LED bulbs failing

[tigdlo]

In the kitchen we bought an expensive Phillips bulb....thats been going strong for around 10 years I think!

That's the problem with recommending this kind of thing, 10 years ago they were good, if you bought them today it's unlikely they will last 10 years.

I fitted 20 downlights in my Mum's house with cheap amazon 4000k GU10s 3 years ago, they have been faultless. https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07GZZ2VSW/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&th=1 £25 for 10 back then, can't recommend 2700k E27 from the same manufacturer though as I haven't used them

 

[voipio]

Philips seem reliable, so far.

 

[skotl]

Philips seem reliable, so far.

Ditto - got a few dozen Philips LED light bulbs (GU10 and E27). Don't recall a single failure.

 

[not done it yet]

Poor manufacture. Revert to filament.

What!?! LED lamps are far more efficient than the ~5% filament bulbs!

Simply buy some decent quality lamps. It is usually the power supply that goes on the blink. I have a lidl 20W lamp where I thought the LED was going to fail, but it still lights at full power for a few minutes before playing up. I am now confident it is the LED driver and not the LED. I only ever really need it on for a couple of minutes, so have not bothered to investigate.

I‘ve changed nearly all the fluorescents in my house and workshop. Not one has failed so far. I bought spares, ‘cos they were cheap at my local hardware store, but not needed any of them. Most are ‘Status’ brand, a couple are from Morrisons and the large floods/spots were from a stall at a show.

Edited to add:
Have a gander at ‘bigclive’ on youtube. He can sort them out, so they still give virtually the same illumination but with less power consumption and good life expectancy.

 

[Morrisman]

yea rito big bills overheated and burnt out lamp holders and flexes

When my dad died his house was empty, so I left the two double 'candle' wall lights on 24/7 to make the place look like someone was home.

When the next electric bill came in...... £28 a month those four little filament bulbs cost to run.

I then invested £14 in four LED versions, and they don't even register consumption on the smart meter.

 

[Wildefalcon]

I was being ironic. It's the lottery that winds me up. And the cost/waste.

Total cost of ownership, including disposal, should be the ABC rating used on the packets, independently verified.

 

[brightspark]

When my dad died his house was empty, so I left the two double 'candle' wall lights on 24/7 to make the place look like someone was home.

When the next electric bill came in...... £28 a month those four little filament bulbs cost to run.

I then invested £14 in four LED versions, and they don't even register consumption on the smart meter.

2 rite our wall lights are on at least 5 hours a night .we were using 160 watts of lighting now low energy 16 watts kitchen was 400 watts now 40 watts. finaly outside security lights 1200 watts now 60 watts

 

[500e]

Phillips LED 6Ft tubes every one we have in office went within 14 months very low hours no daytime use so only over winter for 3/4 hours a day, when I complained told 12 months warranty not a Zillion hours.
They bank on you not thinking the hassle not worth it, time the Trading standards got involved nationally.

 

[voipio]

Every Watt of power consumption, when run 24/7/365, equates to 8.76kWh over a year which, at 30p/kWh, costs £2.63/year. So 160W costs £420/year, or £35/month. Scary really. At 30p per unit, a 1kW insecurity floodlight would cost £2630/year to run 24/7/365!!

 

[reb78]

I agree with all re the cost of running filament lamps vs LED. This thread was more about where to turn to buy an LED lamp that would last longer than five minutes.

I do also agree that its frustrating that that a lot of the junk produced and sold at £4 a bulb lasts a few months vs an old 79p filament lamp that lasts 10 years.

I use parafin lamps where I can... just wicks to change then...

 

[skotl]

I agree with all re the cost of running filament lamps vs LED. This thread was more about where to turn to buy an LED lamp that would last longer than five minutes.

I do also agree that its frustrating that that a lot of the junk produced and sold at £4 a bulb lasts a few months vs an old 79p filament lamp that lasts 10 years.

I use parafin lamps where I can... just wicks to change then...

I use coal-gas lamps
The gas isn’t expensive but you don’t half get through the canaries - anyone have a cheep (aha!) source of single-use small birds?

 

[bump]

Stick to BELL, GE, Sylvania, Osram and you'll be fine.

Wan Hung Lo brands are always made to a price and generally use components on the ends of the bell curve.

 

[Blobber]

I gave up buying the branded stuff, sure the wholesalers would swap them but its just agro when you have 6 in a fitting that fail at different times, all I do now is just buy the cheap unbranded stuff which looks identical except it doesnt come in a fancy box at 5 times the price and they seem to last just as long

 

[voipio]

I agree with all re the cost of running filament lamps vs LED. This thread was more about where to turn to buy an LED lamp that would last longer than five minutes.

I do also agree that its frustrating that that a lot of the junk produced and sold at £4 a bulb lasts a few months vs an old 79p filament lamp that lasts 10 years.

I use parafin lamps where I can... just wicks to change then...

The back of fag packet calculations, posted above, were more intended to show that, with the savings made with LED lamps over filaments these days, it's worth spending a bit more on a better quality bulb. Philips seem to be harder to get. Tesco own brand aren't too bad, reliability-wise. I had one Tesco-branded bulb start flickering after a few weeks of use, but the remainder have been OK. Diall (B&Q's own brand) also not too bad. Probably all made in China, but with better QC.

 

[not done it yet]

I agree with all re the cost of running filament lamps vs LED. This thread was more about where to turn to buy an LED lamp that would last longer than five minutes.

I do also agree that its frustrating that that a lot of the junk produced and sold at £4 a bulb lasts a few months vs an old 79p filament lamp that lasts 10 years.

I use parafin lamps where I can... just wicks to change then...

