LED Bulb Thread

Buckster · 8 Feb 2017 at 22:57

not sure - the fact that one set (of 6 identical bulbs) - lasted 18 months or so with no failures - then started failing 1 every 2 weeks to a month implied some sort of life failure to me

we've 5 Philips Hue standalone lights which have lasted 4+ years with no failures

Steeps · 8 Feb 2017 at 23:00

I've had 14 GU10 LED lights running daily for 6 years now and none of them have blown. Some of the original warm white ones have dimmed but never completely gone. The halogens were blowing every few months.

Replaced the faded ones with Philips glass warm white and the colour and light is so much nicer than the cheap ebay jobbies I had before.

dmsims · 8 Feb 2017 at 23:56

22 MR16's for a year (1 failure when first plugged in)

beachBOYken · 9 Feb 2017 at 11:27

Is there much of a difference between the Philips Master and Corepro ranges.

I need some E14 bulbs and the core pro are a few quid cheaper.

Looking at these as I want clear glass, most other ranges are frosted.

Thanks

Psycho Sonny · 9 Feb 2017 at 11:45

Buckster;30485003 said:
not sure - the fact that one set (of 6 identical bulbs) - lasted 18 months or so with no failures - then started failing 1 every 2 weeks to a month implied some sort of life failure to me

we've 5 Philips Hue standalone lights which have lasted 4+ years with no failures

are you using a dimmer?

i've not hand any fail but it's only been 6 months. all bought from screwfix or phillips branded from ebay / homebase

Holst1981 · 9 Feb 2017 at 12:56

I bought cheap screwfix bulbs for our living room.

They all lasted almost 4 years and have almost all failed at the same time (5 out of 6 are dead)

Replaced with similar bulbs from screwfix as they are cheap.

Was hoping they would last longer, and the new ones have a longer warranty, I hope they last a bit longer this time.

NeilF · 18 Feb 2017 at 19:34

Anyone had experience of 60 degree GU10s?

I've got some Philips 40 degree GU10 LEDs which are fine. But I see I can get the same ones in 60 degree guise much cheaper. Whch given I need (another) 8 of them is appealling for another room.

Anyone had experience of 60 degree units and is the difference subtle or significant in their output style?

Martynt74 · 18 Feb 2017 at 20:11

I bought a dimmable cool white bulb and led compatible dimmer from Amazon.

Wired it all up, but the dimmer function doesn't really do much. Am i right in assuming it's probably Amazon descriptions not being up to much?

Bulb
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01AHU165U/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Dimmer
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B007OU39QQ/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Having just read the descriptions better, it says the dimmer needs 10W to 120W and the bulb is only 8W. I wonder if thats my issue here, as i know dimmers need to be loaded over the minimum rating.

NeilF · 18 Feb 2017 at 20:15

Marvt74 said:
I bought a dimmable cool white bulb and led compatible dimmer from Amazon.

Wired it all up, but the dimmer function doesn't really do much. Am i right in assuming it's probably Amazon descriptions not being up to much?

Bulb
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01AHU165U/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Dimmer
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B007OU39QQ/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Having just read the descriptions better, it says the dimmer needs 10W to 120W and the bulb is only 8W. I wonder if thats my issue here, as i know dimmers need to be loaded over the minimum rating.

I have those same dimmers, in two rooms, both with a single 8.5W Philips bulbs. Work beautifully... If you plug the bulb into a regular switched socket?

Martynt74 · 18 Feb 2017 at 20:17

Haven't tried in a normal switch, will try tomorrow. Maybe it's the dodgy cheaper bulb then thats dodgy.

NeilF · 18 Feb 2017 at 21:47

Marvt74 said:
Haven't tried in a normal switch, will try tomorrow. Maybe it's the dodgy cheaper bulb then thats dodgy.

Out of interest... First - Does the bulb even come on at all?

Second - Have you tried resetting the dimmer switch - You can follow a set of instructions to reset it - http://www.varilight.co.uk/leaflets/V-Pro Dimmer Series Instruction Leaflet 775.pdf

BTW - These instructions are very useful for setting the minimum brightness of the dimmer switch (once it's all working OK). Using it you can typically set the dimmer to get the bulb(s) to a lower light level than by default.

Martynt74 · 18 Feb 2017 at 22:27

Yeah the bulb does work but it just doesn't seem to dim very much. Whereas I'd expect it to go from a very bright to fairly dim.

Will try resetting it and seeing how it goes.

NeilF · 19 Feb 2017 at 08:58

Marvt74 said:
Yeah the bulb does work but it just doesn't seem to dim very much. Whereas I'd expect it to go from a very bright to fairly dim.

Will try resetting it and seeing how it goes.

