LED Bulbs are they worth it?

[clayandgame]

Hi all.

I was wondering if any of you had much experience with LED bulbs etc? I am looking at changing all the bulbs in our house to the LED equivalent to hopefully save a few quid on the bills? ?

 

Are they as good as they are meant to be?

Do they last as long as they say?

Do they save as much energy as they are suppossed to? (90 % savings)

 

Not really sure if this is the way forward and I am looking for any advice possible

 

Many Thanks in advance.

 

[Teal]

Cheap unbranded ones don't last well. Had no issues with the Philips ones. Sometimes they don't put out the same quantity of light as they suggest they are equivalent to. Prices on LED lights are coming down, I'd suggest doing one room at a time rather than the whole lot. Different companies have vastly different prices for the same bulbs.

 

Lastly keep an eye out for the spectrum of the bulbs you buy, depending on whether you prefer a yellower-whiter or bluer light.

[phaedra1106]

As said the cheap ones (from Ebay etc.) are fairly pants and don't last and watch out for the colour temperature, some give a very cold pure white/slightly blue light. I stocked up on the normal energy saving bulbs before the subsidy was removed and prices shot up, there are still some bargains to be found on Ebay etc. though.

Edited September 19, 2013 by phaedra1106

[aris]

I use them. In the right siuations they are great. Instant full brightness. Very low power consumption.

 

I bought some cheap ones off eBay. Big mistake. They flickered like crazy - worse than a compact fluorescent light bulb. You get what you pay for. I can recommend the ones from www.ledbrite.co.uk. No flicker, nice colour. Go for warm white. Cool white is just too white - almost blue. Warm white is more like an incandescent light bulb.

 

This lot are what I use

 

http://www.ledbrite.co.uk/9-b22-bayonet-cap-led-bulbs

 

The equivalent to 60w is really more like a 40w - keep that in mind

 

I have tested the 5w (they call it 80w equivalent, but more like 60w). Very good too.

 

http://www.ledbrite.co.uk/12-e14-led-lamps

 

They only list them in SES mount, but I believe thy are available in others. I've not had one of these Led bulbs fail on me yet. I've had several CFL's fail on me in the same time.

[ack-ack]

Just buy everyone a head torch!

[halfbee]

I have GU10 spots in the kitchen and bathroom. They're labeled as 50w but I think they're more like 40. Cool white was a horrible grey harsh light but the warm is much nicer.

 

If you know which ones to buy eBay is fine, i chose bulbs that used 5050 SMD's like these

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BUY-8-GET-2-FREE-10-X-GU10-5050-24-SMD-LED-DAY-WARM-WHITE-5W-65W-LIGHT-BULBS-/110966373232

 

The kitchen power consumption has dropped from 200w to 12. I'm happy.

Edited September 19, 2013 by halfbee

[fruity]

Just done the whole house so time will tell, only thing I had to alter was take the transformers off the bathroom lights and convert into mains so I don't get flicker

[12borebanger]

if you aim for a warm white led around 7w, its very close to a 50w halogen (as long as is a reputable make) cool white is great for display lighting, makes everything look crisp. also think if you need them to be dimmable, as non dimmable lamps are alot cheaper than dimmable ones. Another benefit of led lamps is that the heat output is minimal. take a look at megaman lamps, i've installed alot of these with no complaints, including a full retro fit in a pub

[bruno22rf]

I have 6 cheap Chinese ebay ones in my kitchen-some (with lots of LED'S) for gentle lighting and some with just 3 LED'S to spotlight 2 particular areas-consumption has dropped from 240w to 28w and I have had no problems in nearly 2 years-they are so cheap from china that they are still worth buying if they break 4 times as often as locally bought ones. I will replace all the bulbs in my house with these Chinese ones as I decorate each room in the future-I cant fault them.

[brett1985]

i found when refurbing my house that you get what you pay for with these.

 

the more expensive ones are definately better.

 

with regards to saving money, i would say that 70% of the lights in my house are halogens and after replacing them with led equivalents, my electricity bill has dropped by around £20 a month.

 

that says it all for me!

[clayandgame]

Thanks for all your help. I have taken a chance and bought some cheapish ones off the bay. Maybe I will regret it but I thought I would give them a go for now.