Cheap LED bulbs

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FlyingPenguin
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Cheap LED bulbs

Post by FlyingPenguin »

As you all know I built a new house a couple of years ago, and in the process all my light fixtures are LED. I had also already started using mostly LEDs at my old house, and my rental houses.

I've learned a few things about LEDs. If you want them to last, spend the money on good ones. You really do get what you pay for. Home Depot is full of inexpensive bulbs that don't seem to last - both through my own experience, and experience of others.

Cree and Ecosmart are priced to sell, but as I said you get what you pay for.

The best bulbs I have found so far are made by Satco. They're commercial bulbs. They can be pricey at a lighting store, but you can find them better priced at Amazon. The ones I buy are real glass, not plastic bulbs (I find plastic can discolor and glass radiates heat better), and where the bulb is visible like on a chandelier, I use the newer clear fake-filament versions.

I have heard Phillips and FEIT bulbs are good, but I haven't had much experience with them.

The one thing you should completely ignore is whatever "hours" rating these bulbs have on them. It's bogus. If you do a google search for "longest lasting bulbs" you'll get a lot of ratings from seemingly reputable sites that say Cree bulbs last the longest, but those reviews are strictly based on the number of hours they're rated for, and Cree was sued in a class action last year for over stating the hours.

Your best source is Consumer Reports, as they will actually test the things instead of taking the manufacturer's word on it, but you need to pay for the online account to get the full ratings.

Now Cree does have have a few good bulbs they make according to consumer reports, but you'll notice that those bulbs have large heatsinks on them.

And needless to say, there's variation in quality between different model bulbs even from the same manufacturer.

The biggest problem with LEDs is heat. If the bulb gets too hot to touch, it's not only wasting electricity on waste heat, but the heat will eventually kill the bulb. Some bulbs are specifically designed for enclosed fixtures with little or no ventilation, and most aren't. That's why I like glass bulbs - they seem to radiate heat better.

If you install new light fixtures I would strongly recommend you stick with standard ones that accept normal bulb sockets. I've heard stories from electricians who installed specialty LED ceiling fixtures (like flat panel square ones) that don't take standard bulbs, and once they burn out a few years down the road, you may find that they are no longer manufactured. Stick to standard fixtures that you can put anything in (incandescent, CFL or LED). They even make LED replacements for standard fluorescent tubes, appliance bulbs, and halogen reflectors nowadays.

Even though dimmable and non-dimmable LEDs are priced the same, I would recommend not using a dimmable on a circuit with a switch. Dimmables have more electronics in them and tend to be slightly more prone to failure (more components that can fail), although I've broken that rule myself for convenience.

You also need to make sure you have a dimmer specifically designed for LEDs. Most are nowadays. Cheap dimmers can cause the bulb to flicker. The good universal dimmers that I have (work with any bulb: Halogen, CFL, LED) have a small adjustment trimmer under the plate so you can set the lowest light setting for your specific bulbs. Electricians will just install them and never tell you that you really need to adjust them after you install your bulbs, and re-adjust them if you change the bulbs to a different wattage or brand. The trimmer lets you set the lowest possible brightness without flicker. On my dimmers is a tiny thumb wheel under the cover plate.
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Executioner
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Re: Cheap LED bulbs

Post by Executioner »

I'm in the process of replacing my garage 4 foot fixture with LED. I tried to find a replacement LED bulb that will work with the existing ballast. Bought 2 Phillips LED, but they would not work with my fixture/ballast. So now I have to replace the entire fixture.
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FlyingPenguin
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Re: Cheap LED bulbs

Post by FlyingPenguin »

Ahh. I was wondering how well they work. I have 4 ft florescents in the garage as well. Hoping I can replace them with LEDs when they wear out.
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Losbot
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Re: Cheap LED bulbs

Post by Losbot »

FlyingPenguin wrote: Your best source is Consumer Reports, as they will actually test the things instead of taking the manufacturer's word on it, but you need to pay for the online account to get the full ratings.
I have a CR account. I printed it to PDF and shared it. You're welcome. ;)

Light bulb Recommendations : https://drive.google.com/open?id=1dt8eC ... vvQdnSzQEV

Light bulb ratings: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1tFkp9 ... RipTXEBdKg

Light bulb Buying Guide : https://drive.google.com/open?id=1YJKCA ... YYXWxpEaf6

Hope this helps!

