Originally Posted by bkrownd
I read what you wrote. You wrote "LED are worse headlights", "they're poor seeing lights", and "LED aren't better than halogen now". These are opinions, based on a limited number of parameters, but you presented them as if they were general facts. I was pointing out that that isn't the case.
Well, I'll take your word for it, that you read what I wrote. But you don't seem to understand it, I'm sorry to say.
I was as clear as I could be about the halogen vs. LED comparison. And nowhere did I say, without qualification, that "LED are worse headlights".
I did say "they're poor seeing lights", but they are. That's not an opinion, unless we're talking about owls riding bikes. That *is* a fact.
The above quote is obviously in error. The commercially available luxeon lights (EL500, SuperSpot) are 1 Watt right now. A 4 Watt halogen will drain the batteries at least 4 times faster. The average 10 Watt halogen will drain the battery at least 10 times faster.
Huh?
Look, you have to compare like with like. What are you saying? A ten watt halogen bulb will drain a battery ten times faster... than what??
Comparably powered LED and halogen systems, with comparably bright bulbs, have closer runtimes than you believe. That too, is a fact.
Since I didn't say the el500 had a brightness adjustment, I have no idea why you're pointing out that there is no brightness adjustment on it. All I said about that light is that I've got one. (There's that reading problem again...) That light *does* vary in brightness, however, with battery life. And it only lasts about six hours in the brightest mode. I know-- again, I've got one. It *does* last a lot longer in dimmer modes, though, but those modes are good only for being seen. And yes, they are.
That is a BIG difference, if you ask me. The EL200 you mention is a small fraction of a Watt - there is NO WAY on Earth that it can possibly consume 4-6 Watts.
Small fraction of watt? God. The El200 is a *six volt* light. How many amps do you think it draws at its maximum brightness? No, it's not .01amp. It's about .5amp. So, true, it's not a 4w light, it's about a 3w light.
But it won't last at maximum brightness vastly longer than a 3w halogen light-- and certainly not *three times* longer. It won't last even twice as long, *at that brightness*. And, for that three watts, you get more lumens at a time with halogen than you do with the LED. That's the point.
I've said it before, but as there seems to be some trouble understanding what I'm saying, I'll repeat it. Commercial LED don't provide more lumens per watt than halogen. They just don't. Not yet, anyway.
LED last longer than halogen given a particular total battery energy (watt-hour), but not that much longer *at a gven brightness*.
The reason LED have such long run times is because they become dimmer, but still run on those weaker batteries. Halogen, on the other hand, do in weak batteries very quickly.
Again, these are just the facts. Why does all this hurt people's feelings? And why don't you just look into this yourself, instead of arguing with me about it? Sheesh.