LED Bulb Comparisons

Feb 6, 1998
11,665
Canadian Sailcraft 36T Casco Bay, ME
They could be from different manufacturing runs, of the same design, from different manufacturing plants. A lot of companies outsource actual production, and the circuit board design is identical as are most of the components. It is like when a computer manufacturer uses Western Digital harddrives for one production run, and then switches to Maxtor or Seagate harddrives for the next batch because the WD drives were more expensive or not available. Almost identical specifications, but slightly different components.
With LED bulbs there is a process called "binning" or "bined" bulbs. This binning is a process of careful selection of the bulbs based on certain specs and matches output, color and a number of other factors. Bined LED's cost significantly more money and are generally used by the higher end bulb manufacturers. There are also BIN grades. Orphan bulbs are the ones that don't meet the various BIN criteria and they sell for very, very little money when compared to hand selected binned bulbs for use in higher quality bulbs from the likes of reputable manufacturers. I know Sensibulb buys top quality bulbs as does Marinebeam and I also know that both companies reject entire lots...

While the bulb looks identical the research I have put into this over the last month or so falls more in line with what Jeff from Marinebeam said above. While the physical board and electronics may actually be assembled in the same factory they can still be built and assembled to different spec. One bulb may get the top quality binned bulbs another might get mid quality bined bulbs and yet another might get orphan bulbs which meet none of the binned requirements. From what I've learned SMD orpah bulbs can sell for as much as 80-90% less than a quality binned bulb so it stand to reason why a company selling orphan bulbs can also sell the entire bulb for considerably less..

I've ordered yet another bulb to add to the mix. This time it's the big brother to the Marinebean MR-11-6. it's called the MR-11-10 and it sells for 27.95. It has 10 SMD LED bulbs on it, as opposed to six, and I'm guessing it will compare nicely to the Sensibulb but for about $9.00 less.



By the time I'm done I'm going to have to buy more light fixtures for my boat!!;););)

P.S. Still waiting, day seven, on the bulb from Superbright LED's. Their shipping and delivery is poor IMHO. I received both the Sensibulb and the Marinebeam products within one day or two days on standard ground shipping which means they both ship the same day..
 

Bob S

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Sep 27, 2007
1,771
Beneteau 393 New Bedford, MA
Maine Sail,

I just want to say thank you. this has gone way beyond good advise. I'm guessing you've got some serious money tied up in this experiment that will ultimately save most of us a lot of money and aggrivation. Again, thanks for all your time and efforts.
 

ChrisP

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Sep 28, 2008
11
Tranc Pac Eagle 32 Goderich, On.
Re: More LED Bulb Comparisons

Thank you for this seemingly unbiased information. I've been considering refitting my 25 year old with this energy saving technology but did not know what to look for.
 
Mar 21, 2004
2,175
Hunter 356 Cobb Island, MD
Update on LED's

Got to the boat this weekend and looked at the difference between the standard halogen bulb that came with the boat and the LED's. Picture is the interior of Java with the LED lights, which I purchased from Cruising Solutions and found out that they are really MaineBeam bulbs. I've replace 8 bulbs and when all are on, I only saw an increase of .7 amps. With the halogens the draw was 5.9 amps. A almost unbelievable difference.

From the picture you can see there is plenty of light almost too much. When I installed the halogens I was so excited about the current, I forgot to take a comparison picture.
 

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Nov 16, 2008
1
Hunter 27 Edge GA
Re: More LED Bulb Comparisons

Thank you for the great comparisons and ordering information. I'd like to make a correction to the current consumption percentages you calculated. You said:

"Current Draw is as follows:

20W Halogen = 1.745 amps
10W Halogen =.87 milliamps
Sensibulb = .194 milliamps
MarineBeam = .158 milliamps
Dr. LED = .138 milliamps


To put it in perspective one 10W Halogen bulb uses 48% more electricity than does one Sensibulb or one 20W halogen uses 89% more electricity than the Sensibulb which was the highest drawing of the LED's tested."

First, the halogen values are both in amps, not milliamps (ex: for the 10 W Halogen, 12v x 0.87A = 10.4 Watts). The values for the LEDs also appear to be in amps (ex: Sensibulb, 12v x 0.194A = 2 Watts - this is about 20% of the 10W Halogen with somewhat more light emitted - about right for a superbright LED).

Using your examples of 10W and 20W Halogens compared to the Sensibulb LED:

Percentage comparison = 100 x (20W Halogen Amps) / (Sensibulb Amps) = 100 x (1.745/0.194) = 899%! In other words, the 20W Halogen consumes about 9 times more current (and power) than the Sensibulb!

