The new HEMIPRO High Power Worklights introduced by GO Distribution incorporate the first use of high-power LEDs in work lights from a company that has four decades experience in automotive products, the North American company Cliplight Manufacturing.
Potential safety hazards abound when working in dark and confined spaces around vehicles, behind dashboards, under bonnets and around engines.
Workshops too are filled with potential hazards, such as sharp-edged equipment, tools and cumbersome electric cords that can get in the way and get damaged while bringing power to hot incandescent bulbs.
Because of this, automotive maintenance leaders such as Strapp Ford in Melbourne are welcoming the new HEMIPRO rugged portable LED work lights designed to provide 10 years or more of optimum clarity and safety in maintenance tasks.
These high efficiency LED (light emitting diode) worklights are also three or four times more efficient in energy use, meaning they save money while doing a better job for applications such as the automotive repair market, industrial heavy vehicle maintenance, and electrical, farm and machinery maintenance workshops.
Using either two or three High Power LEDS, the HEMIPRO 2 LED and 3 LED work lights provide exceptionally powerful beams which, respectively, equal or exceed the light area intensity of a 60W or 75W beam. The output of the HEMIPRO is a clear natural white light, unlike the majority of LED’s that tend to emit a bluish hue.
Previously workshops used (as many workshops still do), 240v lights on a cord connected to a power point. The problem with cords is they are difficult to manoeuvre and are dangerous when left lying about on workshop floors. They also eat up space in confined areas – as well as being prone to damage.
Old lights would break too easily because the cords would get saturated in oil. The HEMIPROs are a much safer option and they don’t break, and are less prone to damage.
One of the major advantages to a car service workshop like Strapp Ford is that the portability of the LED lights makes servicing easier by brightening dark spots under the bonnet, around the dashboard and under cars.
This portability is complemented by the lights’ ability to withstand the knocks and bumps of typical maintenance situations, providing ten years or more of optimum clarity and safety.
GO Distribution Director Gary Oborne says the clarity and spread of light is enhanced by HEMIPRO’s uniquely engineered hemispherical lens design, on which a patent is pending.
The highly modified lens design captures and transfers the powerful LED light into a super-wide 70 deg beam, while also eliminating hot spots, dull areas or irritating halo rings.
HEMIPRO lights are designed with tough polycarbonate patent-pending LUMIGARD lens shields. If scratched, cracked or tarnished replacement of the LUMIGARD lens is easy and quick, taking only 2 minutes.
The rechargeable NiMH 2500 milliAmp hour battery can, if needed, also be replaced but GO Distribution says this will not happen too often because the battery has a life expectancy of three years under normal use. The 2 LED light can be used up to five hours between charges, while the 3 LED lasts a good three hours.
A key benefit of LED lighting is reduced power consumption. US studies have shown that, when designed properly, an LED circuit will approach 80 percent efficiency, which means 80 percent of the electrical energy is converted to light energy. The remaining 20 percent is lost as heat energy.
Comparing that with incandescent bulbs which operate at about 20 percent efficiency (80 percent of the electrical energy is lost as heat),In real money terms, if a 100 Watt incandescent bulb is used for one year, with an electrical cost of , say, 10 cents/kilowatt hour, $88 will be spent on electricity costs. Of the $88 expense, $70 will have been used to heat the room, not light the room.
If an 80 percent efficient LED system had been used, the electricity cost would be $23 per year - there would be a cost savings of $65 on electricity during the year.
Realistically the cost savings would be higher for workshops such as Strapp Ford, because most incandescent light bulbs blow out within a year and require replacements, whereas LED light bulbs can be used easily for a decade without burning out.