LED bulbs experience? Do they last as declared?

[madires]

Got some 6400K LED lights for my home office. They are quality ones and running fine for about two years now. I decided to get the 6400K lights intentionally to keep me awake and it works really great. Before going to bed I switch to a low-K light to relax and support the melatomin production. I'd recommend to select the color temperature based on the light's purpose and location.

[rdl]

I've also been converting to the Cree bulbs (from Home Depot), not too expensive and they put out a very nice light. In the living room and bedroom I like the warm white color, looks just like an incandescent. I use the daylight in my (so-called) lab/workshop because it blends better with the fluorescents. I have some that have been in use for a nearly a year.

I also have one fixture that is almost always on where I used 15 watt incandescents, and the bulbs would burn out every 2 to 3 months. I bought a Philips 3 watt LED (130 lumens I think) that was $8 on clearance and it's been running for almost 18 months now.

I have just changed almost every light bulb in my house to Cree LED bulbs. The new ones are outstanding. I have several different power levels - and they also have one that has CRI of 93 IIRC called the TW.

[echen1024]

In my house, we have a mixture of Cree and Philips LEDS, as well as some incandescents.

[nardev]

Halogens have an ideal CRI (Colour Rendering Index) because of the black body radiation due to the heating of an element. LEDs will never match this, but the good ones can come close.
But this is usually only an issue in very specific studio photography or such work.

As far as i understood, LED bulbs could pay back and do last but should i really change my bench light... or just all other lights in house/home...

I feel that halogen bulbs don't make my eyes tired...and...maybe that waste of energy is not that expensive if i calculate with my health.

[Neilm]

I bought a couple of expensive LED GU10 lights about 18 months ago with the idea that I would put them into a strip of 4 spots I have in my main room. I have to say I have found them very economical - none of the fitted halogens have blown.

[echen1024]

In my lab, 6500K T8 tubes are used.

[pickle9000]

electronupdate the led bulb test guy.

https://www.youtube.com/user/electronupdate/videos?shelf_id=1&view=0&sort=dd

[Rufus]

From what I understand a major contributor to shortened service life is heat.

Yes heat - or more accurately high temperature. Lamp fixtures were never designed to keep the lamp cool. I seem to remember some of the first LED lamp replacements had an integral cooling fan. Going back I remember a report stating that something like 70% of installed light fixtures were not suitable for CFLs never mind LEDs where LED temperature as well as the driving electronics is an issue.

Searching the web for insight I found this insight
http://www.edn.com/electronics-blogs/led-insights/4423570/That-60W-equivalent-LED--What-you-don-t-know--and-what-no-one-will-tell-you-

[nardev]

In my lab, 6500K T8 tubes are used.

Are you satisfied with it or not?

[Hydrawerk]

Today I do not recommend LED bulbs, they are still too expensive. Buy a high quality fluorescent lamps instead. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fluorescent_lamp They are not expensive. They can work for 10+ years. Always provide good cooling for the electronic ballast.

[vk6zgo]

We bought an LED "globe" (which wasn't at all cheap) to replace the CFL in the lounge room.
It was supposedly "equal to a 90w incandescent".

We didn't find it so------more like a 20w!
We put up with it for a while,then banished it to the toilet,where it does a great job--much better in that service than CFLs,which don't like the intermittent operation inherent in "dunny" service,& die early.

We gave up on CFLs for the lounge room too,as they also lie about their output---they are almost equivalent to a 40w incandescent.
We now have halogens in that room & the Master bedroom---it's nice to actually be able to see!

The kitchen has a real fluoro,& one CFL .
The 40w tube produces way more light than the CFL,even though it is aging.

[David_AVD]

If you stick to reputable brands the light output should be as claimed.  If it's not, take it back!

[echen1024]

In my lab, 6500K T8 tubes are used.

Are you satisfied with it or not?

Yes, they are excellent. Very bright.

[BennyBoy]

In my years of LED assembly of high power LED, I've found Heat kills them. With the correct heat sink, LED's will outlast any other light source. I have 192 1 watt lumileds in my fishtank, for about 6 years now, with no failed LED's.

