120v LED Array
After playing around with LEDs with low voltages like 3 and 4.5 volts, I decided to see if I could make an array of LEDs that would plug into a standard household outlet and possibly replace my higher consumption incandescent bulbs. I started with 10 bright white LEDs (3.2v 20mA) and a 5.6k resistor. It was easy enough to wire it together then I simply stuck the leads into the socket (i'm not real big on safety). I can say that it did indeed work but it doesn't look like a good replacement for all the bulbs in the house. LEDs project light in a certain direction and you need to be within roughly 25 degrees of center to see the full brightness. So because flourescents and incandescents are more omni directional, they are better for lighting up a room. Also, this setup is somewhat cost prohibitive since the total for the array was around $12. It was a good experiment but didn't yield the results I had hoped for.
