Musings on LEDs for Cars

One of the front turn signal bulbs went out in my car.  I went to the local auto parts store to find a replacement.  These days, there are LED alternatives.  And since I’ve read and heard about the benefits of LEDs – longer lasting, lower power requirements for the same brightness, etc. – I decided to buy a pair of turn signal LEDs.  And this is where the trouble began.

It turns out, the packaging of LEDs for cars are marked with “For off-road use only.”  I find this surprising.  Cities have been racing to replace their street lights with LEDs.  The regional power company has been encouraging households to replace their bulbs with LEDs.  But without delving much into the why, I bet that legislation or rules set forth by the NHTSA disallows such replacements.  This is unfortunate.

The second problem is that because of the low power draw, the light still flashes quickly as if the bulb is out, because the relay is not built to handle LEDs.  This means I have to replace the flasher relay as well to one that can handle both LEDs and incandescent bulbs.  And this brings us to the final problem.

A pair of LEDs was $20, and the flasher relay was another $20.  Regular bulbs were $8 for a pair.  To replace the flasher relay, I had to remove the bottom panel of the dash to reach it.  Even then, the relay and the wiring harness wasn’t exactly easy to reach.  Moreover, I replaced a reliable Denso part with something of dubious quality.  (Denso has been supplying Toyota for a very long time, and is partially owned by Toyota.)  Did I now increase the risk of an electrical fire in a car that my wife drives more often and my kids ride regularly?

While the end result of getting it to work was satisfying, I’m not sure it was worth the cost and the trouble.

Prepping For The Rest Of Us

In 2012, National Geographic first aired the show "Doomsday Preppers".  It introduced "prepping" to the national consciousness, and opened up an entire subculture of extreme disaster preparation.  Online, one can find a myriad of sites and discussion forums about such preparations, where acronyms like SHTF (sh*t hits the fan) and TEOTWAWKI (the end of the world as we know it) are commonplace.  "Preppers" or "Survivalists" prepare for anything from the collapse of government to the zombie apocalypse.

The basic premise is sound.  Even ready.gov urges everyone to have some sort of emergency plan and basic emergency supplies.  While preparing for the zombie apocalypse may be a bit extreme for the rest of us, being prepared for disasters that are more likely to happen is simply common sense.  Even having a fire extinguisher is one step towards being prepared.  You're not expecting a fire, but if there is one...

In Project Management, teams list all the possible risks, and ranks them in both impact (high, medium, low) and probability (high, medium, low).  Because there could be a large number of risks, typically, those that are high impact and high probability, or high impact and medium probability are discussed and planned for mitigation.

Similarly, a person or a family can realistically look at all risks and rank them in both impact and probability.  For example, in certain parts of California, there is a risk of wildfire or earthquake.  In the home, there is also a risk of fire.  A person may have a higher risk of injury because of his or her age or medical condition.  This evaluation is personal and subjective.  It is up to the person or family which risks they are willing to accept and prepare for.

The next step would be to plan for such risks.  In case of fire for example, where will you go?  Where will your family meet?  Who will you call? What will you save (if at all possible)?  Apart from an immediate evacuation scenario, you may want to plan for a "shelter-in-place", or an emergency evacuation that allows for some time to grab a few things.

Finally, in an emergency, one must take care of the basic needs: air, water, food, clothing, shelter, and safety.  If you can address all of these in your readiness plan, you are well on your way to "prepping".