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“Go Green” Tutorial: How I Built a 2.5 Watt LED “Light Bulb” for Only US$5

By Howard Charles Best, December 2, 2009

(LLBest.com, )

I often use my laptop computer in a room that’s almost totally dark. If I could afford it, I would purchase a laptop with an LED back-lit keyboard. Until then, I’m getting by just fine with a home-made 2.5 watt LED “light bulb” that I made a few days ago for only US$5!

Image of computer illuminated by LED light bulb

The cheapest LED light bulb that I could find at Walmart™ costs $25. It’s rated at 4 watts and apparently only sends out a narrow beam of light. Why pay $25, when you can get a superior product for only $5? The one that I built only consumes 2.5 watts of electrical power (I measured it). It gives broad illumination, and, once the initial purchase was made, it only took me about a minute to build!

Here is the 2-step process that I used to build it:

1. From Walmart, I purchased a set of Christmas decorations called “Holiday Time™ 70 COUNT / LED Micro Icicle-Style Light Set / COOL WHITE / WHITE WIRE.” I purchased it for $5 at Walmart’s Black Friday sale. Normally it costs about $10. (Do not purchase LED Christmas tree lights. They have green wire instead of white. The green wire absorbs a high percentage of the light, thus causing your “light bulb” to be much dimmer and therefore, much less efficient.)

Image of LED icicle light cord

2. I took the light set out of the box and stuffed it into a quart sized Ziploc™ style bag in such a way that the 2 prongs of the AC plug stick through the bag.

Image of finished product

Done!

To test it, I plugged it into an extension cord. Then I had a working “light bulb” minus an off/on switch.

Image of testing LED light bulb

If you purchase a “Handy Outlet / Add an outlet to any bulb socket” adapter (2 for $1.47), then you can use the newly created “light bulb” in an ordinary light socket.

Image of 'Handy Outlet'

Using one of the above adapters, I placed the LED “light bulb” into a clamp-on reflector light fixture using pieces of clear package sealing tape to hold it in place.

Image of LED light bulb in clamp-on reflector light fixture

Image of LED light bulb in clamp-on reflector light fixture (turned on)

Now I have a very practical light fixture which includes an off/on switch. With the clamp removed, it’s hanging from a string above my laptop computer. It’s doing a fine job of illuminating my computer’s keyboard right now, as I type! Now I can use my laptop very efficiently in a room which is almost completely dark!

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