Wall Plug Efficiencies of Luminescent LEDs and Incandescent Lights

Overview

Objectives/Goals The objective of my experiment was to determine and compare Wall Plug Efficiencies (WPE) of white, red, yellow, green, and blue LED and Incandescent lights. My hypothesis was based on Planck-Einstein relationship: E = hf = hc/v where h = Planck's Constant, c=speed of light, v=wavelength. White light will be most efficient because white light is comprised of all the primary colors. Wavelengths increase from blue, green, yellow to red, therefore, efficiencies will decrease from blue, green, yellow, to red. Methods/Materials Input power was determined by measuring voltage across the light (the input current was kept constant using a 350mA constant current driver - 3023 BuckPuck). Output power was determined by measuring voltage across a 10kilo ohm resistor that was connected across ground and output voltage terminal of TSL14S Light-to-Voltage Converter. The control was the light itself. The independent variable was the color. The dependent variable was the voltage across: resistor, LED and incandescent light. Results My WPE results for LED lights are: White was the most efficient, then blue, red, green, and yellow the least. WPE results for incandescent lights: Yellow was the most, then red, blue, white, and green the least. Relative WPE (LED WPE/Incandescent WPE) results: White highest, then blue, red, green, and yellow the least. Conclusions/Discussion For LEDs, the results show that my hypothesis should be: (1) Accepted for white and blue lights. (2) Accepted for green and yellow in so far as green is more efficient compared to yellow. (3) Rejected for red light, since red is shown to be more efficient than green and yellow. For incandescent lights, my hypothesis should be rejected since yellow and red had higher efficiencies than white and blue. For maximum efficiency and savings LED lights should be used: White first, then blue, red, green and yellow last. If I were to continue with this experiment, I would compare the overall cost/savings of different colors of LEDs.

Competition history

• CSEF 2014 Product Science (Physical) (Junior Division Only) · Entry J2199

Resources

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