Hello, it’s well know that you need to cool down (passively or actively) LED lamps, since they produce a lot of heat and the electronics of the LED assembly can’t stand it.
Well, I’ve been meaning to install some LED lights to replace incandescent light bulbs on an old industrial frigorifc storage unit.
The catch is that the storage ranges from -15c to -20c (5F to -4F), so… would I still need to refrigerate the LED lights or is the environment temperature enough to maintain the leds at a reasonable work temperature?
What about a second storage which ranges from 10C to 4C (50F to 39F)?
While LEDs I’m and of themselves can reach high temperature - when actually assembled in a consumer module they usually. add a heatsink (or uses its components as one).
There is very little heat from a HUE light (granted I am measuring at near room temperature).
I just bought a Feit three-way LED bulb from Home Depot, so the packaging is right here. It says, “Minimum starting temperature -25C (-13F)”. That sounds like it would work for you.
And note that they sell LED bulbs suitable for use in outdoor fixtures, so those should also work for you.
I’m a little confused by the OP. If you mean a bare LED (i.e. just this part), it still needs a heat sink. If you powered it on without a heat sink it would burn up immediately, even in a freezer.
If you mean a LED lamp assembly, like the kind you screw into a light bulb socket, it has a built-in heat sink and generally don’t need any additional cooling. It does need access to air (i.e. you shouldn’t put it in a completely enclosed lamp fixture), but that’s about it.
LEDs light bulbs are fine in cold temperatures. I have some (consumer grade) ones in outdoor fixtures which are holding up fine.
the problem with LEDs isn’t the amount of heat they give off. For an equivalent brightness, they’ll give off less than 1/4 the heat of an incandescent. It’s that the diodes themselves are heat sensitive and will live shorter and shorter lives the hotter you make them run. LED bulbs are mostly heatsink to keep the diode temperatures down. it’s also why a lot of bulbs say “not for use in enclosed fixtures,” they need some amount of ambient air flow to stay cool.
if you’re going to use them inside a refrigeration unit, I’d wager you have nothing to worry about.