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There's something off about LED bulbs

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Re: There's something off about LED bulbs

#421

Post by terr-dav »

jchw wrote: post #305
jghn wrote: post #278

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The big problem for me is, as a consumer, how do I know that brand X is producing quality bulbs that'll last a long time? I'm very happy to pay more for that. How does one sift through marketing to get to actual quality? And then how do I know that they stick with the high quality approach? What happens when a brand decides to rest on the laurels of their brand name and start slipping in lower quality parts?

Some bulbs will give you information on their CRI which ideally should be required to be labeled on the bulbs packaging the way calorie information is required on food packaging (but I don't think it is.) That will tell you roughly how good the quality of the light is by proxy of the spectrum of light it covers. On the other hand, there is no equivalent afaik for knowing how well the power supply is designed or how h…

An important point in the article is that CRI for LED bulbs does not meaningfully map to the light quality. >Oh, but: Experts agree that the color-rendering index doesn’t really index how colors are rendered. Some bulbs with a 90 CRI make things look wan; some with an 80 are passable. There are better, more useful metrics, but you can’t have them. Nobody puts them on the packaging. One lighting professional — an LED advocate, no less — told me he sometimes calls up the manufacturer and asks to talk to an engineer to get the real specs.

Re: There's something off about LED bulbs

#422

Post by [deleted] »

CrimsonCape wrote: post #370
ChadMoran wrote: post #357

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've been looking for solid high CRI LED bulbs, thank you. Lately I've been using the GE Reveal/Relax. They were better than the contractor grade bulbs that came with the house but still just... wasn't there. If you know any other manufacturers like this I'd greatly appreciate it if you could provide their links.

Budgetlightforum.com is the best source for flashlights and bulbs. Everyone there knows the metrics of what makes good light. GE Filled With Sun, Philips Ultra HD (available on Amazon, but from Canada), and some other Chinese brands are currently top of the chart for CRI 95+, RA 90+ bulbs

[deleted]

Re: There's something off about LED bulbs

#423

Post by ClarityJones »

treffer wrote: post #363
wankle wrote: post #313

https://www.stouchlighting.com/blog/light-comparison-led-lig... . "New LEDs can last 50,000 to 100,000 hours or more. The typical lifespan for an incandescent bulb, by comparison, is 1-5% as long at best (roughly 1,200 hours)." I've never seen more than 15000 hours from an LED bulb at best. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incandescent_light_bulb "The chart below lists values of luminous efficacy and efficiency for some…

It is not a conspiracy, it was a well known cartel that made light bulbs horrible: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phoebus_cartel The 1200h are slightly above the 1000h target put in place by the cartel.

My understanding - which may be wrong - was that long-life bulbs used more electricity to operate and that the efficiency gains of a 1,000/hr bulb reduced the overall cost.

So, making up numbers, a 2,500 hour bulb may cost $5 to replace and would incur $20 of electricical charges for a total cost of $25 or 1 Cent/hr. Meanwhile, 1,000 hour bulbs would cost $10 ($4 * 2.5) while incurring $10 of electrical charges for a cost $20 or 0.8 Cent/hr... even factoring in the cost of having to replace the bulbs.

Re: There's something off about LED bulbs

#424

Post by llbeansandrice »

jchw wrote: post #305
jghn wrote: post #278

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The big problem for me is, as a consumer, how do I know that brand X is producing quality bulbs that'll last a long time? I'm very happy to pay more for that. How does one sift through marketing to get to actual quality? And then how do I know that they stick with the high quality approach? What happens when a brand decides to rest on the laurels of their brand name and start slipping in lower quality parts?

Some bulbs will give you information on their CRI which ideally should be required to be labeled on the bulbs packaging the way calorie information is required on food packaging (but I don't think it is.) That will tell you roughly how good the quality of the light is by proxy of the spectrum of light it covers. On the other hand, there is no equivalent afaik for knowing how well the power supply is designed or how h…

Can't wait to become a mini-expert in fucking LED lightbulbs just to have decent lighting in my house. I hate that the vast information of the internet has basically required us mere mortals to try and become experts in literally anything and everything just to be able to buy something that isn't awful. Computer? Better keep up to date on all of the CPU, GPU, etc. info. That doesn't even include the insanity of monitors. Cars? Better spend multiple weekends doing research before spending more weekends being ready to walk away from any dealership just to play the stupid negotiation game.

I feel like I can't just have a casual fun hobby anymore. You have to have all of the knowledge about the entire space just to be able to decide if something may or may not be garage.

Re: There's something off about LED bulbs

#425

Post by eimrine »

rini17 wrote: post #364
eimrine wrote: post #248

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> no blue at all https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35373754

That is true only for white LEDs. The RGB strip does not have them (there are some that include white LEDs but not this one). If you set it to yellow, only pure red and green elements are on, blue elements are completely off.

