I was under the assumption that LEDs run on the cool side compared to incandescents. I've got 5,000 lumen units in tbe garage that are cool to the touch. I'm working on an industrial design for SWMBO's kitchen using a single 10,000 lumens unit.
That sucker is hot to the touch in a short time. The lens is still relatively cool, but the housing is hot.
Is this normal? Is the difference in light output the cause for the additional heat?
Not a problem if its normal, I just don't want to get deep in thos design only to have to switch lights.
Yes. This is normal. Higher output LEDs usually need a fair bit of airflow.
In my experience, it's not the LED light source that produces the heat. It's the cheap Chinesium power supplies that take 120-volt household electricity and reduce it to the couple of volts an LED requires. An LED can last tens of thousands of hours. A cheapo power supply can burn out in a couple weeks.
In reply to 1988RedT2 :
I will make sure to keep the box and receipt from Menards just in case.
LEDs do make heat. I have a 1000 lumen flashlight that gets warm to the touch in less than a minute. Any LED lamps you have in the house will also make some heat, not enough to burn like an incandescent, but noticably warm.
