LED light bulbs

elstimpo

lstar337 wrote: »

I fully understand what you are saying elstimpo, and I agree to a degree, but most people simply do not care about CRI.

They didn't know or care about it when they had incandescent lights, they didn't know or care about it when they had CFL's, they don't know or care about it now they have LED's, and they probably wont know or care about it when the next lighting technology comes along either.

I understand that a lot of situations require specific lighting conditions, but Joe Bloggs isn't worried about the CRI of the light in his downstairs bog, he's worried about what it cost him.

That said, I am not Joe Bloggs and most of my bulbs cost me just under a tenner each. The one in my lounge cost £60, but it's a Lifx bulb so I can get virtually any colour and brightness I want out of it.

Still, I bought all mine when I had money. I wouldn't buy the same ones again, too pricey!

If people don't care about CRI then they dont care about colour in their homes, so hopefully they are the same people who buy everything in white or black etc. Anyone who spends £500 £1000 on something like a red sofa or brown leather chair and then try's to cut a few ££'s out on lighting should really consider CRI.

They didn't know about it with incandescent and halogens but the CRI was 99/100 - so everyone became accustomed to High CRI even if they didnt know. If no one cares about CRI then my business wouldn't have existed for the past 6 years. Therefore i can also state that people do care about CRI and the % of people who do care is growing at a rapid rate.

Very few of our customers put High CRI lighting in 'downstairs bogs' or cloakrooms etc as their is little point. You spend the money where it's needed.

Joe Bloggs doesnt need to be concerned with CRI for me to post factual information that cheap LEDs will not come close to producing the quality of light of halogens and incandescents. Joe Bloggs is also probably using this forum from a £1000 Apple ipad or macbook he probably doesnt need and should have paid £400 for something else.

I have never understood why anyone wants lamps that change colour in their homes? To me, thats pointless and to spend money on that rather than CRI makes no sense.

elstimpo

Martyn1981 wrote: »

!00% they will cost less to buy across their lifetime than an incandescent, CFL, or halogen to buy.

100% they will cost far, far, far, far less to run for any given period than an incandescent, CFL, or halogen.

Mine work great, I'm yet to be concerned about the CRI, at all - perhaps that's a failing of mine, and I'm simply incapable of 'seeing' how poor they are.

Still, if you don't like them, then all the more for the rest of us.

This is reminding me somewhat of all the negativity towards CFL's when I was buying them for about £7 each 20yrs ago. Saved me a fortune, worked well, no problems.

With specific regard to halogen's, they should now be banned completely due to their exceptionally high energy consumption and waste.

You clearly don't care about quality of light - which is absolutely fine. I care greatly about quality of light

CFL's were and remain absolutely awful light sources and truly awful for the environment. Cannot be recycled due to Mercury content and end up in landfill - not the sort of product you want the government suibsidising and used en-masse.

With regards to CRI and caring, let me know if you care more after reading this - http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2016/10/23/near-infrared-led-lighting.aspx

Martyn1981

elstimpo wrote: »

You clearly don't care about quality of light - which is absolutely fine. I care greatly about quality of light

Any chance you (and almillar) can read the thread and comments again? I just did, and I've no idea what has happened these last few days.

Loads of us are happy with our cheap LED's, saving money (MSE site) and energy (G&E board).

I appreciate you have bulbs (or is the correct trem lamps?) to sell, but clearly I don't care about the quality of light, as it looks perfectly fine to me in my happy ignorance.

However, the reduction in UK electricity consumption, evening peak demand, and household bills from installing CFL's and now LED's is huge.

LED's are now cheap enough to replace all the main lighting for just £20 or so. If anyone isn't happy with the quality (again read the many comments from folk who like me, are happy with their cheap HB, Screwfix or B&Q) then those can be relegated to little used rooms, pantries, downside toilet, shed, garage, worklights etc, when higher quality LED's become cheaper.

But for now, save money, save energy and install LED's and if that means cheap ones, all the better for those that don't appreciate the difference.

lstar337

elstimpo wrote: »

I have never understood why anyone wants lamps that change colour in their homes? To me, thats pointless and to spend money on that rather than CRI makes no sense.

It's called a bit fun, but I can tell from the way you write your posts that you have never experienced it.

elstimpo wrote: »

If people don't care about CRI then they dont care about colour in their homes, so hopefully they are the same people who buy everything in white or black etc. Anyone who spends £500 £1000 on something like a red sofa or brown leather chair and then try's to cut a few ££'s out on lighting should really consider CRI.

They probably look at their colour things during the daylight hours. Most people use their lights at night for the main purpose of stopping their homes from being pitch dark. I highly doubt they turn on their lights so they can marvel at the CRI and how wonderful their coloured 'things' look.

elstimpo

lstar337 wrote: »

It's called a bit fun, but I can tell from the way you write your posts that you have never experienced it.

They probably look at their colour things during the daylight hours. Most people use their lights at night for the main purpose of stopping their homes from being pitch dark. I highly doubt they turn on their lights so they can marvel at the CRI and how wonderful their coloured 'things' look.

Ok, so you decided to get personal. No idea why but says more about you than me. I don't consider lights that can change colour to be 'fun'.

Actually a lot of people care about how CRI effects the way colours appear in their home. They care about quality of light and they care if lamps have an adverse effect on their health.

