[thelittlemrs]

We have put LED bulbs almost exclusively in the new house and have not had any issues. Be sure to look for a "color temp" in Kelvin of "warm" (~2700) otherwise you will feel like you are in an operating room. We use the Cree ones that are dimmable and sold at home depot.

[Vicegrip]

When they started switching stop lights over to LED the same issue came up. Blowing snow would pack into the lights and stay. The cure was to add heaters to the fixtures that come on when below freezing and wet conditions are noted. Rethinking is all that is needed sometimes. Placement the transformer in better locations to dump what heat is made where it does some good and the like.

Right now I am rebuilding 400 Watt MH wall packs using LED retrofit kit and they kick ass. Takes about the same time to convert to LED as it does to swap out a ballast, cap and bulb. ROI is measured in months for lights that are on for all dark hours. Once done no more yearly relamping and hunt and peck burned bulb replacements. No He bulb recycling costs ether. LED is not perfect in all places just yet but you are nuts to use incandescent in almost any location where LED can be used. I try and increase the total output and color rendition when converting to LED. Right out of the box people are wowed by the look and that covers my butt when the big ass lighting purchase line item shows up on the monthly budget report. They don't see what comes in the future, less electricity used or non future bulb purchases.

No real knock on Big Ass. They package a slick looking product that is well built in many ways and smoothly sold, they might not be the people to talk to when converting a 4X25 watt fixture. If you don't look up much there are other setups that may not be big ass but do kick ass. I have a LED high bay fixture on the ceiling of the home shop that I use when doing small assembly or Tig work on the bench. It is too bright for all day use as it is intended to be mounted 20+ feet in the air not 6 feet from the surface of the workbench. Flip the welding hood down and still see just fine. I am also converting the house to LED. Don't hold yourself just to the selection at the local big box store or elec supply house. There are many sources for lighting and I found it well worth taking the time to get the best "bulb" for the location and use. Device look, shape, output pattern, color and the like can all be tuned to make the lighting just as you like it. Change and done for a long time.

I think our own BMAN is well versed on this subject. Would be good to hear what he has to add.

[Dr K]

A couple of points regarding the above.
The light-bulb part of the LED will run much cooler per lumen, but most of the heat in an LED (or CFL) is generated by the power transformer in the base. If you have a commercial system (like Bman sells) the power sent to the fixture is the right voltage and current already, so they will be very cool, but replacement "bulbs" that are meant to screw into 120V-AC lines need those electronics in the base, which generate heat. Newer bulbs, in my experience, are somewhat cooler than a few years ago, but that's where the heat is generated and might damage your fixture if too hot.

For a garage, I prefer the colder light because it generates more contrast so seems brighter per lumen.

[BMAN]

To answer OP initial question, as long as you don't exceed the max wattage rating of the light fixture, no matter what the lumen output is, you should be find. I assume this is a ceiling mounted fixture in the carport which can be a hazard when you exceed the rated wattage due to the fixture's inability to dissipate heat.

I've been selling commercial/architectural lighting since the late '80's and LED for over 15 years. I've seen just about everything and have a client base that requires me to weed out the good from the bad. For years I've had to stop my customers from using LED in certain applications because the hype was typically ahead of the reality. Today most, but not all, applications can be served well by using LED. Just look closely at who you're buying from and make sure they aren't a front for some cheap mass producer that's pushing tonnage under many different pop up brand names.

The big box retailers sell mostly reputable brands. However, those retailers typically buy the lowest cost and quality versions so the products move off the shelf through impulse buying.

Electrical distributors are worth checking out if you're shopping for LED products. They typically serve both commercial and residential electricians and have access to a variety of LED brands at different price and quality levels.

[Vicegrip]

Originally Posted by Dr K

A couple of points regarding the above.
The light-bulb part of the LED will run much cooler per lumen, but most of the heat in an LED (or CFL) is generated by the power transformer in the base. If you have a commercial system (like Bman sells) the power sent to the fixture is the right voltage and current already, so they will be very cool, but replacement "bulbs" that are meant to screw into 120V-AC lines need those electronics in the base, which generate heat. Newer bulbs, in my experience, are somewhat cooler than a few years ago, but that's where the heat is generated and might damage your fixture if too hot.

For a garage, I prefer the colder light because it generates more contrast so seems brighter per lumen.

Hmmm. I have found that the led light itself gets hot as hell on the high output stuff. Dealing with this very concentrated heat has been key to getting higher wattages per led. In many of my devices the transformer cooling is secondary to the cooling on the led array

[gawdzilla]

other thing to be aware of is "odd" switches (motion sensor, switch that has an indicator light on it, or dimmers, for example) when going LED. The slight current draw may be enough to turn on the LED. sometimes they behave like they're possessed. flickering on/off when you want them off, or always on in a dimly lit state.

[smdubovsky]

Originally Posted by Vicegrip

led light itself gets hot as hell

This. LEDs are somewhere around 40% efficient. Power electronics that drive them can easily be well above 90% range (even close to 100%). Even a lousy 90% is 6x less loss than the LED itself. LEDs also degrade at high heat, not so much w/ the electronics if designed correctly.

[BMAN]

^Yup!

The LED's do produce heat but not IR. So you don't get the warm/hot to the touch of traditional incandescent/halgon sources which why the runway lights don't melt snow and they now add heaters.

The heat is very concentrated and tricky to transfer quickly and efficiently. Managing the LED junction temp is critical to long life and consistent color of the LED. As the LEDs increase in efficacy this management gets easier as more energy is converted to light and less to heat. So the heat syncs have reduced dramatically in size and diode longevity has improved.

But....most people don't read the fine print on LED "fixture" testing which allows manufacturers to get all the fancy ratings on their fixtures and claim they are in compliance with stringent standards. The ugly truth is that most companies are testing to indoor ambient temps, 25C or 77F, which is fine if you're using the products in conditioned spaces. People don't realize this and are using these fixtures in unconditioned spaces which can choke the thermal management of a fixture and degrade its performance surprisingly quickly. Warehouse applications, for example, can experience 130-150F ambient temps and people are putting very expensive products thinking they will last for 20 year, they won't.

LEDs love the cold, not the heat.

[BMAN]

Originally Posted by gawdzilla

other thing to be aware of is "odd" switches (motion sensor, switch that has an indicator light on it, or dimmers, for example) when going LED. The slight current draw may be enough to turn on the LED. sometimes they behave like they're possessed. flickering on/off when you want them off, or always on in a dimly lit state.

Need more info.

Screw in LED bulb at home?

[Vicegrip]

Originally Posted by gawdzilla

other thing to be aware of is "odd" switches (motion sensor, switch that has an indicator light on it, or dimmers, for example) when going LED. The slight current draw may be enough to turn on the LED. sometimes they behave like they're possessed. flickering on/off when you want them off, or always on in a dimly lit state.

look for "dry contact" type controllers. Electronic switching can be hard on LED and florecent systems Motion sensor lights for example. Retrofitting an old setup can cause issues not seen in a made with LED setup.