Whats the difference,apart from price.Can they just be changed.
ryanm2,
May 13, 5:06am
Difference in price generally comes back to quality. A lot of cheap LED 'bulbs' that have a high failure rate, thats $20 down the tubes, more often than not you can get an entire fitting for not much more these days.
cantabman1,
May 13, 8:01pm
It is Easy to change over.I have fitted approx 10 around the house and would fit more, except the landlady doesn't like them in certain rooms. I got a friend to buy them off Ali Barbar with a cost of around $4.50 each. No fails at all and very happy.
tahnasha,
May 17, 6:20am
I love energy saving bulbs. I have had them each side of my garage door for 7.5 yrs and one has just stopped this week.
johotech,
May 17, 6:51am
Some of the Chinese LED lamps are very inefficient for their light output.
If you look at the specs a bit closer, anything under 80lm/W is very inefficient.
We put 6 energy saver lamps (the small, short coil ones) in our lounge 9 years ago, cost was $9 each bought from one of the lighting outfits. Been on every night for 9 years for hours and not one failure. 7W each, equivalent to 75W "normal bulb" I think. Brilliant bulbs, take about 10 seconds to 'warm up" but nice to have 42w burning instead of 450w.
jonners2013,
May 17, 8:16pm
yep, no comparison to the old school incandescent globes which the rest of the world stopped using many years ago.
LEDs are another step up from the compact fluorescent globes in terms of efficiency. In the early days of LEDs there were some very weak ones that just weren't strong enough, but these days there are plenty of options, just pop down to Bunnings and have a look. Yes, they are expensive compared to old $1 standard 60w globes but they last ages and use 4 or 6w of power.
cantabman1,
May 17, 8:36pm
I would say that they are ALL made in China now. I should ,but don't know the correct lumins to buy, but my friend did and sorted it correctly.[Ex electrical appliance retailer]
jane310567,
May 18, 12:37am
That article from Consumer was interesting - I didn't realise it is best to replace fittings rather than the bulbs only when doing LED's.
johotech,
May 18, 1:04am
I'm sure your friend picked efficient ones then, but you would have to agree that there is "made in china" for reputable global companies that stand by their product quality - then there is "made in china" which are as cheap as possible copies with little or no quality control or support.
Sure, you might be able to complain to DX or Alibaba for replacement, but what a hassle.
Then there is the problem that if you buy a complete fitting requiring electrical work to install, you need to ensure compliance with NZ rules. I'm sure even just the lamps would need to comply with NZ standards as well.
Quite possibly asking for major insurance problems if you had a fire with even a suspected electrical cause.
kenrick69,
May 18, 8:15am
We have LED Fabulous!
trade4us2,
May 18, 8:20am
LEDs are best but are still quite expensive. I'm going to buy some more CFLs tomorrow. Philips have lasted the longest so far.
cantabman1,
May 18, 9:29pm
Yes ,you are correct about production line quality control, by named manufacturers of product made in China. Ali Barber is a billion dollar company of global reach, and backs all its products with a very quick response and replace or refund without hassell. Because there is little or no heat generated by these bulbs, and very little electricity power draw, the chances of an electrical fault are millions to one.I would also suggest that these bulbs are made by the same companies that manufacture for the multi-nationals except like some wines, they don't have a brand on them.
I made some LED headlamps. The heatsinks were huge, like 80mm x 60mm copper, but it still got a bit hot after half an hour, so I put a fan on it, and that worked well.
timbo69,
May 19, 8:34am
I have had the Chinese enclosed LED's from Ebay installed in my home for a year, they are 7w and put out a very good light - no failures yet.
All 20 draw about .6amps vs the phillips 24w CFL's which drew about 2 amps - so it all ties up with their claims - very little heat from them.
I had the CFL's in for 5 years and the light they put out deteriorated very noticeably over that time. I believe the CFL's will become obsolete due to the heavy metals in them - mercury is the main one. I had about 50% fail during the 5 years.
I did try four types of LED lamps and some were pretty bad.
timbo69,
May 19, 8:46am
Why change fittings?
timbo69,
May 19, 9:03am
Dont worry - I just looked it up, its to do with the way the light is reflected from fitting, the LED's will put more light down with correct fitting.
johotech,
May 19, 9:29am
LED lamps don't usually rely on the fitting or enclosure to reflect their emitted light.
Possibly a reason for changing the fitting is that a lot of old fittings weren't totally enclosed because they need to vent the heat from the lamp. That ventilation is inefficient as it allows hot air to escape from the room. LED fittings are designed so they don't require the air circulation, and many of the recessed ones can also be covered by correctly rated insulation.
digmen1,
May 20, 7:39am
Dont do it. Buy an LED when you can afford it. In a few years you will have done your wholw house. CFL's are horrible.
digmen1,
May 20, 7:41am
The Warehouse has GE led bulbs at quite good prices.
What are these Chinese ones people talk about. I have only seen name brands in NZ shops.
ryanm2,
May 20, 8:08am
you can buy cheap led lamps from the likes of dx.com or aliexpress.
trade4us2,
May 20, 11:25pm
LEDs will keep dropping in price and be better quality. I have one LED in the kitchen. I'm not too worried about mercury. I still have every CFL that I have bought. I should put them in a museum! In a few years people will marvel at how CFLs could be so cheap.
trademegal,
May 24, 2:05pm
Just replaced our down lights with led fittings. Rooms noticeably warmer because heat no longer lost through fittings. (Chch). Added bonus of not continuously replacing bulbs.
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