A Buyers Guide to LED Bulbs

elstimpo

Lots of questions get posted on this forum about LED Lighting, so i've written a little guide below that should answer most basic questions about LED Lighting.

If there is anything i've missed or you need clarification on, then please let me know and i'll do my best to answer it as quickly as possible.

I've worked in the LED Lighting industry for over 12 years.

Chris

What is LED Lighting?

LEDs (Light Emitting Diode) have actually been around for quite some time, used mostly as indicator lamps in items such as mobile phones, torches, car lights and traffic lights. But it’s only relatively recently that they have started to be used in lamps for our homes and it’s much more recently that they have been of sufficient quality to illuminate your home properly and available at an affordable price.


What savings can I make from LED?

Most companies advertising savings of ‘up to 90%’ and some even go as far as 95%. This is quite subjective as it depends what you are currently using and what LED you will replace it with. You need to buy an LED lamp bright enough to replace what you are currently using or there is no point. We have tested thousands of LED lamps over many years and the average savings customers could hope to make by switching to LED from Halogen and incandescent lamps is around the 85% mark.

So what does that equate to in terms of cold hard cash? Well, if you swapped ten 50w Halogen Spotlights for ten 7w LED Spotlights, at 6 hours per day, 365 days year and with electricity price of 13p per kWh, you’d save about £142 per year.

So return on investment would be a year or under for an LED Spotlight product priced at £14 or under.


Do LEDs fit straight into my existing fittings?

In most cases the answer to this is yes, but not in all cases, and particularly not for LED Spotlights. All LEDs need to get rid of heat quickly and efficiently, which means there needs to be an effective heat dissipation system or a heat sink; this will be mainly the body of the lamp. With standard LED lamps this isn’t a problem as the products are larger in size, but for LED spotlights is tricky due to their size. Halogen spotlights don’t have a heat sink, they are small, compact and very hot, but all good LED spotlights must have one and the product dimensions can vary slightly from Halogens; the problem then arises when you have fixtures that the original halogens are a snug fit into. All is not lost though as the vast majority of existing fixtures in the UK take most LED spotlights, but it is something to be aware of.


Do LED’s really last as long as the claims?

The claimed lifespan of an LED lamp can alter greatly from company to company. Often, the stated lifespan of a product is the figure the LED manufacturer has supplied lamp manufacturer and the re-seller with. If you have no independent way of testing the validity you must be guided by the figures presented. However our years of testing LED lamps here in the UK suggests that some of the claimed lifespan figures are misleading to say the least.

An LED is a solid state component and can easily have a lifespan of 50,000 hours or more. However all LEDs deteriorate over time; their output decreasing over time, some faster than others. How quickly they deteriorate comes down to the quality of the product materials and design. If an LED lamp doesn’t have an effective heat dissipation system and isn’t built from quality raw materials by a skilled work force, the chances of early failure and rapid deterioration increase. So while the LED will last for 50,000 hours, it’s highly unlikely it will be bright enough to illuminate your home towards the later part of its lifespan. Most of the LED products well sell come with a 25,000 hour lifespan; we feel this is an accurate lifespan for a quality LED product.


What Colour LEDs should I buy?

Traditional halogen and incandescent lamps we all used for such a long time give off a very warm and yellow light that we all became accustomed to. In my opinion, they were too warm and too yellow, but we had no choice. With LED lamps there are colour variations and we can choose the colour temperature that suits the environment that lamp is required for.

For example in my home I use a Natural White LED lamp with a colour temperature of 3000 – 3500k in my entrance hall and landings as it provides a brighter clearer light, but I use an LED lamp with a colour temperature of 2700k in my lounge and bedrooms as I want a slightly warmer feel. As an approximate guide here are some typical figures, natural daylight is 6500k.

Warm White - 2700k

Natural White - 3000 – 3500k

Cool White - 4500 – 6500k


Can you get dimmable LED’s?

Yes, dimmable LED Lamps are readily available in many different styles and some have excellent perform, however you need to be careful when using existing dimmers with LEDs. Generally older dimmer units do not perform correctly with dimmable LED lamps and may need to be replaced; the supplier should be able to offer guidance and advice.


Will I need special transformers when fitting MR16 (GX5.3) LED Spotlights?

Probably, yes. Existing transformers intended for halogen spots supply large amounts of power and have protection circuits to prevent damage in case of overload or short circuit; they also power if the lamp fails. Whilst LEDs use so little power there is little chance of overload, but using so little power the existing transformer “assumes” there is no load (lamp failed) and will not perform at all or incorrectly, flashing is a typical symptom.

LED transformers are available capable of power one or many LED lamps, ask for advice.


What should I look for when buying LED’s?

