advertisement


LED Lamps

MikeMA

MikeMA

pfm Member
What are people's experiences of LED lamps? I usually pick them up in the supermarket where I pay around £6. The last three I've bought have failed after around six months, more than wiping out any environmental benefits and cost savings compared with incandescent lamps. What lamps do fellow fishes buy, and how long do they last?
 
Depends on what you want them for.

I have lived away from artificial outdoor lighting for around 40 years so use a torch of some kind routinely. I have to have a torch that will focus to a tight beam, so LED torches are totally out of the question, but I have tried them and irrespective of build and cost, they have not lasted long when used a few hours per week, being switched on and off umpteen times an hour.

I use incandescent torches and rechargeable batteries. The best that are currently available, and certainly at realistic cost, are probably Maglite.
 
had loads fail , they are a pain . ordered 5 expensive ones recently , after 3 weeks there was an almighty bang in our lounge. that was the expensive one going , then another . i sent the lot back. had 2 led security go , one after 2 months !!
 
They are not very reliable, and that’s because of the included PSU that gets too hot. I suggest you use a 12 V DC lighting network. One PSU for the whole house!
 
Go to an electrcial wholesaler or buy decent bulbs on-line. They'll be cheaper, probably with better colour rendering & last longer

We have Robus & Aurora Enlite with hardly any failures over a number of years. About 30 lamps in total replacing 50 watt halogens
 
yes those gu10 replacement seem pretty good . not had any fail in led . its the led candle bulbs and exterior security lights by lapp that seem to fail
 
chartz said:
They are not very reliable, and that’s because of the included PSU that gets too hot. I suggest you use a 12 V DC lighting network. One PSU for the whole house!
Click to expand...

That seems VERY unlikely - the PSU technology is ancient. LED technology isn't. The dud golfballs here were easy to open and you could easily see the LED "panels" had blown.
 
Had a few running for 4-5 years, no drama. For outdoor pursuits lighting, LED all the way. I just put a Petzl Zoom headlamp in the charity bag. Decent thing, back in the day. These days? Landfill. I buy LED headlamps with better light, longer life, better battery life, and lighter, for the price of a paper. £40 on a Petzl and carrying spare batteries in the Alps? Yeah, bollocks.
 
It seems to be pot luck. I’ve fitted LED lights/lamps that have lasted anywhere between 6 months and 6 years.
I have had some GU10 lamps that lasted approximately 30,000 hours before they started failing.
 
I have kitted out this house with LEDs even changing the dimmers. There is a mix of types some go back 6 years and none have failed.

Cheers,

DV
 
A few months ago, my landlord fitted non-replaceable LED lights where the GU10 fixtures used to be. Hopefully they'll last a while.
 
For domestic bulbs Philips ones last. Re torches, I have a 900 lumen ssc led torch that I've had for six years does double duty as a bike light so get hundreds of use a year, never missed a beat.

If you want a tight beam, buy one with the correct reflector
 
I've never been happy with the light given by LED bulbs, even though I paid great attention to the equivalence and the kelvins. I learned about CRI from an earlier thread on this forum, and researched it further. There's a company called well-lit who have a very instructive piece on their website.
I'll not replace any halogen lightbulb unless and until I can get an LED with a CRI of 95. Philips do GU10s with that level but no-one does GU5.3s, which is the most common bulb throughout my house.
 
LED lamps need a power supply specified for LEDs, one for halogen bulbs can give out voltage spikes that destroy the LED, some cheap bulbs use low specced components, particularly electrolytic capacitors which will have a vey short lifetime.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.


advertisement


Back
Top