energy saving bulbs - now ripoff

cyclonebri1

elstimpo wrote: »

Do i think a £10 light bulb that will last 25,000 hours (11.5 years with average usage) and reduces energy consumption by 90% over standard incandescents and 40% over CFL's will save me lots of time (going to get and replace failed lamps) ,money and help protect me from energy prices continuing to rise? Um, yes.

Ok, I now have you classified as the type that removes all the light bulbs when they move house:rotfl::rotfl:

That used to be the standard skinflint joke, but this day and age it is becoming a reality I guess.

I only have led bulbs in 2 fittings, they are the standard type of brass picture lamp, not a single cfl type bulb fits, the led ones I found, £10 for 4 direct from China do.

I'll keep my money in my pocket yet a while, I need to get some life out of the lamps I have paid for, and I expect led prices to come down when China gets further into gear.

elstimpo

cyclonebri1 wrote: »

Ok, I now have you classified as the type that removes all the light bulbs when they move house:rotfl::rotfl:

That used to be the standard skinflint joke, but this day and age it is becoming a reality I guess.

I only have led bulbs in 2 fittings, they are the standard type of brass picture lamp, not a single cfl type bulb fits, the led ones I found, £10 for 4 direct from China do.

I'll keep my money in my pocket yet a while, I need to get some life out of the lamps I have paid for, and I expect led prices to come down when China gets further into gear.

Been in my current home for 10 years, although likely moving soon. Yep, i will be taking my LED Lights with me and i think this is going to be the norm fairly soon. Plus i'm from Yorkshire so being tight is in my DNA

I don't expect quality LED Lamps to come down in price much anytime soon. There is some real skill in designing, constructing and testing an good LED lamp, not to mention that the price of raw materials is out of the hands of the manufacturers. Some of the companies who supply chip sets for example, are being very clever about their supply and limiting it, so that demand is high which keeps prices high.

The very best LED Spotlights use aluminium in their heat dissipation design and this is very costly at the moment.

The generic products that use cheap chip sets, cheap and readily available materials and are mass produced will probably fall in price and be very cheap. But you get what you pay for with LED's.

Chrysalis

given current prices I will take bulbs with me, 10 years ago I would consider ti a joke but not now.

cyclonebri1

Chrysalis wrote: »

given current prices I will take bulbs with me, 10 years ago I would consider ti a joke but not now.

Inspite of my earlier comments I too would take the bulbs, I took all the daffodils and tulips from our last house:D:D:D

That's actually true:D:D

Chrysalis

cyclonebri1 wrote: »

Ok, I now have you classified as the type that removes all the light bulbs when they move house:rotfl::rotfl:

That used to be the standard skinflint joke, but this day and age it is becoming a reality I guess.

I only have led bulbs in 2 fittings, they are the standard type of brass picture lamp, not a single cfl type bulb fits, the led ones I found, £10 for 4 direct from China do.

I'll keep my money in my pocket yet a while, I need to get some life out of the lamps I have paid for, and I expect led prices to come down when China gets further into gear.

your post got me interested.

so the question is why is the cheapest I can get here is 1 for £5?

blaming it 'all' on manufacturer and subsidies seems like its bending the truth a bit.

lstar337

elstimpo wrote: »

It completely depends what you are replacing with what, surely?

Replace a 12w CFL with a 7w LED Bulb and you reduced wattage by 5w or 42%.

Brand name CFL's can be £4 to £6 and the LED is £10, take in account the lifespan probably being triple for the LED and you've saved money and time.

Sorry, should have been clearer. I meant the efficiency margins.

For an equivalent light output a CFL is a large drop (power consumption) from a standard incandescent, whereas the drop between CFL and LED is not so great.

Incandescent --> CFL (big efficiency increase)
Incandescent --> LED (bigger efficiency increase)
CFL --> LED (not a big efficiency increase)

It seemed like in one of your earlier posts that you were claiming some big increase from CFL to LED, but I don't believe there is. In fact, most of the claims of lumens/Watt for LED's have been found to be eroneous, and lower than claimed.

