TCP LED light bulbs 27 December 2014 at 3:55PM in Green & Ethical MoneySaving 7 replies 1.7K views

Sterlingtimes

My "early adopter" experiences with LED light bulbs was not good. Reliability poor.


I have been waiting for reliability to improve and prices to fall.


Then today I saw TCP light bulbs in Homebase at a reduced price of £4.87 less 20% (when spending £50 or more) = £3.89:


My selection >>> TCP >>> Nichia Corporation >>> clear candle >>> warm white >>> B22 base >>> 330 Lm >>> 5 watts (stated equivalence 30 watts) >>> 25,000H.


Seems like a great buy to me. I'll get another batch tomorrow but will research prices first.

Sterlingtimes

Bought another batch today. That substantially changes out all of our medium to high usage lights. Eighteen bulbs all in all for £72.90.

almillar

330 lm isn't that bright (30W ish normal bulb as they say) but depends on what you're replacing I suppose...

Sterlingtimes

almillar wrote: »

330 lm isn't that bright (30W ish normal bulb as they say) but depends on what you're replacing I suppose...

I'm not sure whether it's correct to add Lumens from separate bulb, but each of the two ceiling lights in the lounge (for instance) carries three bulbs of 330 Lm each. Is that 6 times 330 = 1,980 Lm? It is no less bright than before.

The alternative four lamps at 810 Ln each are far brighter than the compact florescent bulbs that they replace.

almillar

It's fine to add them all together. Everything is relative, so what I was trying to find out is what bulbs you removed, to add these ones. They say they'll replace 30W bulbs (old style), which is refreshingly honest of them. If you had taken out 20W or 30W bulbs, then yes, they should be brighter.
Remeber compact fluorescents take a while to warm up so you should be comparing them after a few minutes at full brightness.

Sterlingtimes

almillar wrote: »

They say they'll replace 30W bulbs (old style), which is refreshingly honest of them.

It will take me a couple of weeks, I think, to reach a conclusion.


Generally, the 5 Watt LED candle bulbs replace my 9 to 11 Watt CFLs. But their success appear to be based upon direction. Those facing up or down work far better than those mounted horizontally.


The 10 Watt LED bulbs (880 Lm) are rather more successful. They do noticeably better than the 100 Watt filament bulbs.


Decoratively, I prefer the whiter light of the LEDs (which are marked "warm white").


Power comparison is probably something like 75% of the CFL rating.

almillar

The 10 Watt LED bulbs (880 Lm) are rather more successful. They do noticeably better than the 100 Watt filament bulbs.

100W bulbs put out a lot more than 880Lm. Maybe they were old or dirty.
You'll have a big lump at the bottom of the candles I guess, and this will affect where all the light can go.

Sterlingtimes

almillar wrote: »

100W bulbs put out a lot more than 880Lm. Maybe they were old or dirty.

The perception here is that they are much brighter. There are variables affecting such judgment apart from the Lumen ratings alone. I think that the old bulbs directed the light into the shades whereas the LEDs direct the light to the ceiling and the whitish light reflects downwards.