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Our experiences with LED light bulb replacements

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4wd:
Replaced all the MR16/GU10 50W Halogens with LEDs, (3-4W), almost all others are CFL.  I don't think I've had to replace a CFL in the last 5-8 years, (they're all used in ventilated fittings that stay on for an hour or two at the least).

I only use LEDs or CFLs with a colour temperature that approximates daylight, (~5000K), as I find the yellowish/reddish hue of warm white annoying, (if I buy a "white" light, I want white dammit!!).

Apart from a driver failing in one of the LED GU10s, (which I replaced), they've been working for the last 4 years or so without problem.  All of the LEDs came from a generic Chinese goods online store, (cheaper than local prices), as either assembled or separate LED/driver/bodies.

I also installed a couple of 10W LED floodlights before leaving the country at the start of April, don't know if they're still working.

40hz:
The CFLs, which most of my house uses, last about 6 months to maybe a year (under moderate use) where I am. I don't see anything like the five or seven year lifespans claimed on the packages. Could be our local utility is  to blame because they provide rather dirty power and deliver highly fluctuating voltage levels during AC season.

I still worry about the long-term mercury problem however. CFL bulbs just get tossed rather than recycled. It might not be a problem so far. But ten years from now, when billions upon billions of these things are sitting in landfills...

There's been some lame arguments that the reduction in power consumption from CFL bulbs results in less overall mercury being released into the environment in areas where coal-fired generators are the norm - because less coal (which also contains mercury) gets burned. But that sounds more like an industry thrashing around to find something - anything - to throw up against the fact that no level of mercury exposure is ever good for us.

zenzai:
I still worry about the long-term mercury problem however. CFL bulbs just get tossed rather than recycled. It might not be a problem so far. But ten years from now, when billions upon billions of these things are sitting in landfills...
-40hz (May 18, 2014, 08:11 AM)
--- End quote ---

They're also very poisonous if they break:

http://www2.epa.gov/cfl/cleaning-broken-cfl

Mad.Diver:
I replaced 13 GU10 Incandescent lamps (a mix of 25 / 50 Watts) in my kitchen with warm white LED spots. Each spot contained 3x1W LED's. The resulting light output was a bit less but still quite satisfactory.

Unfortunately the LED spots have a very limited life. Basically these are Chinese rubbish, the design and manufacturing are really poor. I've had two sets now and in the first set the LED's overheat and eventually one fails causing the drive circuit to destruct. In the second set the LED overheats and fails but the drive circuit survives so I've taken to unsoldering the working LEDs in one broken lamp to replace the failed one in another. It brings them back to life for a few months at least.

The root cause is that they are over-driving the LEDs to achieve light output and this radically shortens the LED life. Typical specmanship over reliability commonly found in cheap Chinese cr*p.

The replacements I'm buying now are a 'known' brand and appear much better but time will tell. Sadly any money or environmental savings have been lost many times over due to the greedy supply chain. So I recommend to spend a little more and avoid 'bargain' prices based upon imports.

mouser:
Yeah, i figure the boasted lifetime of these LEDs (20+ years) is totally unhelpful -- even if they did last that long, it's inconceivable to me that after 10 years there won't be better technology you will want to replace them with, so calculating the long-term return on investment is a bit tricky.

However, psychologically speaking I do think there is something to be said for paying up front for super-efficient bulbs, in terms of eliminating daily concerns about electricity costs.  That is, i feel better absorbing the psychological pain of spending a large amount to purchase the bulbs up front, and then being able to live my lift not worrying about leaving the lights on all day -- vs. always worrying that i'm wracking up huge energy bills if i forget to turn the lights off.  There is something comforting about removing the voice in the back of your head nagging you to turn off the lights to save electricity :)

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