Well, as I mentioned, those instructions allows you to set the dimmers minimum brightness. You'll easily be able to see the full range of the bulb(s) using that mode, and set the minimum the dimmer should go to - Which is typically less than the default.

rubberduck · 19 Feb 2017 at 11:47

Thinking of going full LED in my house. Which LED brand is currently considered the 'best bang for the buck' in terms of performance, life-time, warranty etc?

NeilF · 19 Feb 2017 at 12:28

rubberduck said:
Thinking of going full LED in my house. Which LED brand is currently considered the 'best bang for the buck' in terms of performance, life-time, warranty etc?

Given you're going to potentially be living with them for many many years, for sake of a few tens of pounds you're not more worried about quality of lighting and buzzing?

For example, after having experimented recently with GU10 and B22 (bayonet) replacements, I've only found one B22 replacement that didn't buzz, and I'm buying Philips GU10s even thought they're a lot more expensive than alternatives, (a) because of quality of lighting, and (b) because I've found some others buzz.

rubberduck · 19 Feb 2017 at 14:07

NeilFawcett said:
Given you're going to potentially be living with them for many many years, for sake of a few tens of pounds you're not more worried about quality of lighting and buzzing?

Well, if the lighting quality is poor or the product buzzes then I would consider the performance to be poor, which is one of the criteria I stipulated in my OP. Are you telling me that anything below the absolute highest priced bulbs on the market are a false economy? I want to pay exactly the minimum amount needed to get a a good good performing product that will last a long time and has a good warranty period, but no more.

NeilF · 19 Feb 2017 at 16:01

rubberduck said:
Well, if the lighting quality is poor or the product buzzes then I would consider the performance to be poor, which is one of the criteria I stipulated in my OP. Are you telling me that anything below the absolute highest priced bulbs on the market are a false economy? I want to pay exactly the minimum amount needed to get a a good good performing product that will last a long time and has a good warranty period, but no more.

I've just found I've had to go through a good number of GU10 and B22 bulbs for example to find ones I'm happy with...

ps: I've also got some rather nice 1W edison screw ins in the hallway too, but luckily I found those on my first purchase.

Superficial · 19 Feb 2017 at 17:06

rubberduck said:
Thinking of going full LED in my house. Which LED brand is currently considered the 'best bang for the buck' in terms of performance, life-time, warranty etc?

Hi there,

I have done this in the past 2 months. We have a mixture of B22's (100w Bayonet bulbs) and GU10's

I should clarify that we have had the GU10's for YEARS and I just completed the move to LED by replacing the few remaining B22's

These 100w B22 replacements are Phillips LED's which are excellent and indeed and produce the same amount of light as a 100w bulb with no buzzing whatsoever:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01KHIMDS6/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&th=1

For GU10's to be honest it is much easier to find 50w halogen equivalents so long as you accept that you will need to approach 5-7 watts to truly find GU10's that are equivalent. My preference in the end was to get 7w 70w replacements as replacements themselves for my previous 3.5 watt 50w replacements because, fantastic as they were I didn't quite feel they met the brightness of true halogen 50w.

I've been using many different branded GU10 Led's for over 4 years now with no failures. I would now make sure I buy no GU10's that are less than 450 lumens in brightness but can honestly say that, so long as you buy from a reputable reseller, that the branding on them means nothing.

Adam · 20 Feb 2017 at 08:57

I'm having a loft conversion done soon so while I can still get to the ceilings from above on my 1st floor I'm going to replace all the normal light fitting with LED downlights. There are lots of discussions around the bulbs but can anyone recommend me some lamps? They will eventually be covered with floorboard and insulation once the loft conversion is finished.

I estimate I need around 24 for 4x bedrooms (4 in the 2 smaller rooms and 6 in the larger rooms plus 4 for the hallway). I see screwfix do packs of 10x for £99 or I see you can get a pack of 10 for £33 on ebay without bulbs, which will then allow me to choose the LED bulbs I want (http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/10-x-Fire...hash=item5673d92556:m:mGuCdrtrky4r69L0R4kcjVw). Otherwise if they are likely to be cheap and nasty LED hut have the lamps for £7.50 each (https://www.ledhut.co.uk/spot-lights/gu10-led-bulbs/gu10-fire-rated-downlight-fitting.html) and again I can pick the bulbs I need.

Are GU10 fittings the way to go?

Burned_Alive · 20 Feb 2017 at 10:31

Adam said:
Are GU10 fittings the way to go?

I'd like to know this too. My house is currently fitted out with GU5.3 fittings and it seems to be difficult to find suitable bulbs. Tempted to see if I can convert them to GU10 fittings (with the help of an electrician), which will also help with adding LightWaveRF.