You can continue to make personal comments and state ignorant opinions based on no knoweldge or experience of the industry these comments are based on. Doesn't bother me.

elstimpo

Martyn1981 wrote: »

Any chance you (and almillar) can read the thread and comments again? I just did, and I've no idea what has happened these last few days.

Loads of us are happy with our cheap LED's, saving money (MSE site) and energy (G&E board).

I appreciate you have bulbs (or is the correct trem lamps?) to sell, but clearly I don't care about the quality of light, as it looks perfectly fine to me in my happy ignorance.

However, the reduction in UK electricity consumption, evening peak demand, and household bills from installing CFL's and now LED's is huge.

LED's are now cheap enough to replace all the main lighting for just £20 or so. If anyone isn't happy with the quality (again read the many comments from folk who like me, are happy with their cheap HB, Screwfix or B&Q) then those can be relegated to little used rooms, pantries, downside toilet, shed, garage, worklights etc, when higher quality LED's become cheaper.

But for now, save money, save energy and install LED's and if that means cheap ones, all the better for those that don't appreciate the difference.

I'm not doubting plenty of people are happy with cheap LEDs as plenty of people don't care about quality of light.

What i will happily state is that cheap LEDs will not last anywhere near the claimed lifespan.

If you think High CRI, High quality LED Lamps will be avaiable at £5 or under soon (if ever), you better think again.

lstar337

elstimpo wrote: »

Ok, so you decided to get personal. No idea why but says more about you than me. I don't consider lights that can change colour to be 'fun'.

You made it personal when you decided to be purposefully critical of the light I chose for my lounge (I didn't ask your opinion btw), slyly implying that I made a 'pointless' and therefore idiotic choice. Whether you find it fun or not is beside the point, plenty of people do which is why products like Lifx and Philips Hue exist. Personally, I like being able to change from warm white through to cool white depending on what activity I am doing in the lounge. Also, my AS daughter also finds the colours calming on days where she is suffering more than usual from sensory overload.

elstimpo wrote: »

Actually a lot of people care about how CRI effects the way colours appear in their home. They care about quality of light and they care if lamps have an adverse effect on their health.

If I surveyed 100 people on a typical street, I doubt I would find 5 who could tell me what CRI stood for! A lot in your mind must be a whole different number to a lot in mine. All I have said in my posts is that most of the public don't know or don't care what CRI is. I never said it wasn't important, just that the average home likely doesn't find it as important as you do.

You don't need to get all bent out of shape about it, there are plenty of things that I am passionate about that most of the population couldn't give two hoots about.

elstimpo wrote: »

You can continue to make personal comments and state ignorant opinions based on no knoweldge or experience of the industry these comments are based on. Doesn't bother me.

You don't need to know the industry or fancy initialisms, you just need to know the public. I can tell you for a fact that a huge portion of the population have bigger things to worry about than whether the curtains in their lounge are showing the correct shade of red when the light is turned on.

elstimpo wrote: »

What i will happily state is that cheap LEDs will not last anywhere near the claimed lifespan.

I agree. However, since this is a money saving website, I am compelled to point out the number of cheap lamps that can be purchased for the cost of a better quality bulb means that the overall lifespan is probably greater at the end of the day.

Cardew

elstimpo wrote: »

If you think High CRI, High quality LED Lamps will be avaiable at £5 or under soon (if ever), you better think again.

The problem many of us have is determining which LED lamps are high quality.

I had the same problem when CFL lamps were introduced. I bought Osram lamps which were - I thought - high quality; they weren't!

Martyn1981

elstimpo wrote: »

If you think High CRI, High quality LED Lamps will be avaiable at £5 or under soon (if ever), you better think again.

I don't think that, so thanks for making my point, I'll carry on happily with my cheap and extremely agreeable LED's, since I can get about 3 for a fiver, and according to you (not me) the expensive ones will cost even more, for longer, each.

So even if you are right and the cheaper ones don't last as long, they will certainly work out better value for money than those at 4x the cost, or whatever it is you recommend.

But, back to the point of the thread. And the many comments at the start, cheap LED's, that most of us are too stupid to realise don't work, and mistakenly think they are fine, are now available almost everywhere - so folk can upgrade their lighting as and when CFL's fail, or replace those incandescents if they stuck with them, and save loads of money on their leccy bills, and reduce their energy consumption.

I won't describe your product as a rip off, as I know folk who have a better appreciation than I on things such as TV's and sound system's and do get value out of the £1,000's they spend. But I can't really see nor hear it. So long as the colour of each Tellytubby is correct and I can hear them well enough to sing along, I'm a happy little bunny, and the extra money/quality would be wasted.

Oh, one last thing, perhaps we also have a difference of opinion on outdoor Halogens, but I have LED floodlights in the garden, 10W each, v's the 100-300W monsters other folk have to keep their gardens warm. Hopefully their quality, and cheapness at around £12 is ok.

jimjames

elstimpo wrote: »

You will not still be using those lamps in 2030. Lifespan claims are usually completely false. Power supplies are not going to last 20 years, it's ridiculous to suggest they will and some companies out there really are misleading their customers with LED lifespan of 50,000 hours etc

That's certainly not my experience. We've had maybe 1 CFL fail in around 10-15 years as I swapped the main ones over very early on and those are the ones that have highest usage and saved most money.