I came across this article: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2546363/The-great-LED-lightbulb-rip-One-four-expensive-long-life-bulbs-doesnt-like-long-makers-claim.html

Basically saying what i felt for a long time. LED bulbs is not as good as marketed.

1. i have feeling that intensity is decreasing over the time
2. i still couldn't find any LED bulb that gives as pleasant light as halogen bulbs.

Halogen bulbs maybe spend the most energy in average but i would rather save energy in heating and cooling than my eyes.

What is your experience, opinion with lights and what kind of bulb do you prefer ?

[calexanian]

I too have converted most of my house to CREE home depot bulbs. They had them on sale for 4.99 for the 40 watt equivalent. they are 2700 K so they are a soft yellow which I like in my rooms. In my work room I have a mushroom style 15 watt LED what is more on the blue end of the spectrum and gives a crisp light that is easy on the eyes. It actually gives me a mental response of being in daylight on a cool day. Rather nice actually.

My first thought about longevity goes immediately to the life of the electrolytics in the power supply. doubtful they are using the primo stuff in there. Then the breakdown in the varnish in the magnetics, and then the actual silicon itself most likely being pushed to margin in the design. The LED's do degrade over time, but I have a feeling something else will give first. I have been enjoying $30 electricity bills all winter since I made the switch. Now we are heading into 24 hour a day aircon season.  goodbye $30, hello $175! Typical highs here in town in the summer are about 38 and with solar loading and everything else it gets pretty unbearable for sleeping. We get about a half dosen 110+ days a year on average but fortunately by then its pretty dry around these parts. We had a couple of 114 days and one day in my yard the thermocouple sticking out of the window read 122. I have never seen it that hot! Just walking out into it made my skin hurt like a physical burn.

But I digress... I like the Cree Bulbs.

[Kjelt]

Has anyone else noticed that the incandescent equivalent ratings are way off? An 810lm "60W equivalent" Philips or Osram is more like a 100W equivalent. 600lm is more like 60W, even though the box says "40W equivalent" on it. LEDs are nice soft  "pearl" bulbs as well, instead of uncovered filaments like the incandescents they are being compared to.

Depends on which bulbs you compare them, if you compare them to the originale wolfram bulbs then they were around 10lm/W. If you compare them to the Halogen bulbs they are more 15 to 20lm/W. So actually the whole replacement table s*cks. Now the lm/W for led lamps seem to stabilize and the product matures, you can see the trend that no longer lm are mentioned on the package but only the new (led)W's.

[madworm]

LED-bulb experience so far:

* expensive ones last
* cheap(er) ones not so much, at least high(er)-power ones

Just recently I've had a 400lm bulb die on me (IKEA, 12€, lasted 21 months, about 1-2kh usage). The LEDs are still fine, but the power supply (based on TI TPS92070) started to go into thermal shutdown + stink. I didn't find any popped caps and it might still work, but I threw it out (power supply) and will convert to a low-voltage light.

The 5 expensive bulbs I bought years ago (Philips, 8W, about 30€ a pop) are still going strong and get used several hours a day.

---

Experience with LEDs:

* expensive ones last (Nichia)
* cheap ones (ebay) die early or at least deteriorate significantly after months of usage  (dimmer, change of color...)

[G7PSK]

LED bulbs are no good outside, I have had all the ones I fitted in outside lights blow this winter and and we have had a mild winter this year with only a few frosts. The electrolytic capacitors bow up in the frost so that next time you turn the light on nothing happens.

[aroby]

LED bulbs are no good outside, I have had all the ones I fitted in outside lights blow this winter and and we have had a mild winter this year with only a few frosts. The electrolytic capacitors bow up in the frost so that next time you turn the light on nothing happens.

I disagree, based on my experience. We've had a brutal winter here in Chicago this year.  Outside my garages I have 4 carriage lights, each with 3 LED bulbs.  I forget the manufacturer - I bought them from Costco probably 3 years ago.  They stay on from dusk till dawn every day and I've never had one fail.  And it's been -20F for several nights in a row and not much higher in the daytime.  The lights work fine.   So do the CFLs I have in the lights by the front door.

