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

elstimpo

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.

Could be:-

- Bad batch/bad manufacturer

- Bad dimmer compatibility as mentioned above

- Bad transformer compatibility for 12v bulbs

This information is 100% factually incorrect. :mad:

elstimpo

JustAnotherSaver wrote: »

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?

The vast majority of LED Lamps sold in the UK market are poor performing products using sub standard components. They are often sourced as cheaply as possible and then marketing guff claims they can perform and last the same length of time as more expensive quality products.

If you are going to buy LED's, don't buy on price, buy on quality and value. Good quality LED Lamps will deliver everything the claims say they will, the cheap stuff is a complete waste of time and money.

Power supplies are the most common cause of failure for LED lamps, not the chips themselves, and more often than not thats where manufacturers cut corners to try and reduce prices. Resistors are vital, ask most LED retailers what temp their resistors are rated to in their products and they will look at you blankly and confused - it's unbelievable.

I've been in this industry for well over a decade and it needs regulating more now than ever before. The utter rubbish supposed 'experts' and companies spout about their products is truly shocking.

I feel sorry for consumers, the mixed message and poor information being supplied by retailers is perplexing and mostly inaccurate. It's usually just sales rubbish.

JustAnotherSaver

Yeah i remember the whole resistors thing when i was piecing (or trying to) together some domed LEDs when i was playing with a set of car speedometer clocks & trying to illuminate them different colours. In the end i got someone to do it for me lol

But you say buy quality & value ... what would you say these are? How do i, the simple man wanting to make a purchase, know what is quality & what is bad quality, what is value for money etc?

At the moment the answer is - i don't.

elstimpo

JustAnotherSaver wrote: »

Yeah i remember the whole resistors thing when i was piecing (or trying to) together some domed LEDs when i was playing with a set of car speedometer clocks & trying to illuminate them different colours. In the end i got someone to do it for me lol

But you say buy quality & value ... what would you say these are? How do i, the simple man wanting to make a purchase, know what is quality & what is bad quality, what is value for money etc?

At the moment the answer is - i don't.

I've been in the LED industry for well over a decade, i own an online LED retailer (can't and won't name) and i think anyone looking to buy quality LED Lamps at a price that represents genuine value, then it's incredibly difficult.

The Energy Saving Trust tried to help by running a scheme called Premium Light ( http://www.premiumlight.eu ) where LED manufacturers and retailers volunteered products for independent testing at the university of Toulouse free of charge. Unfortunately this was a short term project and didn't continue.

There is a new scheme called Verified by Energy Saving Trust which is run in partnership with the lighting industry association - but costs are quite prohibitive at the moment for smaller companies.

Virtually all LEDs represent a lower quality of light and ability to render colours than halogen and incandescent. This is where i think LEDs are being completely mis-sold and misrepresented. The public are being sold a lie. It might be that some don't care about quality of light or colour rendering but they shouldn't be sold as something that they are not. If an LED doesn't have a CRI or RA rating of more than 95 then they are not a genuine or like for like replacement for halogen and incandescent lamp (you also need a colour temp of 2700k).

My advice is to avoid nearly all of the online LED companies who sell their own brands (and are in a race to bottom on price).

There are very few LED manufacturers i would openly recommend, Collingwood, Halers and Soraa are three, but they are more focused on specialist LED Lamps not really products for domestic homes.

All i will say is if the choice was between paying a little more for Phillips or a cheaper priced product from an online LED retailer with their own brand, i'd take the Phillips product. In fact it's not even a decision that needs much consideration.

Not sure if any of that helps but i'll answer any questions as best i can on here or via pm.

phil24_7

Halers are collingwood?!?!

JCC are also good...but expensive!

elstimpo

phil24_7 wrote: »

Halers are collingwood?!?!

JCC are also good...but expensive!

Yes but thats not immediately obvious to consumers when distributors sell the products as Halers and not as Collingwood.

I haven't had any experience of JCC !

I'm currently looking at some dimmable LED filament lamps with no visible heat sink and 95 CRI - quite exciting (for someone like me )

phil24_7

elstimpo wrote: »

Yes but thats not immediately obvious to consumers when distributors sell the products as Halers and not as Collingwood.

I haven't had any experience of JCC !

I'm currently looking at some dimmable LED filament lamps with no visible heat sink and 95 CRI - quite exciting (for someone like me )

Fair enough.

Let us know how those lamps go as I think there may be quite a few people interested!

elstimpo

jack_pott wrote: »

The other point to bear in mind is that you won't save anything by putting low energy bulbs in places where they are rarely used..

Very true.

teddysmum

Elstimpo, how do you rate Crompton bulbs ?


Also, we are about to have the kitchen refurbished and want to replace the present single three direction spotlight unit with similar. The old unit is over 25 years old (how time flies), so you can imagine what hard to come by bulbs it takes.


Is a fitting taking LED bulbs the recommended solution, please?

almillar

Single 3 direction spotlight is simply a fitting. It'll be wired into the mains in the ceiling. You buy a new unit and wire it in. What fittings the new one contains is up to you! LED would be a good idea, but they make them for most of the normal fittings anyway. LED spotlights is no problem, GU10 being the most common fitting. And yes, if you're replacing things, replace them with good LEDs at this point.