I have led units in most rooms in the house. Most have been in place for four years but the bathroom G10 type have been in for eight years. Only my office G9s and lounge BC have been replaced. The G9s flickered very quickly but replacements are much better, the lounge ones are used everyday and the odd one out of four goes every couple of years or so. Quality varies greatly and that is the problem when you look at the circuit inside. Most I assume are from Chinese manufacturers so no great quality control. I don't know wether the likes of Philips produce anything themselves which can give the promised life. Others may have more technical views, but overall I am pleased with what I have had.

I heard a talk by the boss of a company that supplies and fits lighting systems in offices last week. He mentioned that they have been fitting LED lights from one particular supplier (can't recall the name) at the rate of ~1000 per week for the past 3 years and have had 3 failed. This shows that good LED lights can be very reliable indeed.

Ive had 2 lots from Toolstation, the clear LED candles have been a disappointment, but the 10W globe have been excellent. I've also got an LED striplight in the workshop. No waiting for them to warm up and hardly worth turning them off they use so little electricity.

Ah, but have your central heating costs gone up to composite for the lack heat from the tungsten bulbs?

Rod

Basic fact, you get what you pay for, running enough I have just been watching a Utube vid on Philips led bulb strip down. Better quality bulbs have better quality electronics and sizable heatsink for the led substrate.

I find this comforting to know as I have just got the Philips Hue light system for the main living room and would not want to be replacing those bulbs too frequently. Have to say though, they are working well, they come on at dusk and go off at our normal bedtime (with a slow 15 minute fade to off. They are also linked into my Nest thermometer and smoke alarm (got the smoke alarm free for taking out house insurance).

Hue app got a bit of a slating, but seems to do what I need it to do, time will tell how reliable/long lasting the bulbs are.

Simple answer, no. It is either a dud lamp or a dud suppller.

LEDs as such defnitely don't mind. Mant LED light sources are dimmed by pulse width modulation of full power. On and off many times per second. I have never seen any suggestion that this reduces their life.

Just a suggestion but the failures may have more to do with the room than faulty lamps.

Firstly, I'd check the fitting. Secondly, bathrooms feature a number of things liable to upset electronics. The room is hotter than average and liable to high humidity, damp and condensation. It may also contain hefty equipment capable of causing voltage spikes like an electric shower or immersion heater.

I used to have trouble with filament bulbs in my bathroom. The fitting used a 40W candle shaped bulb mounted sideways, which is poor design. As it was also watertight the interior used to get very hot – ceramic holder and heat sleeving hot!. Bulbs only lasted about a year but at least the reason was obvious.

Dave

Don't think much about the link. It reads as if it was written by one of those tabloid nutritionists. I wonder what sort of research ought to be done?

Particularly amusing to hear that LEDs "emit blue light which has recently been shown to be harmful to the cells in our retina". Well, all white light sources emit blue light, otherwise they wouldn't be white (they would be very yellow).

Perhaps we should ban this newfangled sunlight, which as we all know causes blindness.

Merry

I think there is an awful lot of rot talked about led bulbs, a bit like the myth that ALL Chinese lathes are rubbish.

In Philips bulbs the electronics are fully potted so unlikely to be affected by moisture. Lets be sensible here, moisture near any type of bulb should be avoided, 240 volts and water don't mix.

I notice someone has mentioned the 'Blue light ' effect on humans, none of it has been scientifically proved. Just seems to be an excuse not to move to the new technology.

This is pertinent to me but may also be of interest to others if you’re prone to headaches:

**LINK**

LEDs "ex China" do seem to vary.

Some time ago, my son in law got me two E27 lamps and two GU10s and adaptors to BC, direct from China.

The E27s, in a standard lamp in the lounge, eventually each began to flicker, when they warmed up, which suggested to me that one half of the bridge rectifier was failing. Replaced with globe style LEDs from a supermarket; no more problems,

The GU10 + BC adaptors in the worklights on the Mill/Drill are still going strong!

Luck of the draw, or different sources?

Howard

These are the ones I've been using, candle shaped ones

It's the light they give off, it's the best I've seen so far