1) Deal with a specialist LED company. That way you know you are assured expert advice and accurate answers to your questions

2) Minimum 3 year warranty. Make sure the warranty comes as standard as some companies may advertise, say a 5 year warranty, but the reality is only a 2 year warranty unless other steps have been completed. Always make sure you read the terms and conditions of the warranties and if they are not on the website, make sure you get the company to fully explain the terms of their warranty in writing.

3) Returns period. Lighting can be so subjective and personal; every human eye sees light differently, so the only way you are going to get the perfect product for your home is to be able try it first; risks free. Most companies offer a 30 day returns period and this is the very least you should be looking for. Especially as stats can be greatly exaggerated by a lot of manufacturers and retailers.

4) Testimonials and reviews. Firstly if the company you are looking at uses an external company to handle their reviews, make sure it’s a reputable one. Several review companies have reputations for not allowing neutral or negative reviews to be published, which provides an unbalanced view of the company you are looking at. Also read some of the reviews, if some of them give a product 5 out of 5 accompanied by a comment of ‘not fitted them yet’, possibly something is amiss.

5) Make absolutely sure the product you are purchasing has CE + RoHS approvals.

CE – It is a European requirement that every single product, LED or other, sold within Europe must be certified to meeting the necessary requirements for that class of product. A manufacturer must test to the required standards or submit for test a product to a test establishment and issue a declaration of conformity. There is a long standing joke that CE really stands for ‘Chinese Export’, as it has been known for certain manufacturers simply put the CE mark on products without actually testing to the correct standards.

Products that do not meet standards can cause interference with electronic equipment or may in fact be hazardous and be required to be recalled and removed from sale. If in doubt ask the company for a copy of the relevant documentation.

RoHS – The Restriction of the Use of Certain Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Equipment (RoHS)

All products should now be compliant and meet this requirement which restricts the use of certain hazardous materials in their construction.

One major online UK retailer has already had products removed due to them being dangerous and they were also the subject of an investigation by trading standards. So be very careful and make sure the products you buy have the required certifications. Actually ask to see copies of the certificates.


What should I look for in an LED Lamp to replace my existing lighting?


To replace a 50w Halogen

Look for a 6w or 7w LED spotlight with at least 400 warm white lumens and a 60 degree beam angle. The height of the ceiling is important when choosing beam angle, the higher the ceiling the narrower the beam angle should be, but in most homes in the UK, typically less than 3m, anywhere from 60 degrees to 135 degrees works well.


To Replace a 60w Incandescent bulb

Look for an 8w or 9w LED Bulb with at least 780 warm white lumens. Don’t be afraid to try experiment with colour temperature in different area of your home. A colour temperature of 2800 – 3300k (Natural White) is fantastic in general areas.


To Replace a 40w Incandescent Bulb

Look for a 6w or 7w LED Bulb with at least 640 lumens.

Look for a lifespan of around 25,000 hours for all the products above.


What price should I pay for quality LED Lamps?

Be very careful when you see "20% off everything" deals as often they are not what they seem. If a company is consistently offering deals like this, then this is usually a case of manipulated selling. What that means is that the retailer puts a ridiculous margin on a product, purely so they can discount it by 20% and still make a good margin on it. The perception is that you are getting a 20% reduction and therefore a good deal, the reality is that even with the 20% discount you are vastly over paying for a cheap product that was never worth the original price in the first place. The supermarkets have been using this tactic with wine for a long time. Oz Clarke recently did a segment on it on watchdog. So please don't fall for what i would call a scam.

The below prices are what you should expect to pay for a quality LED lamp with at least a 3 year warranty from a reputable company. (of course you can pay more for exceptional products).


6-7w LED Spotlight - £10 – £13

6-7w LED Spotlight (Dimmable) - £14



8-9w LED Bulb - £10

6-7w LED Bulb - £9

JohnB47

Thanks for taking the time to do this. Very useful to me at the moment because I've just started thinking about replacing the 50w GU10's in my kitchen (7) and bathroom (6).

Just a few points I would make:

In the section "What should I look for when buying LED’s?" para 3, you mention 30 day returns.

I recently bought some LEDs from a company that offered a "30 day no quibble" return but when I looked at the returns policy, it said that unless faulty, the goods had to be unused and unopened. I appreciate that they don't want to chuck stuff away because the items or packaging have been damaged but how else are people like me going to try out the various wattages and colour balances? In my case the boxes and items are as new, so I've just returned them for a refund anyway.

Secondly, colour temperature. The GU10's I bought were warm white (3000K) but no way were they as warm as my 50w halogens.
Another reason to be able to try bulbs out and return if not wanted.

