Your experience of LED bulbs in the home. Good? Bad? Brands etc.

EssexExile

I usually use whatever's available in B&Q, they've been fine. Sometimes I need something a bit more specialist so it's off to CEF. The main reason for those choices is that both are within walking distance of home!

kipsterno1

We had over 50 bulbs all from the LAP range at Screwfix installed during a refurb. That was over five years ago and so far I have only had to change two of them. A mixture of spots and globes.One that failed was fitted outside over the door if that has any relevance. 

basill

Im much happier with LEDs now warm white is widely available, I've gone from the grey light produced by the old low energy tube lights, tried the blinding blue of the first leds and now habe all matching warm white.
I found branded, more expensive ones ( I have mostly Phillps) dim more smoothly and that some old type dimmers do not like the low power of LEDs, either add a single halogen to the fitting or replace with a dimmer designed for LED.

J63320

I had some Osram ones that started flashing - it got to be so distracting that I ditched them. 

One thing to watch out for is the angle through which the light is given out (if there’s a technical term for this I don’t know what it is). I had some bulbs where the transparent part was only a half sphere so there was very little light going up to the ceiling and being reflected back. It made the rooms feel very gloomy.

victor2

I've got 11 LED spots in the kitchen and various ones all round the house. IME they will only last anything like near to their claimed life if you don't switch them on and off. 
First ones came from a competitor to LedHut several years ago. Two out of a batch of 9 purchased failed within about 18 months and were replaced under the lengthy warranty offered. By the time the next one failed, the company had gone out of business!
Some unheard of brand through a Chinese supplier on Amazon had very poor colour (I wanted 6000K and they were nowhere near that) and only lasted several months when used elsewhere. I've lost track of the brands I currently have in the kitchen, there's now such a mix, but only one or two of the original batch are still working. Latest ones came from LedHut I believe - it's difficult to find wide angle daylight colour bulbs, so I have that as my criteria rather than brand, and just go for a reputable supplier.

B0bbyEwing

FreeBear said:

Typically using 65KWh per year on lighting (yes, have an energy monitor on the lighting circuit). The savings on electricity make up for the two failures to date.

Always something I've wondered. I got them put in for a couple reasons. 1 was all you ever read is they save money and 2 was I just don't like how long normal bulbs take to get up to power, or seem to. 
Plus for a 3rd actually, you can get some proper bright crisp LED bulbs which in some locations within our house was certainly needed.

But I never had a way of testing them out to see how much they actually did save. Nice to know you've saved a decent amount.

TELLIT01 said:

I've bought all mine from Screwfix.  I simply check the reviews, which do seem to be pretty honest on their site, and had no problems so far.

I'm now dubious about reviews since this year I've tried to start leaving reviews more often & on a couple sites when I experienced a poor product & left a review saying so, it got blocked. They wouldn't post the review or whatver.

Makes me wonder how doctored reviews are now.

Norman_Castle

YBR said:

For low energy bulbs, the claims for thousands of hours working life generally come from laboratory testing where there is a very smooth supply. That, of course, is not the case in the vast majority of domestic settings. It also is for being continuously on; I gather switching them on and off reduces the lifespan.

I need to take a leaf out of OP's book as I've a feeling I'm getting very short lives from some bulbs/sockets but don't have anything you'd call evidence. 

From experience mostly with cfl bulbs, any that have failed early I've often found a loose connection in the switch wiring.

I had an Ikea cfl in my bathroom in an open bulb holder which lasted 15+ years despite being switched on and off repeatedly and regularly being covered in steam. It was still working when replaced with a more appropriate IP44 light.

I've found Ikea led bulbs to be good.

fatbelly

I replaced the GU10s with the £1 versions from Poundland. I think I've had one out of 20 go in 2-3 years.

The ordinary bayonet ones and SES I've got from a variety of sources.

I've replaced 5ft T8 fluorescents with LED equivalents from Trago Mills. I'll post the brand here when |I've checked.

One appears to have given up but I'm not 100% sure whether it's the bulb or something else.

I'm keeping an eye on the new ultra-efficients, hoping to buy for the most used bulbs, if the price comes down.

https://www.lighting.philips.co.uk/consumer/ultra-efficient

They only seem to be in ES fitting so I have got a few adapters lined up

ispookie666

After countless failures - I have stopped using anything from Amazon (loads of popup shops which come up for a few months). 
LAP from screwfix are ok, I have had a few failures 
I have had some LED's from LedLam (bought in 2014) and they have been going strong - GU10's
V-TAC brand seems to be good
Same with Osram and philips - some are more expensive.  

casper_gutman

Wow, what have you all been doing to your poor bulbs?

We've had a house full of LEDs for a decade or so. We've never had to replace a single one of them. Before LEDs, I only think we ever had one CFL bulb actually *fail* (they mostly just got dimmer, and took longer and longer to warm up until we gave up and replaced them).

They're a whole range of brands: Philips, Auraglow, LEDlite, LAP, the ones from well-lit.co.uk, whatever the stuff is they sell cheap in TLC Direct, CPC and CEF.

I almost wish one or two would fail, so I haven't wasted money on all the spares I tend to buy when I replace the bulbs in a room (so e.g. the kitchen downlights will all keep on matching).