Lights "flash" every 30 seconds to 1 minute.

[apostolakisl]

Wow . . .

 

To both brand name and price - I will need to take a few moments and review what benefits these bulbs offer. I would like to think they offer something really special in terms of looks, design, color rendering? For that kind of money they better be sipping 1/2 watt when turned on!

Well, the pleasant guy, who I like and respect, but who I think is a little nuts about his house, is super impressed that they dim to 1%.  Other than that, the ones he put in look like standard halogen recessed lights.  I asked him how many times he has dimmed the incandescent lights in his current house to 1%, and he kind of changed the subject.

 

I want to say that these are the lights he installed.  http://www.luciferlighting.com/Products/Recessed/2RP-FD-1-LED

 

I'm also pretty sure that if there are issues, that he is stuck with them.  The cans and ballasts and stuff are proprietary.  It would be a challenge to change brands.

 

If you look at the gallery and see the Whistler, BC house, his house has a lot in common with that one architecturally.  

[Teken]

Thanks for the link based on the resources provided the users manual indicates a 1-5 warranty period? The five year covers LED driver and lamp module - what does that mean in plain English?!?

 

Does that mean the entire assembly?

 

I'm asking because there are lots of things inside of a LED bulb and the fact they are specifically calling those two items out there must be a reason. Then, they say there is only a one year warranty period on all Lucifer provided components?

 

Then, the famous ask the factory for full warranty guidelines . . . 

 

With respect to the whole 1% your right there isn't very many people who will ever define a load to hold at 1-5%. My take away is and see benefit for the whole dim to 1% is that a person can expect this LED fixture to offer the closest incandescent experience. That is very much the holy grail of LED lighting that something offers smooth, steady, with out chop, stepped, noise, hum, buzz, injected line noise into the electrical / air system.

 

All of the bulbs I have state a smooth transition from 100 - 5/10% I believe.

 

I know if they could fade from 1-100% and reverse back from 100-1% that would be really cool. Because the whole blink off at 5-10% sometimes kills that mood lighting. Probably the only thing that offers me that give is the fact all of the lights just transition from X to Y so smoothly that its acceptable to me.

 

I think all of those new LED bulbs that now offer that imitation warm glow which changes intensity based on power output is the next best thing since sliced bread. I haven't seen too many low costs bulbs that do this with out some kind of fault. When I say fault in our HA realm of things - for those less demanding and just want some random light that offers the same I am sure its just fine.

 

But since so many of us have invested so much time on power line communications its something that must be tested and considered.

 

Much thanks for the insight its always great to see what others are using . . .

[larryllix]

Looks like one feature is to mount the ballast separately and away from the bulb heat but inside an insulated ceiling box the heat is the total of both anyway.

 

The larger size probably helps to disapate more heat through R-60 insulation and may help extend bulb and ballast life.

 

My guess would be he has trouble with the interior lights in the insulated ceiling first, and has few or no problems with uninsulated ceilings (lower and outside).

 

I did have cooling fans in one fixture in my ensuite ceiling heat lamp. Hopefully those doesn't have to come into play.

 

Makes me really think about using my perimeter lighting more. It is much more relaxing anyway.

[apostolakisl]

Looks like one feature is to mount the ballast separately and away from the bulb heat but inside an insulated ceiling box the heat is the total of both anyway.

 

The larger size probably helps to disapate more heat through R-60 insulation and may help extend bulb and ballast life.

 

My guess would be he has trouble with the interior lights in the insulated ceiling first, and has few or no problems with uninsulated ceilings (lower and outside).

 

I did have cooling fans in one fixture in my ensuite ceiling heat lamp. Hopefully those doesn't have to come into play.

 

Makes me really think about using my perimeter lighting more. It is much more relaxing anyway.

None of his fixtures are mounted into insulated boxes.  He has "attic" everywhere with the insulation sprayed on the roof deck.  This is how my house and office are as well.  I put "attic" in quotes because he has an essentially flat roof and most of his attic is only a couple feet.  But none the less, it is still inside the insulated envelope of the house and will not be much above 80 degrees at any time.

[larryllix]

None of his fixtures are mounted into insulated boxes.  He has "attic" everywhere with the insulation sprayed on the roof deck.  This is how my house and office are as well.  I put "attic" in quotes because he has an essentially flat roof and most of his attic is only a couple feet.  But none the less, it is still inside the insulated envelope of the house and will not be much above 80 degrees at any time.

Interesting. This must not be in a very cold climate. I had thought you mentioned Whistler, BC

 

Our roof rafters would rot out in ten years without ventilation, if somebody did that.

We require ventilation of our roofing lumber and with humdity and heat control venting the insulation would be in outside air. Non-natural fibre construction is an option for flat roofs.

 

Some here have very low slope roofing but run into problems with wood rot down the road due to poor air chimneying. Different climate.

 

Sure makes it easier to install after-market ceiling items though.

[apostolakisl]

Interesting. This must not be in a very cold climate. I had thought you mentioned Whistler, BC

 

Our roof rafters would rot out in ten years without ventilation, if somebody did that.

We require ventilation of our roofing lumber and with humdity and heat control venting the insulation would be in outside air. Non-natural fibre construction is an option for flat roofs.

 

Some here have very low slope roofing but run into problems with wood rot down the road due to poor air chimneying. Different climate.

 

Sure makes it easier to install after-market ceiling items though.

No, the Whistler BC house in the Lucifer website is the same style of architecture as my neighbors.  

 

Spray foam insulation to the roof deck I'm pretty sure is common in all climates.  While the attic isn't officially conditioned, it gets all the leakage through the uninsulated/unsealed ceiling of the rooms below it.  I'm in Texas where we mostly deal with heat, with highs above 100 being common for a month or more.  My attic is typically in the low to mid 80's on days like that.  We don't get too much cold, but we will get down into the low 20's at least a handful of nights during the winter.  Attic on those mornings will be in the 60's.  It is quite nice.  I keep all kinds of electronics in the attic as well as tons of other stuff and don't have to worry about the harsh temps.  I think in cold climates they use closed cell on the roof deck applications to keep the roof deck itself from getting house humidity from percolating through open cell and condensing on the decking itself.

 

The house down the street is using a commercial roof membrane.  It works, just like all the millions of actual commercial buildings with flat roofs.  Leaks happen as things age and deteriorate or if they aren't done right in the first place, just like with any style roof.