Mine have lasted rather longer than “5 minutes”. Can say it is higher, by at least thee orders of magnitude, already. I gave the details in post #24 Not had a failure yet.

Those old “79p” filament bulbs are (thankfully) no longer available in the UK - and would likely cost a great deal more, anyway, and burn through energy at a very much excessive rate. 100W over 1000 hours run time (the usual life expectation for reasonable quality filament bulbs) @ 30p/unit of electric would cost £30. Just get real, accept that things have moved on, and be more selective to obtain better quality lamps.

A company called “Saxby”? Never heard of them and I might suggest they are selling chinese lamps at inflated prices (they may make the lights but not the component parts!)? None of my 15/23W lamps have cost four quid a throw (I’ve not looked at Saxby prices). Their ‘extended warranty‘ is available - but I would not be surprised if that costs more than buying in new lamps when they fail - and they possibly supply different quality lamps at different price-points.

I just looked at the price of some of mine - 5.5W for £1.49. Can’t remember the cost of the 23W lamps - but less than 4 quid. The most expensive were the 20W(?) tubes from Lidl - about 12-13 quid, but was the complete package - simply screwed to the ceiling and connected to the existing lighting circuit.

 

[gaz1]

i bought these for 3.00 each from local shop

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Linx-LX0023-GLS-E27-Bulb/dp/B07653X5KV

1530 is like a 150 watt bulb

the white light is too bright and annoys my eyes

they do last long enough but not for 2 years of usage

the other pack i bought from ebay didnt last long enough

 

[MetalMonkey]

Just get real, accept that things have moved on, and be more selective to obtain better quality lamps.

The problem is, no matter how "selective" you are, it is still currently a crapshoot.
I know several electricians who have been stung after buying LED fittings from quality named brands, which have died in short order.
Or where a manufacturer has started off with a decent product but subsequently changed the specification/quality of the product to shave off costs part way through production.

A lot of "quality" lamps are just rebadged cheapies at several times the price.

The net results is, while the unit might still be covered by warranty, time and expenses are not - leaving them out of pocket.
That is aside from the huge environmental impact of throwing away a costly and complex product instead of a cheap and easily recyclable bulb.
Not to mention all the extra installation hassle if it is an integrated fitting.

The efficiency advantages of LED is not in any doubt, but until some standards are brought in to force manufacturers to meet basic design criteria, the environmental benefit and the hidden costs are far more questionable.
It certainly can be done (look at the Dubai lamp), but there is no currently no commercial or legal incentive to make them any better.

 

[reb78]

Mine have lasted rather longer than “5 minutes”. Can say it is higher, by at least thee orders of magnitude, already. I gave the details in post #24 Not had a failure yet.

Those old “79p” filament bulbs are (thankfully) no longer available in the UK - and would likely cost a great deal more, anyway, and burn through energy at a very much excessive rate. 100W over 1000 hours run time (the usual life expectation for reasonable quality filament bulbs) @ 30p/unit of electric would cost £30. Just get real, accept that things have moved on, and be more selective to obtain better quality lamps.

A company called “Saxby”? Never heard of them and I might suggest they are selling chinese lamps at inflated prices (they may make the lights but not the component parts!)? None of my 15/23W lamps have cost four quid a throw (I’ve not looked at Saxby prices). Their ‘extended warranty‘ is available - but I would not be surprised if that costs more than buying in new lamps when they fail - and they possibly supply different quality lamps at different price-points.

I just looked at the price of some of mine - 5.5W for £1.49. Can’t remember the cost of the 23W lamps - but less than 4 quid. The most expensive were the 20W(?) tubes from Lidl - about 12-13 quid, but was the complete package - simply screwed to the ceiling and connected to the existing lighting circuit.

Think you took my five minutes rather too literally. Having said that, the bulbs in question have ONLY lasted a year with very little use. I have filament bulbs that were a lot cheaper to buy and have lasted over ten years. Its hardly a move forward in landfill and waste terms even if it does save some electric but thanks for telling me to 'get real' all the same

As for knowing who Saxby are - how would I know? Same is if you said to buy Status bulbs - on the face of it they could be as chinese as the rest

Ikea is probably a reasonable shout. One thing is that I have clear glass lamp 'shades' so i want bulbs that are not unattractive to look at - that was why I chose these current ones.

 

[reb78]

The problem is, no matter how "selective" you are, it is still currently a crapshoot.
I know several electricians who have been stung after buying LED fittings from quality named brands, which have died in short order.
Or where a manufacturer has started off with a decent product but subsequently changed the specification/quality of the product to shave off costs part way through production.

A lot of "quality" lamps are just rebadged cheapies at several times the price.

The net results is, while the unit might still be covered by warranty, time and expenses are not - leaving them out of pocket.
That is aside from the huge environmental impact of throwing away a costly and complex product instead of a cheap and easily recyclable bulb.
Not to mention all the extra installation hassle if it is an integrated fitting.

The efficiency advantages of LED is not in any doubt, but until some standards are brought in to force manufacturers to meet basic design criteria, the environmental benefit and the hidden costs are far more questionable.
It certainly can be done (look at the Dubai lamp), but there is no currently no commercial or legal incentive to make them any better.

Cant disagree with that.

 

[armalites]

Finding a decent local electrical wholesaler is a good idea, the other thing is always to buy a few spares. We have several in Hereford, some stock good stuff, some just stock cheap stuff.

5-7 warranties are great but obviously requires you keep all receipts but it's amazing how many things never get anywhere near to that amount of time before failing. I've had a couple of decent brand LED floods fail, wholesaler swapped them no issue but it's still a pain.