Are all LED floodlights garbage?

UberTiger

UberTiger

UberTiger

Soldato
Joined
1 Nov 2008
Posts
4,537
We switched 4 halogen floodlights to LED about 5 years ago and so far we've had to replace 4 of them (some more than once)

They're the xcite ones from CEF


Obviously on the old halogen ones you just needed to replace the bulb, but now we've had to scrap 4 entire units. Seems like a colossal amount of ewaste and once your past 3 years you're out of pocket another £50 per light.

Are there any brands that have 10 year warranties or a reputation for being particularly good?

LEDs can't all be bad, I've got very old indoor LED Philips Hue lights, but of course they are insanely expensive. But it must mean high quality LED lights are possible.
 
Last edited:
I just mentioned our LED floodlights in another thread, we have 6 of them around a horse arena, and they blow and have been replaced so many times over the last couple of years I've lost count!

I'd be interested in any answers.
 
The tech today is such that you can make a powerful LED light that will last longer than you.

But there's more profit to sell one that is the utter bare minimum to turn on and has a compromised lifespan.

You're not going to know how garbage the construction is unless there's a nerdy community that cares about looking into it.
 
UberTiger said:
We switched 4 halogen floodlights to LED about 5 years ago and so far we've had to replace 4 of them (some more than once)

They're the xcite ones from CEF


Obviously on the old halogen ones you just needed to replace the bulb, but now we've had to scrap 4 entire units. Seems like a colossal amount of ewaste and once your past 3 years you're out of pocket another £50 per light.

Are there any brands that have 10 year warranties or a reputation for being particularly good?

LEDs can't all be bad, I've got very old indoor LED Philips Hue lights, but of course they are insanely expensive. But it must mean high quality LED lights are possible.
Click to expand...

Are these lights used for floodlights that run for hours at a time or motion activated security lights?

I’ve been using cheap PIR floodlight bodies with decent brand R7S LED bulbs without any failures, but they probably only get triggered 2-3 times a day.
 
Just normal motion activated floodlights with pretty low activity. Only foxes in the garden at night and us when we take rubbish out to the bins.
 
Terminal_Boy said:
I’ve been using cheap PIR floodlight bodies with decent brand R7S LED bulbs without any failures, but they probably only get triggered 2-3 times a day.
Click to expand...

Hmm, we still have halogen bulbs at the front, so I presume R7S bulbs? They've been up for over 20 years. What bulbs do you get? Might try an LED bulb in it the next time one goes.
 
Last edited:
I've had bad experience with these as well.

Oddly, I bought 2 cheap generic ones at the same time, 3/4 years ago.

One of which still works fine, ther other of which I've gone through maybe 4 units.

I purchased a really posh one with warranty of a website recommended as per this thread:

PIR light

Hi, Not having much luck with cheap eBay/Amazon generic PIR lights. Anyone have a particular brand/make they have had for a few years and working? Just aftee an external 240v LED PIR light with sensor. Cheers.
forums.overclockers.co.uk forums.overclockers.co.uk

So far it's still working.
 
Looks promising, but pricey. I like the sound of the remote so you can turn them on. That would be useful for when you're in the bedroom upstairs and you think you hear something at night and want to activate them briefly to see if there's anyone outside.

Shame it's only a 3 year guarantee though for that price.
 
Last edited:
Good point, maybe, still got the old LED unit I just took off the wall and it seems to have a wired PIR hooked up to it. Some of them are integrated these days, but I think think this is one of the earlier LED ones that still has a pretty chunky separate PIR.
 
Yaayuh! said:
I've got 3x LAP floodlights from screwfix. They've been going 4 years now, no issues.
Click to expand...

We've got ones at work which look like LAP floodlights though I'm not 100% on brand/model and they've all lasted 3-4 years - can't say about longer because they've been vandalised a few times before they've died of other reasons.
 
I dislike the integrated option but still get the tech!
It's OK saying "15000 hour lifespans" etc. but warranties are still for a max of 3 years or so (1 mostly) so nowhere near the usage the manufacturer claims the bulb will last for.
 
I'm about to buy some as well. I read of those posh expensive Steinel ones but them in the reviews/comments I see people still have problems with them. I think in summary, yes, they are unreliable and a bit rubbish. I am thinking of just using screwfix (not a competitor to OCUK so I assume ok to mention) and some cheap £20 ones, so I can take them back and get replacements for when they inevitably fail. Still annoying though that things aren't built to last anymore.
 
Rather than start a new thread I thought I'd bump this one...

Heading into the dark season and I again find myself struggling to take the bins out from my unlit back garden after yet another failure of an LED PIR security light.

I fitted 2 Luceco lights when I first moved in, they lasted about 18-24 months before failing completely. I then fitted LAP which have lasted about a year. Is it just luck of the draw with these cheap lights or are there any that can actually stand the test of time?

I've had a search for Osram who seem to go under the name of LEDVANCE, but I've seen quite a few videos on YT from sparkies who used to fit these thinking that they were of good quality who are now being called back and having to replace them under warranty.

At least with a Halogen fitting you only had to replace the bulb and not the whole unit...

I don't mind paying a bit more to get something quality that will last longer than a couple of years.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom