What is it with the low quality of LED bulbs?

[Susco]

In the ceiling fan of my office and the kitchen I switched to LED bulbs about 2 years ago. There are 2 bulbs in there

 

I started with the Sylvania stik-Pro because they were slim and guaranteed for 15.000 hours or about 15 years, yeah right

 

 

They lasted about 6 months at most, and I replaced them THREE times, purchased from different reputable shops.

 

I then switched to Phillips about 6 months ago, as I was tired climbing the ladder every few months, and the first one just went dark.

 

The fan lights are on for about 6-7 hours a day.

 

In the rest of the house I have Osram energy saving lights for the last 8 years, I guess about 40 in total, and I have to rarely replace one

 

On my perimeter wall I have 12 dirt cheap LED's from Aliexpress for the past 2 years, active 6 hours every day, and none of them had to be replaced yet.

 

Am I missing something here?

 

[petermik]

Yes...ignore the branded ones and carry on buying the cheapo,s

[Crossy]

What kind of fitting are you putting them in?

 

Heat is deadly to the electronics of the LED lamps so ventilation is critical, many of the fittings intended for regular lamps let the LEDs overheat.

 

[Susco]

4 minutes ago, Crossy said:

What kind of fitting are you putting them in?

 

Heat is deadly to the electronics of the LED lamps so ventilation is critical, many of the fittings intended for regular lamps let the LEDs overheat.

 

 

The picture in the OP is the actual lamps i have been using, the fittings are ceramic.

 

The fittings in the perimeter wall lights are the same

[giddyup]

In the 11 years I've lived in my house I've replaced about 5 globes, a couple are left on all night, every night. They still last for years.

[Crossy]

By "fitting" I don't mean the holder itself but whether it's a downlight, sealed outside light, glass shade or whatever.

 

Airflow is the important factor.

 

[Susco]

Just now, Crossy said:

By "fitting" I don't mean the holder itself but whether it's a downlight, sealed outside light, glass shade or whatever.

 

Airflow is the important factor.

 

 

Perimeter wall lights are downlights, with plastic cover.

 

Ceiling fans are obvious downlights, and have a glass dome, looks like this

 

[Crossy]

1 minute ago, Susco said:

Ceiling fans are obvious downlights, and have a glass dome, looks like this

 

I wonder if the lack of ventilation in that fan is cooking the LEDs, what kind of lamp did they have when new?

 

[Susco]

Just now, Crossy said:

 

I wonder if the lack of ventilation in that fan is cooking the LEDs, what kind of lamp did they have when new?

 

I have put Osram energy savings warm white lamps in them since new, and they have been in there for 6-7 years, and my other identical fans throughout the house still have them.

 

I only replaced them to replace with more powerful daylight LED's

[teacherclaire]

Perhaps made in China?

[Crossy]

5 minutes ago, Susco said:

I have put Osram energy savings warm white lamps in them since new, and they have been in there for 6-7 years, and my other identical fans throughout the house still have them.

 

I only replaced them to replace with more powerful daylight LED's

 

If you've had good luck with the energy savers I'd go back to them, some fittings just don't like LEDs.

 

Our outside lights are sealed glass fittings but they only have 5W LEDs inside (2 per fitting) they seem to be lasting well (they're on a photo switch so on all night every night).

[Susco]

2 minutes ago, Crossy said:

 

If you've had good luck with the energy savers I'd go back to them, some fittings just don't like LEDs.

 

Yes that is what I consider when the one I replaced today dies.

 

The whole house has 7 or 14 Watt warm white energy savers for the past 8 years, and I can't recall when I replaced the last one.

 

But as my eyes get older, and I need to see clear for what I'm doing, the LED's were a good solution at 11 Watt daylight.

 

I think I will need a 20 Watt savings lamp to get the same luminous, and not sure if that fits under the dome

[Crossy]

Not this one https://www.homepro.co.th/p/1095915 but I've seen similar units in smaller diameters which may fit in the dome, they would allow you to put the electronics in the ceiling cover thingy away from the heat sources.

 

Of course it really depends on how much mucking about you want to do.

[Susco]

6 minutes ago, Crossy said:

Not this one https://www.homepro.co.th/p/1095915 but I've seen similar units in smaller diameters which may fit in the dome, they would allow you to put the electronics in the ceiling cover thingy away from the heat sources.

 

Of course it really depends on how much mucking about you want to do.

 

That would be a solution, but a bit too much hassle for me i guess.

 

Gonna see if i can find one of these Osram 20W, and measure them

 

[moontang]

is your system overloaded?  is it properly grounded?  

 

I replaced my can lamps with sealed Panasonic LED...great for the vision impaired..a bit to bright for me.

[moontang]

36 minutes ago, Susco said:

I have put Osram energy savings warm white lamps in them since new, and they have been in there for 6-7 years, and my other identical fans throughout the house still have them.

 

I only replaced them to replace with more powerful daylight LED's

I use an osram swirl led insect !ight on my balcony...15w..very bright works great.

[Crossy]

I've got a couple of these which may fit the dome better.

 

 

[Daffy D]

I too am disappointed with some LED lights.

 

A couple of years ago when LED's started to become all the rage I bought a few to swop with some 18w fluorescent stirp lights I had. You just had to change the starter for the LED tube to work.

 

Initially all was good, the new lights seemed to give out more light and of course you had the instant on. 

