About heatsinks

When designing fixtures, correct heat management is important. Both in terms of safety and life lenght of the light source. There are several things to consider when designing heat management.
This information is just a guide to things to consider about heat management, it is not meant to be an instruction for final design of heat management of specific fixtures.

The position of the heatsink

How different positions affect the temperature of a fixture.

Module: Clara AC 10W
Heatsink: Aluminium, Ø70mm, height 120mm
Setup: Same module, different position of the same heatsink

  1. With an encapsulated heatsink with airflow, the heat radiation travels upwards, as in a chimney. In our test, this renders the lowest temperature of the Tc-point.
  2. A clean setup with the LED-module on top and an open airflow.
  3. Module mounted upside down, heat travels upwards in heatsink. As in a downlight.
  4. Side mounted module. As in a spotlight.
  5. Fully encapsulated heatsink with no airflow.

The type of heatsink

Heatsinks are available in different versions. They affect the temperature in different ways.

Module: Clara AC 5W
Heatsink 1: Pin heatsink, Ø70mm, height 50mm
Heatsink 2: Aluminium blade, Ø70mm, height 60mm
Heatsink 3: Folded aluminium, Ø40mm, height 50mm. Poli
Setup: Heatsink with mounted module on table.

  1. A pin heatsink has a solid base with pins mounted. The air can flow in from all directions.
  2.  A blade heatsink allows the airflow from from one side.
  3. The folded aluminium heatsink is a light weight solution.

The size of heatsink

How different heights of the same heatsink affects the temperature of a module.

Module: SVEA AC 20W
Heatsink: Ø90mm, height 50mm, 100mm and 150mm, SAPA
Setup: Open heatsink on table, same module

  1. Reference heatsink, called 100% (150mm)
  2. 66% (100mm) of reference heatsink. Temperature rises around 9%
  3. 33% (50mm) of reference heatsink. Temperature rises another 9%

The power consumption of the LED-module

How different power versions of a module affects the temperature with the same heatsink.

Module: Clara AC 2W | 4W | 6W | 8W | 10W | 12W
Heatsink: Aluminium, Ø70mm, height 120mm
Setup: The same heatsink with different power versions of Clara. Temperatures rises fairly linear.

  1. 2W version
  2. 4W version
  3. 6W version
  4. 8W version
  5. 10W version
  6. 12W version

The power supply of the LED-module

How different power input of a module affects the temperature with the same heatsink.

Module: Clara AC 8W | Clara ED 8W | Clara ID 8W
Heatsink: Aluminium, Ø70mm, height 120mm
Setup: The OptoDrive modules are often available in different power supply version.

  1. 230VAC version. All electronics are built in on card. Module connected direct to mains.
  2. Internal driver, low voltage input.
  3. External driver, all electronics are exernal and only LED radiates heat on card.