Lastly, your advice re equivalence is especially useful. The place I bought from says 4w, 320 lumens, is equivalent to 50w halogen. No way!

The only hope for me now is to find out the make and model of a GU10 that electricians fitted in my bathroom. One particular halogen bulb kept blowing and as a last resort (after changing the bulb three times and the whole fitting once) they fitted an LED bulb, which is as near as could be to the brightness and warmth of the other lamps.

Thanks again for the guide.

locky123

Excellent summary.

Mulder00

I recently bought 3000k for the living room as it was marked as warm white - it was way too white...swapped it out for 2700k and much happier. Be sure to familiarise yourself with colours and lumens otherwise its easy to buy the wrong thing...

southcoastrgi

Thank you Chris a excellent guide

JohnB47

elstimpo wrote: »

Hi John. Yes i'm afraid the LED Lighting industry is complex and there are lots of traps that are actually set knowingly by manufacturers and retailers. It's very sad. The vast majority of products we test are nowhere near good enough to bring to the market and the claims the manufacturers make are laughable at best.

I've never seen an LED Spot, with a warm colour temp, come anywhere near replacing a 50w halogen that was less than 6w. But as you know, there are plenty of companies telling you the opposite.

Hiding things in Terms and Conditions is a tactic used by most companies these days. You really need to read the terms and conditions for every company to find out what their actual returns policy is and what their actual warranty covers. There is no way around this i'm afraid. When buying LED Lighting, you need to be able to try to the products in your own home first before having to commit to a purchase. It's absolutely vital. Not only that, but you need to live with them for about a week before you can make a proper judgement. Eyes adapt to new light quickly, but it takes a week to fully adjust in your own home.

You must read the small print for guarantees too. See what is actually covered.

3000k is at the top of what should be considered warm white. If you really want the same warm temp as a Halogen, you need to be 2500k to 2600k - I only ever come across one LED Spotlight where it's next to impossible to tell it from the halogen once installed.
I however like a lighter light than that, i prefer the temp up about 2700k to 2900k , but as i say, it's such a subjective and personal thing.

Hope that helps
Chris :beer:

Yes Chris that does help, thanks. I'm much wiser now.

Edit: I was thinking that it might be a good idea for a retailer to make available kits of lamps for customers to try out. There could be a gu10 kit, comprising a range of spots of different wattages and temperatures, another kit would contain bulbs for bayonet type bulbs etc. The customer would pay a deposit which would be refunded if they purchase items above a certain value, otherwise they would be charged, say, £5 plus return p&p.

The idea for this came from my remembering that I was able to 'hire' a set of Audioquest speaker cables from a shop on the Tottenham Court Road back in the nineties. This allowed me to try out three types of cable and of course I bought the most expensive ones!

Nostromo

Good guide but can anyone recommend where to buy them ?

elstimpo

Nostromo wrote: »

Good guide but can anyone recommend where to buy them ?

(Text removed by MSE Forum Team)

If you buy from a physical store, you'll only have a choice of big major brands, who won't give you the best value for money, but of the major brand names Megaman is the only one I'd consider. None of the others.

alanobrien

Nice summary - also worth noting that some LED bulbs interfere with DAB radio reception
http://conversation.which.co.uk/energy-home/led-bulb-radio-interference-dab-test/

almillar

I'm happy to list Chris' site as I've bought several bulbs from him and always had an excellent service, on excellent products. He is honest and doesn't oversell his products, which I think is the biggest problem with LEDs at the minute, as he hinted at in his first post.
http://www.energysavingled.com/
I've personally got the LED spotlights (V6 which are no longer made) which just about replace 50w, 60 degree halogens. I have other LEDs too, which clearly either do not output what they say they do, or have been very generous in saying what they're equivalent to. Or hidden the beam angle away somewhere.

RobGuggle

almillar wrote: »

I'm happy to list Chris' site as I've bought several bulbs from him and always had an excellent service, on excellent products. He is honest and doesn't oversell his products, which I think is the biggest problem with LEDs at the minute, as he hinted at in his first post.
http://www.energysavingled.com/
I've personally got the LED spotlights (V6 which are no longer made) which just about replace 50w, 60 degree halogens. I have other LEDs too, which clearly either do not output what they say they do, or have been very generous in saying what they're equivalent to. Or hidden the beam angle away somewhere.

I bought their 6w LED Spot (£9.98) for my home office and a 9w LED Bulb (£9.98) in Natural White and they are super. I posted a picture of the spots in my office on another thread.

I'm currently getting my MR16 fittings changed to GU10 in my kitchen so i can buy their 7w dimmable spots (£13.98), which they have told me have a warmer colour than the 6w spot, which i want in the kitchen.

Reason i bought from them initially was the 1 year returns policy.