:

White LEDs come in a minimum of two different colors — warm white (color temp. approx 2800K; simulates incandescent output), and cool, or bright, white (color temp. approx. 6000K; just about simulates daylight and fluorescent lighting). These LEDs are very commonplace, being available from, among other sources, www.superbrightleds.com, Amazon, and others. Just make certain you buy from a reputable source which will stand behind its product.

One could certainly design and build for you a light (lights?) meeting your specific requirements, using readily-available 100-watt LEDs (warm white or cool white), along with the appropriate power supply AND — most importantly — cooling. VERY SERIOUS cooling.

As the situation stands currently, my suggestion to you is the following: LED technology, and the LED lighting industry is very mature; so much so that there is no need for an individual, or firm, to waste his or its valuable time designing a high-power LED lamp or lighting fixture which has

  (a) most likely already been designed, or

  (b) which can be easily adapted to the user’s specifications from an existing design of a reputable LED lighting manufacturer (you may be surprised to know that, as of this moment, LED “drop-in” replacement lamps are available to replace standard fluorescent tubes, while providing the very much longer life and very low power requirement of LEDs).

If I were you, I’d start by putting out feelers to companies such as www.superbrightleds.com, who have already designed, and offer for sale all types of lighting solutions.

I realize, as a tinkerer, hacker, and design engineer myself, who loves nothing more than to make something useful out of a pile of components, that this solution is somewhat distasteful.

You CAN design a solution yourself, if the situation warrants. You CAN do it. BUT... if you’re attempting this for reasons other than self-satisfaction, then save yourself time and money, and go with the solution which the experts most probably already have.

By the way, just in case the fact escapes you — Due to the semiconductor physics involved, LEDs at the output level you need do not provide any significant power savings over incandescent technology, or other lighting technologies, for that matter. Three LEDs capable of a total output in the range of 5500 to 6000 lumens will require power of approximately 100 watts each. Total = 300 watts (not including active cooling), the same as the incandescent you want to replace. If you’re thinking that the much longer life of SMALL semiconductor LEDs justifies the transition, you should know that the jury is still out on just how seriously the lifetime of high-powered LEDs is affected by the heat that is generated by the current required for all this super-brightness. Some of the jury think it’s end-game, for now, until there’s a major breakthrough in LED technology.

I recently replaced twelve 300-watt incandescent lamps with LED floods. In my case, it was made easier because the 300-watt lamps illuminated hanging lamp enclosures in a church. The overall purpose was to provide reading illumination for the congregants.

If this application suits your purpose, look at Lighting Science DFN38WWV2NFL120, being a 120V 24-watt PAR38 lamp, 3000K. These lamps, while only rated at 1300 lumens, put all of their light output in one direction —downwards — while the incandescent lamps spread their 5900 lumens all over the room. And they’re dimmable. It was a no-brainer for us because they worked in the application and the electrical demand for the lighting went from 3600 watts to 288 watts.

One on-line source is https://www.1000bulbs.com/product/63140/LED-PAR38242530.html, but your local electrical supply jobber might get you a better price — especially if your state is currently giving rebates for so-called “green” appliances.