This shows my first try at using LEDs to make a night light. It consists of a plastic pipe end cap with holes drilled in it to hold the LEDs. The holes are drilled at an angle in an attempt to cause the LEDs to shine away from the wall. The LEDs themselves are the kind without lenses. They are mostly flat on the end. This means the LEDS provide a fairly diffuse light.
The picture makes the LEDs look as if they are yellow. They are actually red. There is no particular reason for the use of red in this case. I just like red.
This night light is currently in use in my kitchen. It lights up the counter top so I do not have to turn on the main light when I want to make a sandwich. It works quite well. Any glare is blocked by a microwave oven that hangs above the counter.
This is a view of my first attempt make a night light for the bathroom. It is another set of LEDs stuck in a plastic pipe cap. The idea here was that I would put the light high up on the wall. The LEDs would shine on the ceiling and the light would be diffused. The LEDs are mounted off to the side to make it so there would be no location in the room where the LEDs could be seen directly. I learned from the kitchen light that directly viewing a small intense light source in a dark room was a bad thing. LEDs need to be shaded/diffused.
The colour of the LEDs here is white. The theory is that in the bathroom it is sometimes important to be able to tell how stained the toilet paper is. As it is hard to predict exactly what colour such stains would be white is a safe choice for this application. These LEDs are the flat type without a lens.
This light suffered from a bright spot of light on the light coloured wall and electrical plate adjacent to the LEDs. This was unpleasant in the otherwise dark room. This light is now retired from service.
posted at: 20:46 | path: /ledlight | permanent link to this entry