There is no such thing as a pure red LED. Those are blue ones but with light filters. If you don't see blue which is actually present and you see deep red which is actually absent then maybe consider yourself as brainwashed by marketologists.

Re: There's something off about LED bulbs

#426

Post by hedora »

mhb wrote: post #77
QuarterReptile wrote: post #2

Non-dimmable bulbs are the author's problem. First, bans on incandescent bulbs are foolish because they encourage defeatist foolishness like this article (as far as I can tell, for the sake of virtue signaling and modest acceleration of a change that was already happening.) The CFLs which preceded LEDs were really awful, especially for closets (where they'll linger for decades, given the low utilization of those bulb…

> Non-dimmable LEDs are right up there with running toilets and rodents in the pantheon of things to make homeowners lose their minds. Really? I've never understood the affection for dimming lights. Essentially always I want lights on or off.

Since the electricity they use is basically free, and there is (almost) no practical constraint on heat emissions, LEDs are generally too bright.

You could hire a lighting consultant, then buy expensive bespoke bulbs so that having them at 100% is the right choice, or you could spend an extra ~ $50 per room for a dimmer.

Re: There's something off about LED bulbs

#427

Post by jahewson »

PragmaticPulp wrote: post #228
tomatotomato37 wrote: post #150

I hate how many of these things aren't limits of the technology but rather the result of cost optimization and general apathy towards the customer. We know how to mass-produce quality LEDs to the point entire TVs are made of the things. We know how to mass-produce rectifiers pretty much ever since diodes existed. We know how to cool mass-produced objects in compact spaces. But because we apparently can't have nice th…

You can go buy high CRI, high quality bulbs right now. Nothing is stopping you. Here is one common vendor: https://store.waveformlighting.com/collections/a19-bulbs/ The issue isn’t that MBAs have cost reduced bulbs for no reason. The issue is that 95% of consumers will only choose the cheap bulbs, period. As a result, that’s what gets produced at scale. > We know how to mass-produce quality LEDs to the point entire T…

> The issue is that 95% of consumers will only choose the cheap bulbs, period.

The hardware stores near me, both big and small, stock only a single brand of bulb, as if they have some kind of exclusive deal.

Re: There's something off about LED bulbs

#428

Post by antiterra »

QuarterReptile wrote: post #2

Non-dimmable bulbs are the author's problem. First, bans on incandescent bulbs are foolish because they encourage defeatist foolishness like this article (as far as I can tell, for the sake of virtue signaling and modest acceleration of a change that was already happening.) The CFLs which preceded LEDs were really awful, especially for closets (where they'll linger for decades, given the low utilization of those bulb…

It’s not ass simple as dimmable or not dimmable. Not all dimmable leds work with all dimmers, some do and make a horrible hum but are still highly recommended in reviews by people who don’t have those issues. The situation is a nightmare for someone just wanting to go to a local store and buy a bunch of bulbs for the room where they eat.

Further, if you dare to mix bulbs you’ll often get different color/brightness behavior at different levels of dimming.

Re: There's something off about LED bulbs

#429

Post by nonethewiser »

bombcar wrote: post #396
formerly_proven wrote: post #24

There's a lot wrong with LEDs in general and retrofit (E27 bulbs) in particular. In no particular order - LED emitters driven hard for cost reasons, age and fail quickly - Power supplies driven hard for cost reasons, age and fail quickly - Poor CRI and SSRI - Flickering - Dim-to-warm is uncommon - Poorly designed power supplies that age and fail quickly - The same light quality is vastly more expensive to achieve wit…

They've started marking LED bulbs as "not for enclosed fixtures" which is .... 90% of existing fixtures? They overheat and die really fast if used in something that's not vented/cooled. You need fixtures that fully expose the bulb so it doesn't burn itself out. Amusing that LED bulbs, the energy savers, die from excess heat .

Is that because they are “downscaling” (totally made up term, IDK electronics) the energy coming into them?

Re: There's something off about LED bulbs

#430

Post by smallerfish »

OJFord wrote: post #216
smallerfish wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can write the install date (and store name) on the bulb housing with a sharpie when you put it in the socket. It's not a receipt but it at least gives you a shot at getting a return when it fails early.

You could also just write an arbitrary date and the name of the most convenient shop when it fails, so I really don't see what good that does, it's very far from a receipt.

If you run a store, and a customer comes in and says "I bought this item on $x date; I don't have the receipt but this is how I know", you have two choices:

a) you can choose not to trust them

b) you can choose to trust them

For a $3 item, most retailers would pick #b every time.

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