Doing the same thing for the 10W halogen gives:
100 x (10W Halogen Amps) / (Sensibulb Amps) = 100 x (0.87/0.194) = 448%, or the 10W Halogen consumes about 4 1/2 times more current (and power) than the Sensibulb!

So, the difference in current consumption is really huge! The percentages you listed implied that the Halogens consumed a little less than twice the power of the LEDs.

Switching to LEDs means running the lights for 4 to 8 times longer on the same battery charge. Or adding more lights to get 4 to 8 times the light on the same battery charge.

LEDs are the way to go. They are nearly indestructible, have no filament to break, and provide reliable, consistent light for years and years.
 
Feb 6, 1998
11,665
Canadian Sailcraft 36T Casco Bay, ME
Thank you for the great comparisons and ordering information. I'd like to make a correction to the current consumption percentages you calculated. You said:

"Current Draw is as follows:

20W Halogen = 1.745 amps
10W Halogen =.87 milliamps
Sensibulb = .194 milliamps
MarineBeam = .158 milliamps
Dr. LED = .138 milliamps


To put it in perspective one 10W Halogen bulb uses 48% more electricity than does one Sensibulb or one 20W halogen uses 89% more electricity than the Sensibulb which was the highest drawing of the LED's tested."

First, the halogen values are both in amps, not milliamps (ex: for the 10 W Halogen, 12v x 0.87A = 10.4 Watts). The values for the LEDs also appear to be in amps (ex: Sensibulb, 12v x 0.194A = 2 Watts - this is about 20% of the 10W Halogen with somewhat more light emitted - about right for a superbright LED).

Using your examples of 10W and 20W Halogens compared to the Sensibulb LED:

Percentage comparison = 100 x (20W Halogen Amps) / (Sensibulb Amps) = 100 x (1.745/0.194) = 899%! In other words, the 20W Halogen consumes about 9 times more current (and power) than the Sensibulb!

Doing the same thing for the 10W halogen gives:
100 x (10W Halogen Amps) / (Sensibulb Amps) = 100 x (0.87/0.194) = 448%, or the 10W Halogen consumes about 4 1/2 times more current (and power) than the Sensibulb!

So, the difference in current consumption is really huge! The percentages you listed implied that the Halogens consumed a little less than twice the power of the LEDs.

Switching to LEDs means running the lights for 4 to 8 times longer on the same battery charge. Or adding more lights to get 4 to 8 times the light on the same battery charge.

LEDs are the way to go. They are nearly indestructible, have no filament to break, and provide reliable, consistent light for years and years.

Thanks for catching that! I originally had the 448% and 899% numbers in my post, and then second guessed my math because it looked too good to be true and it was very late and my daughter had run off and hidden my calculator. Needless to say I changed it.

What I meant to say is uses 4.8 "times" or 8.9 "times" the electricity instead of 48% percent or 89%. Whew !!:doh: Again thanks..


Here's what it says now..

Maine Sail said:
To put it in perspective one 10W Halogen bulb uses 4.48 times (448% more) electricity than does one Sensibulb and one 20W halogen uses 8.9 times (899% more) electricity than the Sensibulb which was the highest drawing of the LED's tested.
 
Jul 24, 2005
261
MacGregor Mac26D Richardson, TX; Dana Point, CA
Peskly i's and t's...

Dratted i's and t's thing has haunted me since 1st Grade... My wife has the problem too....

It is closely relate to what we call the "order of magnitude principal".... She has been known to toss out a number... accurate to within an order of magnitude or two... Been known to knock me clear off a chair at times when she does it.. BUT... I have the good sense to ignore myself when I do the same thing....

Seriously... the research is great.. The comments too....

This topic has implications far beyond our boats.. WAY FAR BEYOND.. I appreciate the serious hard work all have put in - and it makes me stare at (1) my home and how I use power... and (2) my electric bill to actually divide "useful" and "wasted" power.... It is a very sobering thought..

--jerry
 
Feb 6, 1998
11,665
Canadian Sailcraft 36T Casco Bay, ME
I updated the original post

I have updated the original post to reflect two new bulbs. I added the Superbrite LED MR-11 WHP6 and the Marinebeam G4/MR-11-10.

I had to re-shoot all the bulbs to be fair and just finished updating the photos. Unfortunately I had moved both the tripod and the test fixture so to be to treat all bulbs the same I just re-shot them..

The Suprebrite bulb looks absolutely identical to the Marinebeam but the light output, light color and the current draw are two give away clues that it is not the same bulb using the same quality SMD LED clusters. It is however a good price at $14.95 if you can stand the color..