LED light bulbs

savemoney

I had one of them in mid 80's they very expensive and weighed a lot compared with normal bulbs, it was only a few years ago I throw it away, I think it still worked just wanted a small bulb

aboard_epsilon wrote: »

i bought one of the first run of cfls ..

the philips ones with glass jampot dome around them ..must be over 15 years ago could be 20..and that light is still going strong, its upstairs ..its the landing light..think it cost me about £20 then.

wonder if ill get another 20 years out of it .

all the best.markj

sillygoose

Worth mentioning if you want to cut your power a little bit but still need good 'normal' light and the ability to dim spotlights are the ranges of Halogen lamps. they give twice the life and a 42 watt R63 genuinely gives a similar output to a 60 watt normal bulb. They look quite normal too, same size as normal they just have a Halogen capsule inside.

Sylvania make some, also do 28 watt equiv. to 40 watt. Although the lifespan still isn't brilliant if used somewhere like a bedroom it can still be a long life (2 years at 3 hours a day). Cost about twice a decent quality normal bulb (just under £2) but last twice as long whilst saving 30% in power.

I'm quite a fan of compact fluorescent - 2D lights, you just have to find the right fittings, I have a lot of Italian made one that are very attractive. Unlike CFL 2D's don't need to warm up, with electronic drives don't flicker and a 28 watt one gives a spread of light similar to a 150 watt bulb. Tubes for only about £2 and last for years and years. With electronic chokes in the fitting or changing the starter in a normal one to an electronic starter they last years and years and start reliably and quickly. Actually LED replacements for 2D are possible, direct plug in upgrade replacements have already been developed, just not cost effective yet.

MisteRusty

Is this the right place to post my experience with led's and to ask a question ? Hope so !
I've been trying some leds for the last 6 months, bought a couple of batches off ebay from a uk based registered company who offer a 3 yr warranty. These are 78 leds, costing about £6.50 each.

I've got warm colour leds which give just about enough light, unless you're reading, in which case an extra light on helps.

We're basically happy with them, except they keep failing, sometimes after only a few hundred hours, way short of the quoted life.

The odd thing is the supplier has this 3 year warranty, so they obviously believe in them and they have good feedback on ebay. So for the past few months, I've sent back a bulb or 2 each month and so far they've honoured the warranty and sent me replacements. Which is good I suppose, but a bit frustrating and nothing like the expected lifespan.

Has anyone had similar experiences, or can anyone explain why a warrantied bulb might fail so fast ?

WestonDave

Are they GU10's or MR16's - the latter may need the 12v transformers changing as standard transformers for halogens don't provide the right output for the very low power used by the LED bulbs. If they are GU10's that doesn't apply - duff batch?

MisteRusty

GU10's, so no transformers.

WestonDave

To update my previous post, the Lumineux 24 SMD LED 4.5W bulb I had in the kitchen I moved up to the bathroom to see how it went up there on newer transformers. It seems much more stable up there so will be staying there. I've ordered in another 3 so that all 4 in there are the same.

Its also enabled a useful comparison between that bulb and a standard 50W halogen as they are in adjacent holders. To my eye they look as bright as each other and a very similar light colour - OK not a scientific measurement but most of us just want something that looks right! Where there is a difference is in the beam definition. The halogen spot gives a very defined shadow if you say stick your hand under it, where as the LED doesn't (clearly because its 24 unfocused light sources rather than one focused one). To me this is interesting as it appears that the manufacturers are making great efforts to produce bulbs with one (or up to 3) LED's that accurately reproduced the very focused light from a narrow beam halogen - but I suspect most people aren't using recessed halogens to create "spot" light but because it creates a clutter free ceiling. In some circumstances the more diffused light of the multi LED bulbs may be more useful.

The only retailer of these bulbs I've found is here http://www.fastlec.co.uk/led-lamps-c-127_1790.html which work out at about £18 plus postage (free if you spend over £50). However if you watch ebay carefully they do come up on there fairly consistently in small numbers (typically 1 or 2) for about £8 including postage.

Hope that helps someone in this maze!

elstimpo

Hi Everyone,

My first post on this forum in a long time. The reason for my post is that username LEDlighting, who has been posting on this thread happens to be my right hand man in an LED company i founded.

I would just like to make an apology for any infringements that have been made on this forum by LEDlighting. As you can see, any infringements that have been made were innocent un-intentional. His sole purpose for using this forum was to help people understand what LED lighting is all about and how to look for quality products. A quality product is one that has been built to a high standard using quality materials, tested extensively, uses the latest technology and finally one that has been built by skilled workers in an environment where the workers are paid and treated well.

I can categorically state that everything that LEDlighting has stated on this forum about LED is factually correct and backed up by years and years of research. I would also like to add that there has been some incredibly miss-leading and incorrect information posted by some. Which is why it is absolutely imperative that if you are considering buying an LED product, you seek out the right people to take advice from who can help advise you on the products you are looking for.

Unfortunately there has been some disappointing reactions and attitudes towards LEDlighting on this thread and certainly some naive and over the top responses. There are not too many people around who are better placed to advise on LED Lighting. Unfortunately he has been banned. I'm struggling to get to the bottom of that despite several e-mails to the 'powers that be'.

Anyway, we won't be having any further involvement with the forum, so for those looking to change to LED Lighting, i wish you the very best with your research and decisions. Get it right and there are no downsides at all.

Many Thanks

Chris Stimson

Scoobs72

These look interesting:

http://mtg.cree.com/

They are optimised for 35-50 watt halogen MR16/GU10s. According to Cree:

“To date, there are no energy-efficient alternatives for many high-lumen, small form-factor, directional lighting applications. Until now, LED-based MR16 lamps have been a tremendous challenge for the lighting design community in terms of both light output and color consistency due to their small size and limited capacity for thermal management”

There's already one MR16 available that uses these LEDs, made by Ledzworld.

Halitosis

We are having an extension / new kitchen fitted and I'm wondering if LED downlights are the best option (given that we need to get at least a dozen fittings).
Does the fact that we are not 'replacing' lights but starting from scratch influence which type of lighting will be more economical over a number of years?

Thanks for any advice

Steve_xx

An update on my LED foray.

I ordered a bulb on eBay from a supplier Hong Kong, one of the E27 screw types that resembles corn-on-the-cob, with 108 LED's and it cost about £4. It arrived and I fitted it in the kithen and it has lasted about one month before failing. Many of the LED's are unlit and those that are lit are lit very dimly. So I contacted the seller and they requested a picture of it and so I sent them one and they have offered to replace it.

At about the same time I ordered from another supplier based in Hong Kong and this time I ordered an LED aquarium light. It consists of a strip of LED's, 30 in total, 10 red, 10 blue and 10 green encapsulated in a test tube much like the heater for a fish tank is. Again I used it for about a month and I note that 5 of the 10 red LED's are out and one of the blue LED's is also out. Again I contacted the seller who was extremely helpful and they are going to replace it for me.

So, not a huge success.

About a year ago I bought two GU10 blue LED lamps from B&Q; they were reduced to £1.50 each and so I thought I's have a trial. Similar to the above, one lasted a month before failing, ie several of the LED's are out and the ones that still light are dim. The other one is still going strong.