Anthony

[Zero999]

LED bulbs are no good outside, I have had all the ones I fitted in outside lights blow this winter and and we have had a mild winter this year with only a few frosts. The electrolytic capacitors bow up in the frost so that next time you turn the light on nothing happens.

Interesting.

I doubt it was frost which was the problem. Most capacitors are rated down to -40^oC so should survive the coldest of all UK winters, let a lone this year when the lowest it got where I live was -3^oC.

It's been very wet though, so perhaps it was high humidity which killed them?

[nctnico]

I came across this article: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2546363/The-great-LED-lightbulb-rip-One-four-expensive-long-life-bulbs-doesnt-like-long-makers-claim.html

Basically saying what i felt for a long time. LED bulbs is not as good as marketed.

1. i have feeling that intensity is decreasing over the time
2. i still couldn't find any LED bulb that gives as pleasant light as halogen bulbs.

Halogen bulbs maybe spend the most energy in average but i would rather save energy in heating and cooling than my eyes.

What is your experience, opinion with lights and what kind of bulb do you prefer ?

Everybody has a preference: I hate halogen bulbs. I really can't stand the light from those...

Recently I read a test in an independant consumer magazine. It seems the more expensive LED lamps from A-brands like Philips do live up to their expectations. Still the value for money and energy consumption per lm aren't at the same point as CFL lamps but LED lamps are closing in fast.

[echen1024]

LED bulbs are no good outside, I have had all the ones I fitted in outside lights blow this winter and and we have had a mild winter this year with only a few frosts. The electrolytic capacitors bow up in the frost so that next time you turn the light on nothing happens.

Interesting.

I doubt it was frost which was the problem. Most capacitors are rated down to -40^oC so should survive the coldest of all UK winters, let a lone this year when the lowest it got where I live was -3^oC.

It's been very wet though, so perhaps it was high humidity which killed them?

I am in Houston, TX which is very humid during the summers (80%RH+). We have had 2 outdoor LED bulbs that run on at night automatically to around 6:00AM, and after 2 years, they are still going strong. Cree bulbs.

[G7PSK]

LED bulbs are no good outside, I have had all the ones I fitted in outside lights blow this winter and and we have had a mild winter this year with only a few frosts. The electrolytic capacitors bow up in the frost so that next time you turn the light on nothing happens.

What brand? This is like saying "petrol cars are no good in the cold, they don't start". Clearly some are better than others.

Phillips was the lable Also tried some own brand from Tesco and some from CPC Farnell but they were all made in China. I have had the same type of trouble with cfl's as well, the lamps are OK in light fixtures on the wall of the house but the ones in free standing lamp posts at a height of 3 meters have had capacitor blow from frost I know this is the cause as I put a new lamp inside for a couple of nights without putting it into the bulb holder and a capacitor blew on that I have put separate capacitors up there and not had the problem and I have put some bulbs in the freezer and the capacitors blew, it appears to be a problem of cheap Chinese capacitors used in these lamps sold here in the UK. The lamp post's now have filament bulbs as I got fed up with climbing the ladder to replace bulbs.

[SeanB]

Also depends on where it is made as well. Phillips Indonesia is a lot better than Phillips from PRC, and the Phillips Poland are so much better than the rest. As to US manufacturers most make the stuff in PRC (junk and avoid like the plague) or Mexico, which are fair. USA made is generally good, though the plants are closing down like crazy as the beancounters only look at the next 3 months for a long term plan.

[Kjelt]

I want to stress that bulbs that do not explicitly have IP66 or outdoor usage on the box are not  suited as outdoor replacements for standard lightbulbs.

My experience with electronics in outdoor environments is that the pcb needs a special coating against the humidity or the box should be potted or hermetically sealed, and all electronics should be spec'd on outdoor environments (-40^oC - 125^oC).
A metal dark lightpole that stands in the full sun the whole day can get very very hot and at nights very cold.