Flood light debate: halogen vs LED on my job site

I ran two identical jobs last week trimming trees for a client in Oak Park. First house I used my old halogen flood lights because my LED strip was dead. Second night I brought my cheap harbor freight LED flood light. The halogen was hot as hell and drew so much power my extension cord kept tripping the breaker. The LED lit up the whole yard way better, no heat, and I ran it on a single 100ft cord no problem. The halogens are going straight to the dumpster now. Has anyone else switched and seen a huge power draw difference?

2 comments

2 Comments

brookerobinson4d agoMost Upvoted

Oh man, you're preaching to the choir here. I had a similar wake-up call last summer when I was helping a buddy wire up some lights for his backyard barbecue. We had his old halogen pointing at the grill and my LED floodlight lighting up the patio. The halogen drew so much juice it kept dimming the house lights every time we turned it on. Meanwhile my LED was bright as day and didn't even make a dent in the circuit. I swear that halogen felt like a space heater after 15 minutes. Your extension cord story doesn't surprise me one bit.

janac594d ago

Totally agree with you on this one. That power draw difference is crazy once you see it side by side. I had a similar situation last month where my old halogen was constantly tripping the GFCI on a job, swapped in a cheap LED and never had another problem. Halogen lights are just obsolete for real work now, no reason to keep them around. The heat alone makes them miserable to use for more than 10 minutes.