New lights in my Man cupboard.

[awemawson]

We have a couple of holiday cottages on the farm, and when they were refurbished I fitted B22 3 watt 'golf ball' warm white led lights in the four bar chandeliers @ about £4 each. Realistically they are too dim but what got my goat is their failure rate. I was regularly replacing at least one of them, sometimes up to three EVERY week! Got fed up at the price, and investigated their construction. Plastic hemisphere pops off revealing a circular pcb with loads of individual leds in series, with a simple DC psu. Now when they fail, I identify the faulty led and replace it with a daylight one. Slowly they are getting brighter However the failure rate has now dropped to the point when it's a rare occurrence. Must have changed at least 30 leds so far.

 

[rtbcomp]

^^ Compare that to repairing a tungsten filament bulb!

 

[colnerov]

I'm sure the 30,000 hours represents "typical use" and is an average so you wouldn't have a hope in hell in claiming on a warranty. The bulbs don't have serial numbers on them either so you couldn't prove when you bought it in any event.

Hi, yes I realise that, what I was cackhandedly trying to say is that it is meaningless. They can't prove that that is there life expectancy, any more than I can prove it blew after 100 hrs.

Colin

 

[Kent]

How long are your led lasting and work that against the increase, it will take years to recoup?

Had loads of led BC22, longest any things lasted out of the 17 BC22 sockets is five months with majority failing within two months at £3 to £7 a pop. Pretty sure don't use £7 in lighting per year with conventional bulbs and that's only one bulb out of 17.
They over heat and fail, common problem.

When my home was rebuilt we fitted LED spots in the kitchen, lounge and two of the bedrooms I have replaced three bulbs in the last three to four years. When I bought the LED bulbs they were terrifyingly expensive I recon on replacement costs alone I have saved, let alone electric. Today they are way cheaper to buy and a darn sight easier to get hold of to boot

 

[Rig Pig]

I have fitted some GU10 warm white 120deg floods in the kitchen, they give far better light than the 50W spotlights that came with the fittings, they were £18.99 for 10 from eBay. So far so good, I fitted them just before Christmas and they are on for about 8 hrs/day. Flip side of the coin I bought an led floodlight replacement bulb that won't work with the PIR?? It just stays on all the time.

 

[awemawson]

Rig pig, you don't specifically say, but I assume they are LEDs? If so can you give specifics as I'm getting complaints that our kitchen led gu10 lights are too dim!

 

[Rig Pig]

Yes they are LEDs and they are bright! eBay item 400663854563 in warm white non dimmable 24 led, they are glass encapsulated - no live heatsink unlike some of the cheap ones.

 

[mike os]

I am finding minisun gu10 to be very reliable and bright

 

[Kent]

I have fitted some GU10 warm white 120deg floods in the kitchen, they give far better light than the 50W spotlights that came with the fittings, they were £18.99 for 10 from eBay. So far so good, I fitted them just before Christmas and they are on for about 8 hrs/day. Flip side of the coin I bought an led floodlight replacement bulb that won't work with the PIR?? It just stays on all the time.

That's interesting I have a similar issue with an outside light presently, fitted two week ago and only just noticed it. Those are super cheap but there seems to be a distinct and obvious difference in quality between the one I have here and some of those I see on the shelves of the DIY sheds

 

[awemawson]

Thanks RP, I've ordered some - let's see if she like them - this'll be the third change in this kitchen !!!!!!!

 

[rtbcomp]

.......... Flip side of the coin I bought an led floodlight replacement bulb that won't work with the PIR?? It just stays on all the time.

Could be the PIR circuit draws current through the bulb, insufficient to illuminate a filament, but enough to power an LED.

 

[Rig Pig]

Could be the PIR circuit draws current through the bulb, insufficient to illuminate a filament, but enough to power an LED.

Maybe, I assumed it would have been a relay to switch a big lamp?? I will have to get a proper led flood with a pir they are cheap enough now.

 

[normspanners]

Could be the PIR circuit draws current through the bulb, insufficient to illuminate a filament, but enough to power an LED.

A mate fitted leds to his older pir's same thing, but one of his flashed on and off!, you have to check if they are compatible.

