right - it;s some semiconductor thing burned out due to heat - or in really cheap lights, crimped connections to 120VAC that vibrate loose
or - dreaded failure - they just start flashing
probably the overheat detector falsing out
wle
What kind of fixtures did you use?
I’m talking about high-cri lighting for home (and maybe office) use, nothing else. I’m not talking about warehouses.
A modern 940 (90CRI, 4000K) T8 (or better T5) fluorescent tube from Osram (or Philips) like this one inside an efficient fixture in combination with an electronic ballast (not a starter) has a very long lifetime and a similar efficiency compared to the above mentioned Philips Master LED ExpertColor GU10 halogen replacement spots. The fluoro does 80lm/W, the Philips led spots do 90-100lm/W.
But it all depends. If you need high lux values in your work area, spot fixtures might be better. But I’m note sure if high-cri LED flouro tube replacements even exist? Most offices only have 80cri lighting where the efficiency advantage of LEDs is greater (less red content in the spectrum).
I’ve never had an LED bulb burn out. That said, I’ve had most of my first gen Cree LED blub glass globes fall off due to the carppy glue they used to attach the globe to the base. I’ve since been using Philips consumer grade 60 watt LED non-dimmable bulbs in my outdoor fixtures for over a year now. They run 12 hours every night and not one failure.
For years i had few failures, now i have a few LED failures.
One Philips LED, they sent me a gift card.
4 Feit failures, 2 buzzing so replaced at store within 1 year, 2 flicker, 1 replaced by mail, other on the way.
A Bazz bulb (no name brand), replaced by mail.
Years ago I installed a bathroom lamp that required GU10 bulbs, bought a 10 pack in my local store and none of them lasted more than a month. The problem was that they used a LED board with low Vf and generic transformer that was putting out 3.5V, overdriving the emitters.
Last year I bought new bulbs and they have worked fine ever since. They were cheap and had great tint and CRI. LED wasn’t very reliable say 5 years ago, but there’s no reason to not go with it now.
I think they over drive the LEDs in cheap lights and / or don’t address heat management (no cooling).
I had a nicely built LED E27 bulb once (i still have the shell somewhere) which apparently pushed too much current through the LEDs.
So they burned up, despite the chunky aluminium heatsink…
The quality of fluorescent lighting is extremely sensitive to the lamps you use. In most industrial environments, the cheapest lamps they can find are used, and almost by definition, they don’t look very good. If you are willing to pay more for the lamps, you can get much better color rendition as well as efficiency. I have made extensive use of very high CRI fluorescent lamps, generally GE SPX series lamps. The bind is the really good stuff isn’t cheap. Years ago when living in Phoenix I lit my family room with 12 F40 SPX lamps. The bad news was that in case quantities, the lamps were $9 each at the time, and they were sufficiently exotic that nobody in town actually stocked them, and Phoenix is not exactly a small town. I ended buying them directly from GE, they had stock. I was very happy with the result, and most of my guests never even guessed it was fluorescent lighting.
Ok, that makes sense. I’ve also noticed that 90CRI tubes are hard to get in stores here in Germany (although a lighting store can probably order them for you). However they’re easy to get online and cheap (3-5€/tube). Electronic ballasts (EVGs) are also quite cheap, usually they are included with the lamp housings.
I’ve seen these high hat flood light casings (BR30 bulb) that have CFL type bulbs inside them, still for sale. So they’re still in production?
Philips makes a great BR30 LED bulb. You can get them in 2700k or 5000k. Dimmable. No buzzing. The 2700k has a nice natural color that would make you swear they are incandescent.
I meant from a performance standpoint. In most cases LEDs are brighter, more effiecient, can be had with better light quality and are not really more expensive or even cheaper. All in in addtion to the fact that you don’t need go to a special place for harzardous waste to get rid of the CFLs (because of the mercury). At least here in Germany you need to.
Over recent years I see more and more places, like restaurants and stores (especially newly renovated ones) turning to LED. Interestingly the underground train stations in my place (these stations have a heck lot of lights!) Still use what seem to be warm white T8 tubes. They are either Osram or Philips. I believe those tubes emit a nasty amount of UVs, as the paint that is above those lamps have faded out to a white color. Fortunately LEDs are used in the trains.
Decent LED bulbs are not hard to get these days, but good and high CRI ones are not as common. I’ve came upon these Yuji high CRI bulbs, but they are far too costly.
Product link here
I’ve been using a few Opple LED bulbs (Opple is a large Chinese brand, I think they mainly target domestic users) that costed me around $3 USD (12W 6000K 1100lm 80 CRI ). It’s more than a year now and they are still running fine. Chineses are able to make quality stuff but they tend to end up in the low cost range.