 

Over time these lights seemed not so bright but I put it down to my aging eyes and didn't worry about it too much.

 

A few weeks ago one of these LED strips started to flicker so as I still had the old fluorescent tube and starter I swopped back to that.

 

The brightness was amazing, so it wasn't my eyes going, the LED strips had been loosing their brightness  

 

So much for the claim of gazillion hours of life for these LED's  

[Mike Rodik]

made in thailand / china = not ment to last

[moontang]

Check out those corn cob LED bulbs.  I used very low wattage in my last ceiling fan, and they were plenty bright.  Got them from BANGGOOD.

[Guderian]

Yes, the LED bulbs here seem to be very dodgy, no matter whether they're a premium brand like Philips or a cheapo version like Lamptan. The luminance rating (or whatever you call it) they give is also about as reliable as C19 case forecasts from Chris Whitty and Patrick Vallance, lol. I have two bathrooms that are similar in size and have identical tiling. They both have the same old-style fluorescent lights above the mirrors, using 18W tubes. One went a while back and I couldn't find a replacement bulb so ended up buying a 9W LED tube and converting the fluorescent fitting to take it. The packaging on the 9W LED tube assured me that it gave the same light as an 18W fluorescent one, but that's nonsense. As soon as I switched it on you could see clearly that it was much dimmer than the 18W tube in the other bathroom. The claims made that LED lights are cheaper to run than fluorescent ones are simply wrong, at least here in Thailand. With the much shorter life span of LED bulbs here, too, I'm switching back to the compact fluorescent versions.

[sncoem]

Good LED must exist as any decent car now has LED light that last forever !

 

 

[pookett]

All our open light fittings have LED bulbs, Panasonic have worked best for us.

For sealed fittings, like the fan domed downlighters, we've found the little spiral energy savers, like crossy pictured, to be best.

 

Earthing is another issue, if the lamp fitting has the provision for it then it should be connected. Something that is still rare in Thai properties, especially the lighting circuits. 

 

Some of the actual ES fittings can be pretty nasty too, easily rusting or breaking their feeble connections to life when changing bulbs. Change these connectors to something decent or junk the entire lamp and buy better quality.

[millymoopoo]

Try using the LED filament globes, these produce the least amount of heat, and the small ballast is in the screw base part of the globe, in contact with the socket, thus allowing greater dissipation of what little heat they do generate. The LED filament (string) runs on 70v whereas single LED arrays run on 4.5v therefore not as great a regulation of voltage is required for the filament LEDs. Increasing efficiency and further reducing heat.
May be worth a go.!
 

[Crossy]

1 hour ago, sncoem said:

Good LED must exist as any decent car now has LED light that last forever !

 

Cars aren't 220V.

 

It's not the LED devices themselves that usually fail, it's the driver electronics that converts the mains 220V AC to something that won't send the LED itself into orbit.

 

Vehicle power needs much less salad-dressing to drive the LEDs. But even then you still see vehicles with sections of tail lights out.

[VBF]

32 minutes ago, Crossy said:

 

Cars aren't 220V.

 

It's not the LED devices themselves that usually fail, it's the driver electronics that converts the mains 220V AC to something that won't send the LED itself into orbit.

 

Vehicle power needs much less salad-dressing to drive the LEDs. But even then you still see vehicles with sections of tail lights out.

Reading this thread, I find some of the comments strange, because here in UK I replaced all my home light bulbs with LEDs a couple of years ago and have had no problems since and neither have friends who've done the same.

 

To be fair, I did buy quality brands, thinking that it should be a "fit and forget" scenario, but the mains power supply in UK is rather more reliable and stable than in Thailand, so i wonder if it's the fluctuating voltage and /or frequency in Thailand that's damaging the electronics?   What say you  @Crossy ?

 

[Onrai]

On 11/7/2020 at 1:05 PM, Crossy said:

What kind of fitting are you putting them in?

 

Heat is deadly to the electronics of the LED lamps so ventilation is critical, many of the fittings intended for regular lamps let the LEDs overheat.

This statement is a bit misleading. Osram  Sylvania, GE and Phillips, as well as many generic LED bulb manufacturers design their bulbs with a heat sink to dissipate excessive heat. Enclosing a high wattage bulb in a  pendant  could cause over heating and shorten the life but it sounds like it may be the wiring, socket or grounding that is the culprit. 

[rickudon]

Our house was mainly swapped to LED's a couple of years ago. Most in the Kitchen/dining room/bathroom only lasted 12-18 months (9W). I think heat is the main issue, I have some supplementary desk lights with low powered LED's (3W) and they are OK. LED strip lights are used outdoors under covered areas and they are also ok.

 

Back in the UK  I put LEDs into a chandelier fitting 12 years ago, because the halogens were burning out after 6 months They are all still working, last time i was there (now ex-wife's house). All were under 5 W

[The Theory]

Use this type if it fits. 
It won't overheat and long life. 
 

 

[RocketDog]

On 11/7/2020 at 1:05 PM, Crossy said:

What kind of fitting are you putting them in?

 

Heat is deadly to the electronics of the LED lamps so ventilation is critical, many of the fittings intended for regular lamps let the LEDs overheat.

 

Correct. Especially true when the base of the lamp is above the bulb. This is true of incandescent bulbs also, as in recessed l ceiling lights.