Thoughts on LED light bulbs

I like them in the summer as they don't give off much heat, I would rotate them like snow tires for regular bulbs if I could. So far the longest lived bulb is still less than 16 months. Incandescent bulbs lasted a lot longer, and so far I haven't seen any savings on electrical usage either. Typical 21st century product(n)😒
 
I do not like them and consider them a ripoff. On the side of the box I bought it says "lasts 18 years." I always write the date I install a new bulb with a black marker near the base of the bulb. Not one bulb, even one used infrequently, has lasted longer than 2½ years.
 
Flarbalard said:
Incandescent bulbs lasted a lot longer, and so far I haven't seen any savings on electrical usage either. Typical 21st century product(n)😒
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I might be wrong, but I don't think lights are a big factor in electric bills The only thing that uses less is your smart phone. I remember being told to turn the lights off when I was a kid, but back then we didn't have the appliances we do today. And I recall my electric bill when I got my first apartment: about $11.
 
I don't like them.

@IrishEyes, you do have to watch which ones you buy as far as the color it puts out. It's trial & error to find something you like.

I tried them when they first came out & they only had bright white which gave me headaches. I went back & bought real bulbs to make sure I had enough to last for a while. I finally tried the soft white when I seen them & that color is closer to the real bulbs.

What I don't like are the 3-way LEDs that they are too large for some lamps that have globes or harps (holds the light shade). Most of the candelabra bulbs for ceiling lamps have terrible coloring. The one that has a decent color comes with yellow printing on the bulb which glows brightly & stands out when you turn it on making it look tacky in your light. I ended up taking those back & I'm still looking for a bulb.
 
Lilac said:
I don't like them.

@IrishEyes, you do have to watch which ones you buy as far as the color it puts out. It's trial & error to find something you like.

I tried them when they first came out & they only had bright white which gave me headaches. I went back & bought real bulbs to make sure I had enough to last for a while. I finally tried the soft white when I seen them & that color is closer to the real bulbs.

What I don't like are the 3-way LEDs that they are too large for some lamps that have globes or harps (holds the light shade). Most of the candelabra bulbs for ceiling lamps have terrible coloring. The one that has a decent color comes with yellow printing on the bulb which glows brightly & stands out when you turn it on making it look tacky in your light. I ended up taking those back & I'm still looking for a bulb.
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I even read that the cold white bright LEDs are doing harm to the immune system and to the eyes. My wife and I don't like them too.

The house we bought in our new country had several of these cold white LED bulbs and two complete cold white LED lamps in the dining and living room. We changed the cold white bulbs with yellowish warm white 2700K LED bulbs. For both complete LED lamps we are still looking for lamps with exchangeable bulbs.
 
Tommy said:
Do you miss the old incandescent bulbs? How have you adapted to the change?
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I do.

We've basically been forced to adapt as incandescent bulbs have gradually disappeared from shelves; 100 and 75 watt, especially. But I'm starting to see LEDs that pretty closely replicate the glow of incandescent bulbs, and manufacturers are working on masking that intense, annoying bright spot in LEDs without just tinting the glass.

A company called Tru-Tone has come really close with their new line of "vintage" Christmas tree lights, although the red ones still look too pink and the green ones look kind of teal or lime-ish (because the LED diode can only produce a narrow, highly saturated / monochromatic color spectrum).
 
Some of the ChiCom led devices emited terrible rf interference on radio frequencies. First time I plugged in a string in my ham radio shack wiped out reception of the amateur radio bands. Of course that was a few years ago.
 
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I like being able to have more light for less power consumption. When I was young I once spent a week with a person who used only low watt bulbs to save on electricity, and it was depressing to only have 40 watts or whatever dim amount she was using.
 
I like the led lights too for their white light glow. I have over 40 recessed lights in my house that use the 75 watt reflector bulbs and I'm gradually changing all out to led.
 
It used to be that the early generation of LED incandescent fixture light replacements, indeed, tended to last a long time. However, now there are products that have cut corners on quality for the sake of lower cost that consumers buy while just looking at cost. I've bought numbers of these lights for a buck at the Dollar Tree that are still ok. But there are plenty of other cheap machine manufactured products where the contacts between circuit components are merely held together by pressure instead of being soldered, which over time oxidize and spread apart through heat cycles, that then open.

The LEDs themselves are usually still fine. So many of such failures are due to a race to the bottom with designs that manufacturers know are likely to fail but expect some consumers will buy them before the general public wises up. So a reflection of the kind of people in our retail world chasing wealth without regard for the good of societies.

We Found the Truth: The Real Reason Your LED Lights Keep Dropping Dead

We Found the Truth: The Real Reason Your LED Lights Keep Dropping Dead

...The numbers you see on the box don't always work out in real life. LED bulbs do last longer, but those claims about five to 10 years are estimates based on internal testing -- and companies are always looking for ways to show their bulbs in, well, the best possible light.

So if the packaging says the bulb lasts seven years, that means testing showed an average of seven years, and you don't always know the math applied to get that result. Thomas Grable, from the LEDvance product technical team, said that when LED bulb averages fall within a normal distribution chart, about 95% of the values fall within two standard deviations of the mean...

Finally, the manufacturing quality of LED bulbs will affect all the issues I've discussed above. Many manufacturers have serviceable diodes, but try to save money on cheap drivers and converters (as well as sloppy assembly techniques), which is a major cause behind early failure.

When picking an LED bulb, it's best to stick with well-known, reliable brands, even if you have to pay a bit more. For smart bulbs, our testers have found some of the best results from Philips, Wiz, Govee, Nanoleaf and Cree.
 
I like the LEDS.
Less going up on a ladder to change bulbs. The only lightbulbs changed in the last 7 years were leftover incandescents, no LED needed to be changed in the new house yet.
Zero heat buildup in enclosed fixtures.
Able to put higher wattage (and as such more lumens) in existing lamps.
Plus I know enough about Kelvins to select the right lightbulbs for the task.
 
35-31 in what could be the game of the season (Bills vs. Pats), and I'm sitting here watching the Chargers/Chiefs game. :rolleyes:

... but I'm watching it on an LED monitor. If it was dark, the room would be lit by LED bulbs! I'm living the LED-centric life! :cool:
 
I have fitted LED light fittings in every room, I have "Daylight White",
units in the kitchen and in the bathroom, in the living room and bedroom,
I have variable units, they have around 6 versions of while light from dim
to bright and my electricity, bill is so small, that a customer service agent
of my supplier, asked me how I managed that.

If you get the correct light colour that you prefer, it is good for "Old eyes".

Mike.
 
George1959 said:
I even read that the cold white bright LEDs are doing harm to the immune system and to the eyes. My wife and I don't like them too.

The house we bought in our new country had several of these cold white LED bulbs and two complete cold white LED lamps in the dining and living room. We changed the cold white bulbs with yellowish warm white 2700K LED bulbs. For both complete LED lamps we are still looking for lamps with exchangeable bulbs.
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I read that, but forgot about it. I've noticed when they begin to go out & they start to flicker not only is it annoying, but it bothers my eyes & give me a headache no matter what color it is.

Couldn't a flicker like that bother someone who has epilepsy?
 
The only problem I had with LED bulbs was in my garage door opener. It seems the electronics in the LED bulbs jam the remote control receiver.
There is even a notice on the opener not to use LEDs.
Most people use an app on their phone instead of the transmitter in the car.
 
bowmore said:
The only problem I had with LED bulbs was in my garage door opener. It seems the electronics in the LED bulbs jam the remote control receiver.
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That's likely the rf interference I mentioned earlier. Guess our ChiCom friends are still selling us crap.
 

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