recommendations for bulkhead light

[ebee]

Pont is - would you agree it's not worth getting a fitting with a replaceable lamp/LED, because likely the LED will outlast the fitting itself?

Interesting thought, I suppose we are used to a lamp (bulb/tube or whatever) being the item that will probably need replacing during the lifetime of the assembly.

 

[SUNRAY]

Probably fitted cheap rubbish

Spouting more rubbish again!

My experience of domestic LEDs is somewhat different to that. The first set of cheap LED in our new hall fittings didn't do well, as they failed I replaced with Phillips thinking a good brand would last better On each occasion a set of 10 was purchased for the 3 fittings with 3 lamps each. By 27 months we'd had 14 failures and were down to 6 bulbs working.
After that I got 12 Energisers which were a lot of faffing about as the flimsy little bits of wire contacts had to be reshaped to make contact with the fittings, IIRC one was DOA and another failed at 2nd or 3rd switch on.

At 42 months from the beginning I'd used all of the spares and reused all of the previous bulbs making it 23 failures or roughly life expectancy of 8 weeks.
May & August '21 I purchased box of 4 from home bargains (£2.99/4 Vs £4 each for Energisers) and replaced the Energisers one by one. December '21 I purchased 2 more boxes.
Just checked and it looks like a full complement of HB bulbs in the fittings and 7 spares. So cheapest by a mile to purchase are the HB bulbs at at 75p and the most reliable are the HB bulbs.

So to answer

Probably fitted cheap rubbish

First were cheap at £2
Phillips at £2.99
Energisers at £4
All had poor lifespans getting through 32 bulbs inbetween 4 and 6 years
Longest life so far HB at 75p

SUNRAY is very much not impressed with the stuff that isn't 'cheap rubbish'

However the outlay of £110 over 6 years compared to average lifespan of a £1 incandescent of say 10 years would have purchased a hell of a lot of electricity. I had got into the habit of adding a date to bulbs when I replace them. When I fitted those 3 new lamps December '17 there were CFL's dated 2001 & 2004 and a 60W GLS with no date so very likely predated 1994 when we moved in

 

[SUNRAY]

Pont is - would you agree it's not worth getting a fitting with a replaceable lamp/LED, because likely the LED will outlast the fitting itself?

Judging by the number of COBs and other 'non replaceable' LEDs I've replaced in 2-3 year old new looking fittings, no I don't agree. Added to that I'm not convinced that the cost of replacing a fitting is usurped by the energy saving costs either.

 

[opps]

I want to like LED, but I hate the strobing effect that many bulbs produce. As a decorator, I find the strobing effect really annoying when using tools that oscillate. I am additionally skeptical of the claims that a 5(?)W bulb equates to a 50W halogen.

I do have a LED light for site for site work, yeah, I cannot notice the strobing effect but it cost hundreds of pounds.

 

[SUNRAY]

The biggest killer of LED's, is heat build up. Most fittings are designed for tungsten or halogen lamps, where heat does not really matter to the lamp, so long as the fitting can cope with it. Most fittings are well able to cope with the tiny amount of waste heat from LED's, except the LED's themselves cannot cope with high temperatures, the tiny amount of heat they themselves generate. They need good ventilation, better than most fittings are designed for.

A fitting where the LED is none replaceable, will have been designed from the ground up, for an LED.

I have a 5 arm chandelier in the lounge with glass shades. originally stated as requiring golf ball bulbs. We found they got very hot due to the lack of air flow and used 25W candle shape bulbs. One died and I fitted a 3W LED, not only could the LED not cope with the heat and failed, the plastic envelope changed shape too.

 

[EFLImpudence]

Added to that I'm not convinced that the cost of replacing a fitting is usurped by the energy saving costs either.

Mr. Amos again?

 

[SUNRAY]

Mr. Amos again?

it doesn't only relate to military coup's

Why was Mr Amos wrong?

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

One died and I fitted a 3W LED, not only could the LED not cope with the heat and failed, the plastic envelope changed shape too.

As I suggested, obviously inadequate ventilation. A fitting, which works fine for tungsten and halogen, may not work so well for LED. I use a cob light, in my drive's lantern fitting, which is on between 2 and 8 hours per day, depending on the season. The first two didn't last the year out. Before fitting the 3rd replacement, 3 years ago, I modified the fitting, by adding some tiny holes in the base, to enable a small amount of ventilation. So far, it has managed to survive.

 

[SUNRAY]

As I suggested, obviously inadequate ventilation. A fitting, which works fine for tungsten and halogen, may not work so well for LED.

Oh yes totally.

The stated bulbswere not much smaller than the top (only) opening of the shade and not much lower meaning the ventilation gap was very restricted, I used to struggle to change a bulb as the gap wasn't sufficient to get my fingers in whereas the candle being slimmer and taller... well as they say a picture helps