LED bulbs for interior lighting? Worth it or big rip off?

JustAnotherSaver

Bought our house a few years ago & began the process for replacing all the bulbs for LED ones, sold by the idea that they use less energy, last a long time so will be a good long term investment.

Looking like that was a big mistake.

I'd only ever had experience of LED lighting with cars (no not that undercar or footwell nonsense) & it was a positive one. They lasted ages.

Recently the bulbs just seem to be dropping for fun & it's not even in the same light fitting, although it is all situated in the kitchen / diner. We have 2 fittings with 4 bulbs each & 1 fitting with 3 bulbs. They just start flickering & shortly after that they're gone.


I bought LumiLife ones from LED Hut. So far i've had to have 3-4 replaced. To start with they didn't want them back, even though i offered but the last time they asked for them (fair enough).

They replaced the first one & within a matter of weeks another one went & then just days after that another one went & then another one.

Then a few weeks break & now another one went yesterday.


Is the line of "last a long time" a myth with these bulbs? Are they just a big con? Or am i just unlucky?

phil24_7

Do you have them on dimmers?

Cornucopia

LED bulbs are typically specified with a life of 100,000 hours (11 years continuous use).

If you aren't achieving anything like that, then there is a problem.

Could be:-

- Bad batch/bad manufacturer

- Bad dimmer compatibility as mentioned above

- Bad transformer compatibility for 12v bulbs

cyclonebri1

JustAnotherSaver wrote: »

Recently the bulbs just seem to be dropping for fun & it's not even in the same light fitting, although it is all situated in the kitchen / diner. We have 2 fittings with 4 bulbs each & 1 fitting with 3 bulbs. They just start flickering & shortly after that they're gone.


I bought LumiLife ones from LED Hut. So far i've had to have 3-4 replaced. To start with they didn't want them back, even though i offered but the last time they asked for them (fair enough).

It';s what's known as "chinese quality control", ie make em cheap and cheerful, don't check them at all and simply replace without question.

There will be nothing wrong at your end, you have simply bought a poor bulb.

Many are guaranteed for 5 years or so, get some with a little bit of back up and from personal experience, (I had exactly the same issues as you), super cheapies from say Ebay can be both and absolute bargain or a total waste of dosh. Believe me I've had both.

Buy a few from each of several suppliers regardless wether ebay or direct retailer based, just get the waranty:beer:

andygb

We have had 8 LED's in the kitchen for about six years and none have blown yet (fingers crossed now I have said that). They are a nice, white light and replace the old Halogen GU4 (???) lights which kept blowing.
They were expensive to start with, but the same lights can be bought from places like Screwfix or local electrical contractors (where I bought mine) at quite reasonable prices now.

shaun_from_Africa

andygb wrote: »

We have had 8 LED's in the kitchen for about six years and none have blown yet (fingers crossed now I have said that). They are a nice, white light and replace the old Halogen GU4 (???) lights which kept blowing

Tell me about it.
My kitchen had 14 ceiling mounted GU4 halogens and I was forever replacing the lamps or the connectors (which were breaking down due to the heat).
About 2 years ago I replaced the lot with good quality LED's which at the time were about £7 each and since then, I've not had to touch them.

Norman_Castle

Not sure about led bulbs but I've had cfl's fail early due to loose wiring. I would check for loose connections in the switches and fittings.

Risteard

Cornucopia wrote: »

LED bulbs are typically specified with a life of 100,000 hours (11 years continuous use).

If you aren't achieving anything like that, then there is a problem.

Can't really agree. That won't account for frequent switching etc., so you aren't likely to replicate these stated figures.

Cornucopia

Risteard wrote: »

Can't really agree. That won't account for frequent switching etc., so you aren't likely to replicate these stated figures.

What should people expect in typical usage?

BTW, I did say "anything like", i.e. missing the target by a wide margin.

Jonesya

LEDs are one of those products where quality makes a big difference because these bold claims about long life depend on the design and quality of the product. The long life relies on a good quality power supply and attention to the cooling of the LED.

Buy a good quality product from a reputable lighting brand and you'll likely get what you expect, buy an unknown brand and it's pot luck.

Procrastinator333

I bought same brand from led hut. They suck to be honest. Bought 40 ish. About 20 have gone after 18 months.

Given up with them now. I just buy cheapest ones i can from amazon. £2 ish a bulb. They seem to last 12-18 months as well. Just cheaper than ledhut.