LED Light Bulbs

Stompa

alinwales wrote: »

I get the feeling that the manufacturers stated lifetime on these products is purely for the LED itself, being as they do last for many thousands of hours. However, behind these devices lie a bit of other electronics (namely transformer and capacitor to name but two) to regulate the ac voltage. Capacitors in particular have a finite lifespan, usually a lot less than those of the LED.

LEDs slowly dim over time, and the quoted lifetimes are actually the time taken to dim to 70% of their original brightness, rather than failure (as with incandescent & CFLs).

http://www.leapfroglighting.com/the-truth-about-light-bulb-lifetimes/

Pincher

If you try to put them under traditional analogue dimmer control, they die much quicker.

Andy_WSM

LED lamps have come on leaps & bounds over the last year.

Every lamp that can be seen on in this picture of my living room is LED: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/19310212/2013-08-06%2019.54.40.jpg

That's the ceiling (R80 LED Spotlights), the Aquarium on the left is illuminated with LEDs, the glitter lamps on the shelf above the radiator are LED (I modified them myself) and there are a couple of decorative lamps alongside the TV which I have also fitted LED bulbs in.

lstar337

Andy_WSM wrote: »

LED lamps have come on leaps & bounds over the last year.

Every lamp that can be seen on in this picture of my living room is LED: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/19310212/2013-08-06%2019.54.40.jpg

That's the ceiling (R80 LED Spotlights), the Aquarium on the left is illuminated with LEDs, the glitter lamps on the shelf above the radiator are LED (I modified them myself) and there are a couple of decorative lamps alongside the TV which I have also fitted LED bulbs in.

Don't the glitter lamps require the heat of the bulb to circulate the liquid inside?

Nice job hiding, but I see your arm.:D

elstimpo

Andy_WSM wrote: »

LED lamps have come on leaps & bounds over the last year.

Every lamp that can be seen on in this picture of my living room is LED: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/19310212/2013-08-06%2019.54.40.jpg

That's the ceiling (R80 LED Spotlights), the Aquarium on the left is illuminated with LEDs, the glitter lamps on the shelf above the radiator are LED (I modified them myself) and there are a couple of decorative lamps alongside the TV which I have also fitted LED bulbs in.

That's a lot of bulbs in the space !!!!!!

Are they cool white?

Andy_WSM

lstar337 wrote: »

Nice job hiding, but I see your arm.:D

LOL. You should have seen the first picture I took!

There is JUST enough heat off the LED lamps to keep the glitter in the lamps moving, although they are bit sluggish in the morning when the room is cold. They are only 3w bulbs so I don't turn them off - it's a good background light as the living room is a through room, so no need to put main lighs on in the night getting drinks, midnight snacks, that sort of thing. They'll perform just lovely again in a couple of months when the heating is back on as they are above the radiator.

Andy_WSM

elstimpo wrote: »

That's a lot of bulbs in the space !!!!!!

Are they cool white?

I have warm white in the living room and cool white in the kitchen & bathroom.

I went OTT in the living room as I wanted it as a practical task lighting. I tend to use smaller side lamps when watching TV etc. It IS very bright, not the sort of brightness you'd want right after you get out of bed anyway!

Beckyy

We used LED Hut to replace our lamps to LEDs about 10 months ago iirc. One lamp went after a few months and was replaced promptly with no questioning or need to return the old one. Note though, you have to specifically register for their (LED Hut) extended guarantee or you just get a basic one, I didnt realise so just have a basic one.

jamesperrett

I go to our local Toolstation (who just happen to be across the car park from LED Hut) who offer good prices on LED GU10's - especially the COB type which look very much like a halogen bulb. These are definitely the best LED GU10's that I've seen although the beam angle is slightly narrower than the equivalent halogen bulb.

I've also tried the Ebay 3W packs of 4 and found them very variable - a couple of packs gave a decent light and have lasted well while another batch gave a greenish light and are nearly all dead now (after about 2 years of intermittent use).

ThriftIsAVirtue

Enter

Mystery20

at the checkout for 20% off.

Quidco and topcashback seem to have rates alternating between 10% and 20%.

Bulbs are Lumisoft - not sure how good they are, 5 year guarantee, if you fill in the form on the website, only 2 years if you don't.

Customer reviews on website largely filled out with useless reviews but a 5 year guarantee should make me sleep more easily...

Hope this is useful for someone doing a search