Anyone know of a source for a backup LED light that is actually really really bright, instead of "buy this, it's brighter, but we won't tell you what its lumens nor its current draw" only when you get it installed it's not even as bright as the stock bulb.
I've tried some advertised as 1.5 watt, and they're not bad for the small 194 bulbs. I'm planning trying some marked as 3w to compare to a 168. I'm thinking about 7w at least for the big bulbs.
Cree is a brand name to search for, they make some of the brightest LED bulbs right now. You mostly get what you pay for in LEDs. You may be looking at retrofitting for a multi-LED 12v bulb.
I'm still looking myself.
Cree is a good brand name, but the parts are "binned", in that the production runs are tested and sorted as to their brightness vs. current drawn, and colour. Big difference in lumens between a top binned and a low binned Cree. So the fact that it's a Cree isn't a bad thing, but not a guarantee you've got a good LED, as it could be a low binned (low performing) Cree. Common in the aquarium DIY LED trade is to sell someone unknowing a low binned Cree at a high binned price.
What this means is that a replacement bulb made with low-cost low-binned LEDs may use more watts and yet have less light output than one made with a high binned LED that is using fewer watts. No way that I know of to know what you're getting other than trial and error. Which is why I'm hoping someone has found one that they can attest that it is brighter than the stock bulbs.