-Los
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Losbot
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Re: Cheap LED bulbs

Post by Losbot »

Executioner wrote:I'm in the process of replacing my garage 4 foot fixture with LED. I tried to find a replacement LED bulb that will work with the existing ballast. Bought 2 Phillips LED, but they would not work with my fixture/ballast. So now I have to replace the entire fixture.
I found the best replacement light for the garage. I replaced my 4ft fixture with this from Amazon. Just one lights up the garage better than the 4ft bulbs did.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B016NYDBJS/

I'll look later to see if there's a newer version but that thing turns night into day. I had paid $79 and it was worth it. Then I just filled in the prior holes. EZ.
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FlyingPenguin
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Re: Cheap LED bulbs

Post by FlyingPenguin »

Not thrilled about a custom fixture like that. When it dies, I'll likely have to replace the entire fixture. I prefer to have something with a standard replaceable bulb.

If one of those LED replacement fluorescent tubes doesn't work with my fixtures, I guess I'll just keep on using standard ones. After all, fluorescent lights are very energy efficient already, and have pretty good lifetimes. That's why they use them in retail and commercial buildings.
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Pugsley
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Re: Cheap LED bulbs

Post by Pugsley »

A few years ago when I bought my house the first thing I did was spend 100 on a bunch of LED bulbs. Just happened at that time NIPSCO (my utility company) had a really good sale on bulbs and I bought a bunch of 40 and 60 cool white. I think I paid like $3.50 each. I bought enough for the whole house at once. I should have bought more because I have not had an issue with any of them. Even the 4 that are outdoors. Also I should have gotten more 60W instead of mostly 40w.

https://www.fastcompany.com/3024281/why ... light-bulb
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Re: Cheap LED bulbs

Post by Key Keeper »

You can retro any old 48" florescent T5/T8/T12 to standalone LED. Ive converted my garage over. You ditch the ballast and wire them direct to the 110v. Much brighter and none of that slight blink that the old type bulbs put out. I picked up some from home depot. Toggled brand. So far a year in, they still work great. I'm sure there are better but I'm happy with them.
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FlyingPenguin
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Re: Cheap LED bulbs

Post by FlyingPenguin »

Thx KeyKeeper! Neat idea! I like the idea of eliminating the ballast.

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They also have them on Amazon for the same price:
https://www.amazon.com/TOGGLED-E416-503 ... B076FX5QD2
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reno
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Re: Cheap LED bulbs

Post by reno »

I bought a number of low cost 4 ft led light fixtures from Rural King. I have had good luck with in my garage .with these https://www.ruralking.com/4-led-shop-light-5500-lumens there 5500 -lumen . not had one of them burn out yet - yet the key word . there cheap import's for sure .you can Link up to 8 units. they have the 3 prong cord attached and a 110 plug outlet built in . but I have had to play with the pull cords to free them up right from the start out of the box . one brand spanking new came DOA.and was returned to the store.
I have them plug into ceiling plugs on wall switches.
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normalicy
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Re: Cheap LED bulbs

Post by normalicy »

I completely agree with you observations. Especially the LED specific fixtures.

We switched our shop over to these about 2 years ago (about 200 units):

https://www.amazon.com/Barrina-Integrat ... B07DNPL2VC

As of yet, we haven't have a single failure. Very bright. There are higher wattage units, but I don't know how well they take the heat. They seem to have standardized on this connector. The only thing that stinks is integrating the power cables to code. We ended up just installing a lot of outlets and stringing 4-6 of them together at a time.
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Err
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Re: Cheap LED bulbs

Post by Err »

A few years ago, my workplace went from fluorescent to LED's. It was literally night vs. day. The LED's they chose put off a nice hue that resembles actual daylight. The rest of the plant's high bay lights were switch from 240V Halogens to LED's too. They are much more efficient. I've only seen one fail due to a bad connection. It started strobing.

The only downside I've seen to LED lights is below freezing temperatures. The dimmable LED I put in my porch light tends to strobe when it's below freezing. However, my LED floodlights tend to be okay when it gets cold.
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