Quote:
Originally Posted by Ron99
Also, have you handled one of those spotlights? They are much heavier than a standard spotlight bulb, So it goes back to weight and size. Scale that up to a full array and you end up with a large heavy heatsink if you want to go without fans.
Like it or not,if you want to run a larger array of 3W LEDs at or near full power without having a 50 pound light fixture you need fans.
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I have some of the LED spotlights in use in my house, they are actually about the same weight as the halogens, much lighter than they look. A little bigger but certainly not heavier. The larger size is also due to need to include a driver not so much a result of the heat sink. The size difference is also only noticeable on the very small spotlights, pretty much every other type of house hold bulbs are of equal size.
Keep thinking that if you want but you don't have to add more weight to increase heat sink efficiency. Applying individual finned heat sinks to each LED will not add significant weight and reduce the the need for an additional large heat sink. You could very easily decrease the weight of the fixture with proper design. LEDs don't generate a lot of heat, they are at least 90% efficient meaning a 3W bulb can't produce more than 0.3W of heat which is very little. The reason you need fans is because you're simply bolting one side of the of it to a large aluminum plate which isn't a very efficient way to remove the heat.