But I’m not satisfied with them. Meanwhile high CRI bulbs are not that accessible for me (except for those 90+ CRI GU 10 Philips that I got by chance They are too narrow for me). I decided to make one myself. I sourced some E27 LED bulb casings and some 5630 aluminum boards(12S 2P). I chose 5630s because they have a relatively low cost compared to high power 3535/5050s and is less intense, which is more ideal for home lighting.
I chose a frosted cover so it won’t change the tint too much like the milky white ones do, while also reducing glare.
I reflowed 24 SSC 9Q14B 5630s on the board. That took quite some time and heat!
The driver I use is a cheap one (well it’s cheap compared to the LEDs) (8-12W 280-300mA), I believe it is a constant current driver, no flicker is observed by my eyes or my phone camera.
All components for the light costed less than $6 USD excluding shipping.
I wonder if it is safe to use with that non-enclosed aluminum body in my bathroom. But it has been up for a few days already, and everything seems to be alright.
These SSC 5630s are 5000K Ra90-100, I believe SSC also makes some with guaranteed R9 values. Compared to my original 6000K 80 CRI Opple LED bulb, this one obvious has better color rending abilities, especially for woods (I’m prettu sure that it has better R9 than the original one). The wooden door and the reddish brown + black marble surfaces in the bathroom looks so much better now! I was astonished by the difference!
I have to state that I did this mainly as a prototyping, the driver’s efficiency (and the light’s safety) is not measured nor guaranteed as I don’t have any suitable tools yet. I can probably yield better efficacy if I use a better driver. It’s a good start though.
^ Looks like a very decent driver to me.
Same here. Even 2700k is to cold for her. But it gave me the chance to go mental on Philips Hue. Whole ground floor, front yard and back yard are now cct adjustable and dimmable 
> Notice the special price of 4 for $0.97 that is less than 25 cents each! The reason being that the State of Connecticut is subsidizing the regular price of $6.97. Our tax dollars at work.
Where were these prices when I was in graduate school and I had to choose between buying 1 (one) lightbulb to light my apartment, and a meal? It wasn’t too long ago when we could buy incandescent lightbulbs for those prices.
In my area, they raised the electricity rate to stupid level and did us a favor by subsidizing led. The entire house is led, but the discount on the bulbs can’t offset the crazy electricity rates. I could re-equip the entire house in the difference of one months bill.
Greenwashing money theft…
Any chance you can get solar? Is it government subsidised where you are?
If you expected switching to all LED to make a really big difference in your power bill you will be disappointed. I looked up the estimate for what % of your consumption is due to lighting. The estimate from the US Energy Information Administration is just 6% for household lighting. Heating, cooling, water heating are the big three with 41% and refrigeration equal to lighting at 6. So, If you turned off the lights and lived in the dark, your bill would decrease 6 on average. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) - U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA)
As to electric rates here in the US. Every state I have ever lived in has a public utilities commission that sets rates for electricity. When they do, they guarantee the utility return on their costs plus some profit. Some are better than others about regulating. When I lived in the Chicago area the rates for Crummywealth Edison (now Exelon) were about 13 cents per KWhr in winter and 15 cents in summer. Mostly the high cost at that time was because the utility had several nuclear power plants and was collecting for the cost of building them, running them, handling the nuclear waste, and eventually decommissioning them. It’s the most expensive way to generate electricity so the rates were very high. When I read about people trying to revive nuclear power, I think, are you nuts! Illinois deregulated their electric system and now you can buy electricity from other sources so the price has dropped a lot. It’s cheaper there than where I live now. The idea behind energy conservation programs is that it is cheaper to conserve energy than to build a new power plant as we use more electricity each year with all the new gadgets we have.
Conversion to solar energy may or may not be economical even in places where the sun shines 90+% of the year. The companies claim that it will be free to the homeowner but each time they come by my house I shoo them away. The last advertisement they dropped off showed a monthly charge of $100 for the unit. My house is already energy efficient so I really wouldn’t save much money once you deduct the monthly fee. That’s after they take the 30% subsidy offered by the federal government. At least two friends who went solar had major problems with the company that installed the units. One took two and a half months to repair the controller after it failed due to shoddy installation. He was paying for it but getting no return. The other was quoted a 7% interest rate on outright purchase of the solar array and ended up with a 17% interest on the $30K loan. They wouldn’t have snuck that one by me but did to her.
I’ve been changing over to LED everything for around 10 yrs or so. 99% done now.