Don't get me wrong, I am not against LED's, about 50% of my fittings are LED, but there is not a significant saving upgrading from working CFL's.

cyclonebri1

Chrysalis wrote: »

your post got me interested.

so the question is why is the cheapest I can get here is 1 for £5?

blaming it 'all' on manufacturer and subsidies seems like its bending the truth a bit.

I'm guessing you are reflecting on the fact that I got 4 bulbs for a tenner?

Well I have energy saving bulbs in every fitting of our house, and it's a good sized house.

I trawled every where for a for a standard sized bayonet bulb for my application, from memory it had to be sub 60mm dia.

I found 1, in China, all delivered and they are working a year later and no one has been fried yet so.....

elstimpo

lstar337 wrote: »

CFL --> LED (not a big efficiency increase)

It seemed like in one of your earlier posts that you were claiming some big increase from CFL to LED, but I don't believe there is. In fact, most of the claims of lumens/Watt for LED's have been found to be eroneous, and lower than claimed.

9W CFL E27 with 480 Lumens at 2700k -
53.3 Lumens per Watt
http://www.lightbulbs-direct.com/product/3525/micro-helix-energy-saver-9w-ese27/?gclid=CM3wtoDI_7gCFSXLtAodmR4AkQ

I have a 9w LED Bulb that has 780 Lumens at 2700k
86.6 Lumens per W

We have 6w to 7w LED Spotlights that range in lumens from 400 to 550 at 2700k

This Megaman 6w CFL had 410 lumens at 2700k
http://www.lampshoponline.com/megaman-modo-led-6w-gu10-2800k-141401/

So whilst you are correct, there can be no difference in lumens per w, there also can be a big difference. So it depends what you are buying.

lstar337

elstimpo wrote: »

9W CFL E27 with 480 Lumens at 2700k -
53.3 Lumens per Watt
http://www.lightbulbs-direct.com/product/3525/micro-helix-energy-saver-9w-ese27/?gclid=CM3wtoDI_7gCFSXLtAodmR4AkQ

I have a 9w LED Bulb that has 780 Lumens at 2700k
86.6 Lumens per W

We have 6w to 7w LED Spotlights that range in lumens from 400 to 550 at 2700k

This Megaman 6w CFL had 410 lumens at 2700k
http://www.lampshoponline.com/megaman-modo-led-6w-gu10-2800k-141401/

So whilst you are correct, there can be no difference in lumens per w, there also can be a big difference. So it depends what you are buying.

Yes, no doubt it depends largly on what you are buying.

I just recall reading a few months ago about testing done that illustrated that the claims for LED lumens/watt were being exagerated by most manufacturers, and that real world testing has found that they are much closer to CFL's than they would like to admit. It also found that CFL ratings for lumens/watt were basically spot on.

I just wish I could find the article because it was really interesting, but I cant.

LED's are great, and I believe they are the way forward, but it seems that the manufacturers are pushing a little too hard, when the technology has some maturing to do.

I think home lighting needs a complete re-think. A single point of light in a room may have worked for incandescent bulbs, but I think modern lighting should be spread across a whole ceiling, and this is where LED tech can really shine. Multiple points of light with a more even distribution.

lstar337

elstimpo wrote: »

Unfortunately your top point is absolutely correct. Manufacturers exaggerate their stats in order to sell and then nearly every retailer i know of simply takes these stats as the truth and do no testing of their own at all.

We do a lot of lighting for quite expensive homes and work with lighting designers and some of the stuff they come up with is incredible. Lighting is being thought about much more now, which is fantastic.

I know this is a money saving website, but as an extravagance, I have pre-ordered one of these:

http://lifx.co/

It's steep at £50, but the price will come down, and for now it's just a toy for me to play with.