More on LED Strips for lighting

When is there enough light?

After my last post I managed to source LED strips that are in the 5000K to 5500K range and very agreeable to the eye.

After a discussion with a bunch of friends at an operating session recently re the LED's vs Fluro's I did some more testing over the weekend.

 

Now I know the colour I want / need, the next key issue is much much light is enough light, ie what is the light reading from each of the solutions such as Fluro's vs LED Light strips.
The key to this whole thing is a light meter. Where can I loan one from.. Then I did a search on the Apple Apps store and found a light meter app for my iPhone (for free!). YEY!..

While is may not be 100% accurate, it will be close and it does give me a relative reading for each solution.

So here is what I found:
The fluro's when tested at main deck level (being 1m from the fluro to the main deck) read out at on average 2,500 to 3,000 lux. (These are the cool white Fluro or 4000K)

The single strip of LED's when measured from the main deck to the bottom of the valance being 600mm read out at 400lux (These being the 5500K LED Strips that we will from now on call Pure white)

If I add all 3 strips of LED's (cool white, Pure white and warm white, remembering that the colour of the light is not the issue here but what I happen have have on hand) I get up to 950lux

If I add the warm white and the pure white I get to 500 lux so OK for kitchen work and meeting table lighting.

If I add the cool white (read that as the blue 6500K one) and the pure white then I get to 600lux so about the same as the 2 above but more light.
The app recommends what the light level is suitable for.

Also see the pic with the common values.

Basically my fluro's are at about 3,000 lux or 3kLUX that is basically daylight
With 3 rows of LED's it is enough for studio lighting at around 900 lux.
400 lux is about sunrise / sunset, and a bright office.

So the million dollar question is, how much light is enough?

I did my tests at the level that the main deck will be and not at the base board level (as the light would be less at the 1100mm mark compared to the 1400mm level.)

I have now enlisted the help of a friend that has already used LEDs on his layout to do some light testing and see what he counts as acceptable light from the Iphone app.

So if 3 rows of LED's are needed (all the same colour) then the hyp pocket is still happy as it is still cheaper than having to use just Fluro's

3 rows of LED's is just under $500 where as 26 x 1.2m fluro's is $780 (@$26 each)

 

I will keep researching!...