[SML] lights

[Jerry Durand]

For general consumer lighting devices there's three types of LED 
circuits (5 if you include low power lights such as night lights, small 
screw base lamps, exit signs).

The "dimmable" LEDs are designed to turn on/off at 2x line frequency, so 
120 Hz over on that side of the ocean, 100Hz here. These are happy to be 
turned off whenever you wish.

There are ones that are very similar to the ones above, but have a 
storage capacitor added so they don't flicker.  These draw a short surge 
of power on power up, this much shorter than an incandescent heating up 
so as long as you leave them off for maybe a minute or more you're 
saving power.  Also, the inrush surge will slightly heat the circuit so 
leaving it off for that minute or so will make sure it doesn't build up 
heat.  Don't put it on a fast blinker circuit.

Then there are the Switch Mode Power Supply (SMPS) ones.  These have a 
actual circuit board with a transformer.  The light does not flicker at 
all.  These will have a bigger inrush surge but still not like an 
incandescent.  See above for cooling time.

So, in general, turn them off but for most don't use them on a fast 
blinking circuit like a marquee.

On 15-Feb-25 2:09, Don Taco via Stagecraft wrote:
>   I've been curious about something, and I just bet that several of you know the answer.
>
>     I recall, back in the day, when fluorescent lighting was new, various and conflicting advice about what it cost to turn them on and off, and how long you could let them run at less cost than re-starting them, and so on. I never did feel like I had a clear answer.
>
>    But what about LEDs? Should you turn them off as much as possible to keep costs down? Let them run for long periods once you switch them on? What is most cost-effective?
>
>    Thanks again!
>
>
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