4.2kw solar on roof through grid. 30 tube “Evacuated Tubes” Solar HWS.
(= HOT water all day. regardless of how much I use )
8x4mtr pool with heaters, swim jets etc. Largest home Air cond (9.1 kw?)
We run Air cond and all pool equipt (except heaters) 24\7 . Heating and cooling.
As required ALL yr.
We get cash returns from Power company every yr for last 14 yrs.
reducing as bills go Up. But we still got $670 cash back this yr.
AFTER running complete home for 12 months in Tropics.
(I have Off grid Solar system on Pool decking that runs heaters. lights etc).
The LED lights. DO reduce the bill by a decent amount. and so far.
NONE blown. Plus waaaaay better white lighting. NOT that sickly yellow
globes and tubes give out.
I’d recommend NOT buying “MOST” Chinese Solar Systems.
Quality is around 4% on a good day.
I installed All German Bosch panels and US MFG Inverters.
15 yrs still running (shhh) sweet. Same as the gear on Caravan.Yacht Carport etc.
I’ve had solar since my first Panel on Yacht in ’74.
Just make sure you have MORE Panel Capacity than Inverter Capacity.
so to get more constant “fuller” load/output volume through system.
I have 4.2 inv. With 6 kw panels, could go more.
Some occasionally gets wasted to the ether, but input is ALWAYS near max on Inverter capacity into system.
Battery’s are still (so far) a little too exxy to transfer to 100% yet.
But getting there. This newer Battery Technology should fix it hey.
Anybody living in a Tropic/sub tropic. Desert climate is silly if NOT running solar.
Even if you buy Max Cap Inv at first. then top up panels over the yrs.
Electricity is only getting more exxy every yr.
We bought ours in Aust 15 yrs ago when it WAS exxy.
A 4.2kw system, with HWS. Cost us $16 and a half grand outlay.
Paid itself off in 7 yrs or so.
Nowadays only a 1/3rd or less of that price.
My current house corner is almost exactly south. So I have to have a much larger system to capture both sides.
I plan to do it in the new house, but only to offset the bills. The problem is that the direct energy charge is only half/third of the total bill. Distribution charges and taxes bring the rate from 11 cents to 29 cents per kw. So I need to find out if the entire bill will be reduced or simply the energy charge. The system can’t pay for itself at 11 cents.
The entire energy thing is upside down. It was one of the reasons I shut down manufacturing. They increased my bill from 3% to 8% of my product cost. When I complained, they spat out that I should be proud that I’m saving the planet.
So I got rid of 70 employees, sold the property and retired.
Depending on where you live.
We live on Hillface Facing 3Deg S of North, house frontage. Sea due East
Hill S/W beside us.
We watch great sunrises. zero sunsets.
I have 3.2kw on N facing roof.
with 1.5kw on West and 1.5kw on East facing.
Our INPUT on long days registers on Inv from around 4.20/4.30am. and goes till near 5.30 to 6pm in arvo. 35deg roof angles. Hill shadow S/W, comes into play.
2x inverters. 3.2+2. =5.2 physical.
But Electric Co restricts it to 5kw max Input to main board.
Government controlled for households in Australia.
we get 44c per kw inputted to grid. So having more panels. you get the 5.2
for longer time periods with the excess going to ether normally.
But my Aus Built 2 kw inv has mains/battery output.
so I have boat/caravan battery’s linked in 24v to utilize till Battery bank costs get lower.
My OFF grid ongoing system has panels on Pool deck roofing. with inverter running to pool pumps etc. Will never expand enough to cover pool heaters (Panel area)
but runs swim jets. pumps. Spa etc.
With cash returns (Guaranteed till 2028. I’m 77. Reckon somebody else will be using it b4 then hey.) covering the pool heaters. and Evac Tubes the water heating.
The complete home/pool/Aircond’s. everything, almost covered by solar.
Cost us $130AUD last yr in total.
One quarter doesn’t cover full usage with the solar. (Wet season, lotsa clouds)
Solar IS… More than sensible for homes in sun rich areas.
Start small. BUT
SIGN ON FOR MAX 5kw Input allowance.
Then either buy 5kw inv and build it up. Or 3kw then add 2 kw inverters and build up panels to suit.
Your original sign on capacity contract is what governs ALL future capacity of that property (in Aust) IE sign on for 4kw. That’s MAX you can ever install in Inverter size.
They ARE worth it.
and in Aust it IS possible to get near free installs with some power Co’s.
They NEED Solar roof coverage in some areas for government allowances for their capacity outputs. ASK,