Are LED Marker Lights Better Than Incandescent Markers?

RichieC wrote:

valhalla360 wrote:
We went thru a lot of this when I was working for the state and we converted traffic signals over to LED bulbs:
- If done properly, they last far longer. Of course, if you buy cheap garbage or don't install them properly that doesn't work so well.
- LED's generally don't burn out but they gradually put out less light. This is both good and bad. It's good in that you can sneak by until you get around to changing them but bad in that it's not easy to tell when you need to change them. With an incandesent, it's working or it's not.
- LED light is different not better or worse. It generally puts out a very specific portion of the spectrum. The red or orange lense covers should be purely for show as the LED puts out light of the correct color. Incandesants put out which white light and the colored lense filters it to result in a particular color.
- If you can get your brake lights converted over, that is actually a safety benefit (I'm shocked all new cars aren't LED already because of this). When you apply power to a circuit, it takes almost 0.5 seconds for the incandesant filiment to heat up enough that it is putting out visible light. An LED is typically on the order of 0.1 seconds. So from the time you hit the brake pedal until the light comes on, the LED will come on around 0.4 seconds sooner. At 60mph, that is around 35' less stopping distance and even if you do have a crash, the impact is at a lower speed by 5-10mph.


Unless you are one of those guys who's rig is lit up like a christmas tree, the reason to go LED running lights is for when the engine is off. The alternator will have no problem keeping up with the normal compliment of running lights while charging the battery. If you run them with the engine off, the LED's will take a small fraction of the power incandesants require.

Boat trailers are a specialty situation where the rapid cooling related to dunking hot incandesants in the water shaters the bulbs. LED has only a slight warming and is generally immune to this issue.

Impressive.
Thank you.