Cabinet and Bathroom Hardware Supply Store
For Product Support & Phone Orders:
813-633-7544 landline or 813-362-7898 smartphone
Eclectic-ware in Wimauma, FL
Click our Eclectic-ware logo to return to our home page.
Click to view items in your cart
Title
Go to content

Move over Halogen, LED is Taking Over

Eclectic-ware
Published by John W. Wagonis in Lighting · 14 December 2019
Originally Posted on August 25, 2015. Vastly updated to reflect current products.

LED Lighting is the current wave of the Present. This blog post from August 2015 opened up with many paragraphs about the Hera halogen lighting and replacement parts. Hera had announced in that month that halogen was no longer in production. There was a fair stockpile of halogen lights and parts that were made at that time. And guess which company decided to stock up on them and pretty much buy everything that Hera had left in their stock. If you guessed Eclectic-ware, you are right.

We did sell the last of their halogen lighting and parts. Took most of the last four years to do so. Very few halogen items remain, and you can view which are left by selecting from those two highlighted links.

So all of the halogen paragraphs showing many of the EH11, KB12, E1, and even the Xenon lights are now erased from this blog post. Very little need to emphasize them since LED is Taking Over. But at the end of this post, we will say a little more about what to use to replace the EH11, KB12, and E1 halogen lights.

LED Lighting is the Present and the Future

Hera has transitioned to LED, even their fluorescent lighting is being phased out. LED is pronounced L-E-D, not lead. It means Light Emitting Diode. LED Lighting is extremely energy efficient. A 24 volt, 3-watt LED light is the equivalent to a 20 watt halogen light. Just the other day (in 2015), someone mentioned to us how much of a drain the halogen lights are to the batteries on his boat. If you have 15 of the 20-watt halogen lights in your cabin, that is 300 watts of power used while they are on. If you had 15 of the 3-watt LED lights, that is 45 watts used. A considerable difference – per hour.

Hera Lighting’s LED line up offers many selections. Two we really want to point out are the R55-LED light, a 3-watt. And the FR68-LED light, a brighter 4-watt LED. These two LED lights are awesome replacements for under cabinet halogen lights. Now these two LED lights are a 24 volt system, thus you have to change out some components. You will need to use 24 volt LED power drivers and remove your old 12 volt halogen transformers. The nice thing about the R55-LED light is that it can be made to fit into the same 2-1/8" dia. hole. It is designed for a 2-1/4" hole, but the rear base of the light with the friction fit clips compressed more, will fit the 2-1/8" hole. Hera's EH11, KB12, KH12, and ER1 halogen lights all were designed for the 2-1/8" hole. Easy to retrofit the R55-LED into the same hole. The R55-LED light can also be surface mounted.

The FR68-LED is designed to fit the same hole as the ARF halogen light did. That is a 68mm hole. The FR68-LED light also can be a surface mount light if you like. These are just two LED lights that can take the place of old under cabinet halogen lights. And they come in 3000K warm white which is the light color that best resembles halogen. They come in 4000K too, but if you are trying to match the halogen light, go with the 3000K.

Special note for boat owners running cabin lights directly from your 12 volt DC. Check out the Loox 2020 12-volt LED lights that we offer. It is THE IDEAL direct substitute for the Hera E1, EH11, KH12, and KB12 lights.

Eclectic-ware is not just a retailer of products. We actually learn about our products and offer design and technical assistance. We have over 20 years experience with the Hera Lighting brand. And we still remember their old lights that are long gone. The LED lights come in various strengths and sizes. Their spotlights come in 1.2 watt accent lights, to 3 or 4 watt under cabinet lights, to 7.2 watt high power under cabinet lights and display lights. The linear LED lights in short to longer lengths range from a few watts each to around 18 watts each. And you might be thinking, 7.2 watts, that is not much. How bright will it be? LED is not like our understanding of incandescent lighting. It is way different. The 15 watt ELite-LED lights I have put in my own home throw about the same light as a 100 watt incandescent bulb. And very little heat. So having the lights on is not jacking up my AC expense, nor my electric bill. Most of the LED lights will cost a bit more in the beginning, but the savings comes over time. Many are rated for 50,000 hours. In retrospect, that old halogen EH11 light used a 4,000 hour halogen bulb, you will have gone through 12 bulb changes in 50,000 hours. So with halogen, you buy the light and buy 12 bulbs over the course of 15 to 30 years. With LED, you install the light and not change any bulbs. There are many benefits.

An example of LED linear lighting

Below is a picture of a light box I built for the hallway of my own home. It has two ELite-LED lights in it, connected end to end, approx. an 88" long light down the middle of the case. Each light is 15 watts, so I am using 30 watts, and look at how much light I get out of this 2' x 8' drop down box. (More pictures of how I did it on the bottom of the ELite-LED page.)


Within the Hera Lighting section of our website, we have a couple dozen web pages showing their various LED light systems. For under cabinet, display, and commercial uses. When you are ready, visit that section of our website. We can help with your kitchen, bathroom, living room, and bedroom lighting needs that pertain to cabinet or furniture lighting. And for boat owners, we have solutions for you too....

Carver and Formula boat owners, as well as homeowners

About all those missing paragraphs that were once part of this blog post. We were sad to see halogen go. Halogen cabinet and boat cabin lights were extremely popular from the mid 1990's up and till around 2015. And because of that popularity, we needed to find a solution for a replacement light to fill the need of the millions of E1 and EH11 lights on boats. As well as those for under cabinet lights in homes too.

Loox 2020 LED light to replace Hera halogen lights

Thus, the first light we brought in and have been offerring for several years is the Loox 2020 LED light. (Shown across the top line in the picture above, and near identical to the Hera E1 and KB12 lights.) It fits in that 2-1/8" diameter hole! It is also 12 volt! It is all metal construction, thus no more light rings to drop off and find on your floor. It comes in 3000K warm white and will look like the halogen light output. It is sealed and has a good water resistance rating. And it is 3.2 watts, a generous savings on your boat batteries. For boat owners, we HIGHLY recommend this light. Go to that web page to learn a lot more.

And then we have brought in some additional Loox LED lights. Many of which can retrofit into the 2-1/8" recessed holes. But others that are surface mount, and some to take the place of similar lights that have now been discontinued by Hera. Especially the Flex Arm headboard light that is quite popular in Holiday Inn hotels. Most of the Loox LED lighting that we are offering is 12 volt. Some is 24 volt. And we intend to add other selections as time permits. Frequently check back to see what might be new.


Back to content