LEDs in bathroom not lasting long.

JohnB47

I have good quality (ie pretty costly) LEDs around the house - all GU10 ceiling spots and bought from the same company. The oldest ones, in the kitchen have been there since 2014 and have been faultless.

I've had failures, after about 18 months, in a couple in the living room ones but the worst problem is with the bathroom ones.

Of the six in the bathroom, I think I may have just one that has lasted the course (fitted 2015). The others have suffered various problems - going dull and changing colour, simply going out, staying lit but the little glass lens falling off and now one starts flickering after being on for 10 mins.

The bathroom has a small extractor fan and I often open the window during showering too. The GU10s there are fitted in the proper 'can's for a bathroom and there is no insulation covering them, in the loft.

The company I bought from has been excellent in replacing all the failed ones free of charge but I'm getting fed up replacing them routinely. The one that has just started flickering was a replacement, fitted in Jan 2016, for an earlier faulty one.

Any ideas on why this is happening?

firefox1956

The obvious answer would be the damp atmosphere.
But why it should affect a sealed unit I have no idea.

thescouselander

It will be the enclosures trapping the heat and cooking the driver circuit in the lamp.

firefox1956

thescouselander wrote: »

It will be the enclosures trapping the heat and cooking the driver circuit in the lamp.

LED bulbs don't produce any heat............

Risteard

firefox1956 wrote: »

LED bulbs don't produce any heat............

Not true. They may produce less, but not none.

There is a real problem however where LEDs are unable to dissipate heat leading to failures.

societys_child

The company I bought from has been excellent in replacing all the failed ones free of charge

I'll bet they have . . . did they cost more than £1 each?

I've had Poundland GU10 bulbs in my bathroom for ~2 years. None have failed . .

thescouselander

firefox1956 wrote: »

LED bulbs don't produce any heat............

They certainly do produce heat, here is the LED GU10 next to my bed:



Combine that with an enclosed space and cheapo components and you're asking for it to go pop.

JohnB47

Thanks everyone. Yes, I'm sort of assuming that it's heat is the problem but these bulbs cost over £10 each!

I was wondering if anyone would confirm that bulbs fitted in a bathroom were especially susceptible.

These bulbs definitely do generate heat - try leaving one on for 10 minutes, turn it off and then remove i. They get quite hot and that's not just the bathroom ones.

So if it is heat/moisture, is there a solution? Is it acceptable to fit a 'normal' enclosure - one where the bulb is just clipped in place and air can get around the bulb on it's way up to the loft? Or are there ones specifically designed for bathrooms that allow air to pass?

Otherwise I'll be changing bulbs every 18 months or so.

BargainGalore

I have gu10 there actually slightly modifed gu10 so I had to buy them from same company that sold the light as they dont fit as the light has a indentation and bulb had one too.

They lasted well over 2 years only recently one went but didnt want to pay overflated prices again so we modfied the light so it takes gu10's from any company. we got ours from screwfix about £2 each so far all 3 lasted 7 months

https://www.screwfix.com/p/lap-gu10-led-light-bulb-345lm-5-3w-10-pack/8140k

thescouselander

I reckon you'd be better going for a low voltage lighting and that way you can put the transformer somewhere where it will keep cool. The low voltage LEDs in my kitchen hardly heat up at all.

andyhop

Try a open light such as a icage from ansell. Sealed fire rated still get warm with a LED