Try Any LED Lighting Sold As RGB

Good things will be discovered here. Please read on as this is in order as-tried, and things will become more sensible. 

I received these 8/17/2018, via Amazon:
LED Recessed Lighting, 4 inch 10W RGB Recessed Light Color Changing w/Remote Control LED Ceiling Panel Light 4 Pack 

Here are my photos .
They come in a silly-big box, rattling about.

Within a pan, not thin, this isn't an edge light.

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I can see that the light has a diode board half the diameter of the lens. Fired as white light, it is quite dim, not illuminating, not glaring at center. I do wish to know what diodes are used.Perhaps they are the SMD 5050 readily and inexpensively sold upon flexible strips. If SMD 5050 this could have been packaged as an edge light with turning acrylic a reasonable 5 mm, 0.2" thickness.

A petite remote is included for each light, and one would control all in a room. All settings but W, are silly. To use the remote with included battery, pull out the acrylic insulator. Yes, all of the buttons work.

It's just a toy. I will return these undamaged. At least I can now do a return, of stuff volunteered from China. No free return shipping though. I will get to experience free returns now offered at one of the two Amazon stores in metro Portland, Oregon.

Dismissively, disrespectfully, I boxed the return without a comparison test of illumination. Thinking better of that, here are photos another early morning before dawn. See that placement of the "light" at stand LHS, is difficult, tied on with a shoelace, pulling apart the flimsy retention springs.

At stand RHS, a 4" Glimpse, 450 lumens, 3000°K phosphor of blue LEDs. It is 5:42 AM, with 6:18 AM sunrise. The RGB white light, or perhaps is is blue diode with little phosphor, is perhaps 100 lumens. The seller made no claim of brightness. The mix gives quite-true paint illumination. The RGB light works in white mode by default, the remote dead with installed battery insulator.

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Now it is 6:10 AM, eight minutes before sunrise. There is weak outdoor light from the East (left) and from the West (right).  The stand luminaires are on at full power. Light conditions are changed mainly by an overhead Nicor DLS10 , 830 lumens 3000°K, above  the right edge of the stand target The overhead light overwhelms the little RGB. There must be quite a bit of Eastern sunlight from the left. I struggle to understand the interactions. 

Now study this odd but interesting RGB luminaire:

ZONO Dimmable Brightness Adjustable E27 5W 27 5050 SMD LED Light Corn Style Bulb Lamp 

This again is an Amazon purchase, received 9/5/2018.

Here is my comparison stand setup. At LHS, 4" Glimpse, 3000°K, 9 watts, 450 lumens. At RHS and elevation of the Glimpse, Philips EcoVantage 1490 lumens, 72 watts, equivalent of "100 watt" incandescents now banned. Also at RHS, above the Philips bulb, the feeble Zono bulb. Comparison works best when a match of light output is achieved.  I know that the 4" Glimpse is a good match to a "100 watt incandescent."

Fully dimmed, I am able to photograph the still-pretty RGB diodes, above the very-orange incandescent. See the three soldered connections to each diode.

At full power, the two bulbs at RHS cast overlapped shadows at LHS similar to the brightness of the Philips bulb alone.

Screw out the Zono bulb to deenergize. See the expected equivalence of 4" Glimpse and the Philips "100 watt incandescent." Where the RHS shadow behind the 4" Glimpse was less-pretty with the Zono bulb in service, conclude that the Zono bulb improves the spectrum of light vs. that with only the Philips bulb. 

Now remove the Philips bulb at RHS. Move the Zono bulb to the level of the 4" Glimpse. Judge that forward illumination ot the Zono is less than 100 lumens, at excellent illumination color match to 100 watt incandescent. All chocolate coloring; no redness.

In this close-up view of the Zono bulb, draw circles,  the 5 mm diameter of the phosphor, and three 0.6 mm circles at points of equal bright-white intensity, perhaps individual equal-size diodes, R, G and B, emitting red, green and blue. I don't know how phosphor, or Color Correcting Element, CCE, diameter in general corresponds to diode size, but imagine size of the R, G and B diodes adds up to that of the usual blue-emitting diode. 


The Zono has 7*3 + 6 = 27 diodes. 

If total output is 100 lumens, and phosphor or CCE diameter of 5 mm is correct for statement of diode luminance, that luminance number is:
100/ 27(0.7854*5*5) = 0.19 lumens per mm2. 

Compare this to diode luminance of the 4” Glimpse, computed with rectangular CCE shapes area.
450/18*3*5 = 1.67 lumens per mm2.

I suggest that the Zono bulb is under-powered vs. potential, by an order of magnitude.

The Zono has reported 5 watts draw, and I measure 4 watts with a Kill-A-Watt meter.

100 lumens / 4 watts = awful 25 lumens per watt. Perhaps the Zono is fired inefficiently, and could emit times-ten light, at only times four or times five, power draw.

Distracted Again By Color Changing LEDs at Home Depot

Yesterday I put these two boxes of Home Depot LED can light inserts, on a VISA card. Surely they are awful for my needs, and will be returned.

A customer in a 1970 home with dozens of can lights loaded with dim 65 watt incandescent floods, will not be served by either of these. Other options are being employed, the low-glare doubling of illumination with Commercial Electric 74207 set at 3000°K, and in the main, simple bulb replacement with Maxlite Dimmable LED BR30 Lamp 11W 3000K 11BR30DLED30/G2 . Please pay heed to this link for good BR30 bulbs, 3000°K. Stores, strangely, stock BR30 LEDs with only the ugly 2700°K and 4000°K. I bother a reader with this 5-colors contraption review, for referral to better choices. Call these "5/ 6 inch five colors," and "4 inch five colors."

Color changing, the boxes say. Five choices: 
Warm White (2700°K)
Soft White (3000°K)
Neutral White (3500°K)
Bright White (4000°K)
Daylight (5000°K)

Each box costs $24.97 for four can inserts.
1002 936 217, UPC 93690 56333 is the larger, for 5 and 6 inch cans. 700 lumens, 9 watts.
1002 936 200, UPC 93690 56331 is the smaller, for 4 inch cans. 650 lumens, 8.5 watts.

4 inch LED tied to test stand LHS.

65 watt incandescent at test stand RHS.

A color setting must be chosen before installation, and most happily I imagine, would be 3000°K. The ugly blue colors of absence of light in early dawn, are generally unnatural and gloomy.

At stand RHS, swap in newly-received Maxlite Dimmable LED BR30 Lamp 11W 3000K 11BR30DLED30/G2 .

5/ 6 inch five colors 3000°K at LHS vs. the BR30. See that BR30 is brighter, with higher color temperature (prettier). The BR30 has a smaller dimming range, but is clearly the lower-cost, better choice.

BR30 still at RHS, swap in Commercial Electric 74207 set at 3000°K, at LHS. See that the 74207 is prettier color perhaps 3200°K, has better dimming range, costs a bit more, but is a better choice despite being a bit odd with its large very low glare lens. Learn to like the color rendition of 74207 with alternating 2500°K and 4000°K diodes edge tape maybe 3200°K average. I don't know if I have done right for my customer, thinking to cheaply finish replacement of awful 65 watt incandescents in another two dozen can lights not configured to accept trim springs. The retrofit then involves positioning and screw-attaching C-clips . The customer will decide whether I use the BR30, or more of the big low-glare 74207. I will add here, a report of that decision.

Where simple replacement of 65 watt incandescent flood bulbs, with BR 30 LED is mentioned as maybe inferior to more-difficult swap of 74207 big plates, find encouragement of the simpler choice in this older set of comparisons: MaxLite BR30 vs. Other Lights .