LED light bulbs

sillygoose

Dan_Iggulden wrote: »

I have tried quite a few different LED bulbs so thought I would post my findings so far.

Firstly, I have found out the hard way that there is no easy way to measure the output of the light, I foolishly assumed that a 80 LED bulb would be brighter than a 48 LED bulb, not always the case.
Every bulb should have a colour rating, ie, warm or cool, be careful of this as they are very different in colour, so make sure you are getting the output colour that you really want.

Best way I have found is to look for equivalent ratings to halogen bulbs. I have recently bought a pack of 60 LED GU10 bulbs for my kitchen and am incredibly impressed, they have replaced my 50W halogens and I would say are a little brighter if anything, and only use 3W's of energy! Big difference between 500W and 50W for power consumption.

Will probably change my bathroom lights when the next halogen goes pop too, they really seem to be a no brainer.

Great post! :beer:
I have been on a similar adventure. I got some decent 4 big LED ones that had immense output but were too focused which is the other point to raise here - beam angle. Many LED lamps around have 20 to 40 degree angles which make good spotlights but are so not good for general lighting. You need to look at ones over at least 90 degrees for that.

Another factor beside the number of LEDs on multi-LED types is the size of the LED used. Some use 3mm ones others use 5mm which are a lot more powerful.

I found these to be perfect, UK seller, decent price especially in larger packs (£4.50 each for 10) with 60 5mm LEDs in a good 'warm white', similar size to standard GU10's and with 120 degree angle suitable for general lighting. They seem close to the output of Halogens, bonus! in a 'new' installation like I am doing I can add lights willy-nilly at only 3 watts a pop!

madget_2

Dan_Iggulden wrote: »

Madget, send me a private message if you would please, I don't want to be drawn into a public promotion debate!

Just sent you a PM, Dan.

Thanks also to you, sillygoose, for your recommendation.

Dan_Iggulden

I actually looked at this seller, Lustrumlights on eBay and something concerned me, they only offer a 6 month warranty. Now since they are a 'business seller', I assume they have to comply with Sales of Goods Act etc and I don't think they can get away with a 6 month warranty, but more importantly, it doesn't say much for their confidence in their bulbs. With that in mind, I decided to stay away from them.

sillygoose

Dan_Iggulden wrote: »

I actually looked at this seller, Lustrumlights on eBay and something concerned me, they only offer a 6 month warranty. Now since they are a 'business seller', I assume they have to comply with Sales of Goods Act etc and I don't think they can get away with a 6 month warranty, but more importantly, it doesn't say much for their confidence in their bulbs. With that in mind, I decided to stay away from them.

you worry too much 6 month is long enough for a basic defective manufacture to show up, after that you take your chances with any supplier of low cost electrical items. I could set up tomorrow and offer 3 years warranty on the stuff I sell, no good if I close down in a month.

I also don't think most LED bulbs will last anything like their 'estimated' life anyway - depending on the pattern of use and the environment, that fat little volt drop capacitor inside is gonna sweat its heart out sooner or later. I have always argued its better to get the best you can for under a fiver as about the right value point. £15-£50+ ones are just going to waste your money.

Dan_Iggulden

I clearly do worry too much then!

I suspect there is a reason why they only offer a 6 month warranty, that is all I am saying.

grizzly1911

Dan_Iggulden wrote: »

Madget, send me a private message if you would please, I don't want to be drawn into a public promotion debate!

Madget or Dan could you PM mr too?

TIA

madget_2

grizzly1911 wrote: »

Madget or Dan could you PM mr too?

TIA

Have just PM'd you with the info, grizzly.

elstimpo

Dan_Iggulden wrote: »

I actually looked at this seller, Lustrumlights on eBay and something concerned me, they only offer a 6 month warranty. Now since they are a 'business seller', I assume they have to comply with Sales of Goods Act etc and I don't think they can get away with a 6 month warranty, but more importantly, it doesn't say much for their confidence in their bulbs. With that in mind, I decided to stay away from them.

I consistently buy and test LED lighting products sold all over the world. This includes ebay, UK sellers and sellers based in Asia.

The guys selling on ebay offer incredibly cheap products, but they are cheap for a reason. Cheap R+D, cheap materials, cheap chip sets, poor heat dissipation (loss of energy you have paid to create and won't be used), non existent testing, made up lumen figures and a product that could quite frankly break at any time.

I have eight 3w GU10's that arrived yesterday from Hong Kong for a price of £30. They have gone in for testing and 3 have failed within 10 hours. Their claimed lumen output of 300 for warm white is also very wide of the truth. I wonder how they come up with this figure as the machine that can accurately show lumen levels costs a huge amount.

You get what you pay for.

madget_2

elstimpo wrote: »

I consistently buy and test LED lighting products sold all over the world. This includes ebay, UK sellers and sellers based in Asia.

The guys selling on ebay offer incredibly cheap products, but they are cheap for a reason. Cheap R+D, cheap materials, cheap chip sets, poor heat dissipation (loss of energy you have paid to create and won't be used), non existent testing, made up lumen figures and a product that could quite frankly break at any time.

I have eight 3w GU10's that arrived yesterday from Hong Kong for a price of £30. They have gone in for testing and 3 have failed within 10 hours. Their claimed lumen output of 300 for warm white is also very wide of the truth. I wonder how they come up with this figure as the machine that can accurately show lumen levels costs a huge amount.

You get what you pay for.

Which brand would you recommend, elstimpo?

elstimpo

sillygoose wrote: »

I have always argued its better to get the best you can for under a fiver as about the right value point. £15-£50+ ones are just going to waste your money.

Would you care to go into detail about your claims that LED products under a 'fiver' are the right value point and ones above this are a waste of money.

Could you pay particular attention to the parts about;

1) The cost and availability of chip sets. Which is the chip set you would recommend for a product under £5?

2) What sort of research and development costs you think are incurred by a company producing a product that effectively and properly dissipates heat? Also please tell me about the costs of the materials that effectively dissipate heat and the cheap method you would use? Which material from which supplier who you use in a sub £5 product and how long do you expect it to last?

3) Once we have the costs of the chip sets, R+D and materials for heat dissipation, could you then go into detail about all the other components needed to create an LED bulb (of any kind) and the costs involved. Could you also then tell me about what you would pay your staff and the conditions they would need to live in for this sub £5 bulb to be created (I've been in many factories in China where cheap products are made and ignoring all the problems relating to the product itself, i once threw up when i saw where a family working in the factory were living and the condition placed upon them).

4) Then we need to put all the pieces together, market it, sell it for a price where we make a profit but also a retailer or distributor makes enough of a profit to interest them.......

and all the above needs to be done under £5 per product. :mad:

Looking forward to hearing your comments.