 

[hareng]

30 OOO hrs seems the normal stated lifespan looking at some of the specs on what I have bought over the last 15 years.

Heres the last two states 30k hrs lifespan, they lasted no more than two months and about typical whether from Osram, Phillips or any other decent band.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Corn-Light-...=UTF8&qid=1421940421&sr=1-14&keywords=b22+led

Best yet have had Phillips pack up within an hour of fitting supplied by energy provider.
I do get 10's of thousands of hrs out the fluorescents In workshop, 22years replaced each twice and on about 8hrs a day. Bought a tube recently local think £3 to £4 far less than an LED single bulb yet alone the led plug in at over £30 each.

 

[3MPS]

I'm just prototyping a light for over my bench now. Just need to try some diffuser over them and then I will be putting 80w of LED's in an aluminium box with the diffuser panel on he front.

 

[DAPPH]

Hi, No disrespect to anyone, but I'm of the opinion that bulbs are consumables. All this talk of 30k hour life spans is sales BS, and buying branded makes is pointless. 30,000 Hrs is 3.4 years if left on all the time, who keeps a receipt for a bulb that long and would the retailer honour it if you turned up, say 2 yrs in, claiming it's blown? Branded makes are not much good to you because your contract is with retailer not the maker who will just refer you to them. Better to buy from a retailer who is likely to stick around, but you still have the timescale problem. If I have a bulb blow I just throw it away and get another one out of the cupboard and move on, after a counseling session

Colin

We keep the receipts for seven years ( Mister Taxman requires it ) and I date each bulb with a permanent marker or a pencil . Taking it back is easy so far with the big national supply chains . I must confess though that I purchased two 10 packs of 3 watt surface mount GU 10's from China for just over a fiver .. only two have died in the last four years .

 

[DAPPH]

30 OOO hrs seems the normal stated lifespan looking at some of the specs on what I have bought over the last 15 years.

Heres the last two states 30k hrs lifespan, they lasted no more than two months and about typical whether from Osram, Phillips or any other decent band.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Corn-Light-Bulb-White-450LM/dp/B00AR73STQ/ref=sr_1_14?s=lighting&ie=UTF8&qid=1421940421&sr=1-14&keywords=b22 led

Best yet have had Phillips pack up within an hour of fitting supplied by energy provider.
I do get 10's of thousands of hrs out the fluorescent's In workshop, 22years replaced each twice and on about 8hrs a day. Bought a tube recently local think £3 to £4 far less than an LED single bulb yet alone the led plug in at over £30 each.

The trouble is that your quality of fluro light dies fairly quickly even without the general muck of a workshop being on the light tube , that's why most big companies replace the tubes either en mass or on a monthly cycle of survey and replacement to locate which light has a diminished output of luminosity .
The Factories Act or some similar legislation covers such things in industrial & business premises .

 

[hareng]

Interesting 3MPS your using 10W more than me whilst the piccied area is brighter (I am using warm white) the other areas are dark where mine isn't with 2 off T8/35W at same height but around 3ft apart.

Just done some searching and theres a lot of should we say marketing BS in an attempt to make led seem far better than actually is. Same with solar stuff.
In general here T5 (LED) to comparable T8 is around 20% less usage http://www.hoveyelectric.com/hovey-...tions-LED-vs-T8-Fluorescent-In-Parking-Garage

Taking above in to account I get:-
2 T8 35W costs £1.94/month to run
2 T5 comparable output £1.67/month
Lifespan of T5 'calculated' at 3 1/2 times more than a T8 at £4 each = £16 outlay by time led have calculated to fail where the best price UK is £50 delivered.
So assuming no electric price rise which in all fairness isn't a great deal if went up 1pkw/hr, for same workshop lighting I would only save 27p per month, £3.24 per year.
£50 outlay for led T5 change minus £32 for 7 T8 changes before led calculated to pack up still £18 in my favour.
Take the £18 worse off by changing to led it would take 5 1/2 years to break even.

 

[DAPPH]

3MPS
Is that ribbon LED strip & run off a transformer etc or Is it the tubes themselves. If tube there are now two types one with naked LED's and one with the LED's enclosed inside a clear plastic cover tube.

I have currently used some ogee white guttering turned upside down to make a sort of reflector , it's OK , but I do hope to use some very thin polished ally sheet or Baco etc. foil pressed on to a spray glued hardboard form or do it on a 150 mm dia tube cut in half length wise , in the future when funds allow to make a better bigger reflector

 

[3MPS]

I'm actually confusing myself. The 5m roll of LED strip is 60w. I cut it in to 5x1m lengths.

I have only used 2m (24w) so far.

Now I know they work, the next step is to try some opal acrylic as a diffuser, then from there I will make an ali box.