LED bulbs - why not mandatory or subsidised

LED bulbs - why not mandatory or subsidised

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Discussion

Condi

17,190 posts

171 months

Monday 20th January 2020
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boyse7en said:
If they are 12V halogens, you have to cage the holders and bulbs - which as quick and not too expensive - but you also have to remove the transformer and possibly change the cable going from lamp to lamp. This could be quite a major job, depending on access and how stuff was previously fitted.
They are 12v MR16's. Probably something to do with the transformer load, but they don't replace well and I am not spending the money (nor would the LL be happy!) to switch out a transformer, or replace the holders etc. Just pay the big bill for a year or 2.

grantone

640 posts

173 months

Monday 20th January 2020
quotequote all
The thread inspired me to do a bit of digging on how much electricity is used for lighting.

https://www.statista.com/statistics/617777/electri...

https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunit...

Data from 2017:

~18% of electricity production goes to lighting which is ~58TWh. (Statista have their units wrong as total UK production was ~335TWh, consumption ~300TWh).

26% of that to residential (70% commercial, 4% street lights).

27.25 million households.

So, (58,000,000,000 kWh * 26%) / (27.25 * 365)

Equals ~1.5 kWh lighting use per household per day (about 22p worth).

I can't find any data to get a time series to see it change from year to year.

anonymous-user

Original Poster:

54 months

Monday 20th January 2020
quotequote all
Troubleatmill said:
At the end of the day.

The Government does not have their money.

The Government has your money.

99 times out of 100 - It is better you get off your arse and do it yourself than waiting for an incompetent dinosaur to wipe your arse for you.
That’s not the point. The dinosaur is wanting co2 reduction - which will potentially impact your lifestyle. It’s effectively dictating what your future travel methods will be, what you hear your house with, what your car runs on. The point is that one change - to mandatory led bulbs - will have the same green impact as ALL current wind and ALL current solar plus a bit more to spare. All doable straight away.
The saving is 5-10GW, with the added benefit of lower power bills. Here’s the output of the others now:



I’m no ‘green’ but it ticks that box big time.


techguyone

3,137 posts

142 months

Monday 20th January 2020
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borcy said:
techguyone said:
Yes I was confused too and the one I got seemed to have too low output on paper, but upon fitting it was miles better than the original.

24w 400k temp (warm to daylight white) and 2200 lumens output

versus something like 58w 400k temp & 5400 lumen.


I feared that mine would be too dim. It's not. To be honest it seems just as bright if not brighter. I don't know if claimed lumen figures are as accurate as manufacturers claimed MPG values or what.
Where did you buy yours from? We've got a strip light in the kitchen and I do wonder if it's worth bothering to replace with a LED strip light when it goes.
Uhh B & Q I think. Just make sure you get one that has a led starter, older version require ballast bypasses and faffing about, this was just very simple.

FiF

44,078 posts

251 months

Monday 20th January 2020
quotequote all
techguyone said:
Yes I was confused too and the one I got seemed to have too low output on paper, but upon fitting it was miles better than the original.

24w 400k temp (warm to daylight white) and 2200 lumens output

versus something like 58w 400k temp & 5400 lumen.


I feared that mine would be too dim. It's not. To be honest it seems just as bright if not brighter. I don't know if claimed lumen figures are as accurate as manufacturers claimed MPG values or what.
Ah thanks for that bit of reassurance. Will have another look as going to have to sort it soon. One tube is on its last legs I think, a tad slow to strike and is like one of the CFL lamps, not that bright for a minute or so then warming up properly after a while.

bazza white

3,558 posts

128 months

Monday 20th January 2020
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I didn't think you could buy the old style bulbs anymore.


We have a few of energy savers in the house that we've never changed. We dont use them as it takes 5 minutes for them to produce any light.


I like Led bulbs but getting the right lumens is a pita. I never known how many I need and the wattage is huge a small number know you cant go by that. Used to be 60w bulb for the celing and a 40w in a lamp.

Dr Doofenshmirtz

15,227 posts

200 months

Monday 20th January 2020
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The LED bulbs Poundland sell are actually really good. There's no need to spend lots of money.
I also recently replaced a 5' strip with an LED alternative and it works great. £8 from TLC for a five footer which isn't much more than a traditional tube.

anonymous-user

Original Poster:

54 months

Monday 20th January 2020
quotequote all
bazza white said:
I didn't think you could buy the old style bulbs anymore.


We have a few of energy savers in the house that we've never changed. We dont use them as it takes 5 minutes for them to produce any light.


I like Led bulbs but getting the right lumens is a pita. I never known how many I need and the wattage is huge a small number know you cant go by that. Used to be 60w bulb for the celing and a 40w in a lamp.
I just got one off eBay and tried it. Found that 6W was good for the kitchen and 5w for lamps. I’ve since changed two of the kitchen ones to 10w which is very bright!!!

Four Litre

2,019 posts

192 months

Monday 20th January 2020
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Another total con. Take into account their overall cost and that FACT they only last a few months more than halogen ( not 25 years as sold). The costs to make to the environment must be big.

My neighbor who is a sparky always jokes about the amount he returns (as do I) for a replacement each time they last less than 10% of their lifetime.

anonymous-user

Original Poster:

54 months

Monday 20th January 2020
quotequote all
Four Litre said:
Another total con. Take into account their overall cost and that FACT they only last a few months more than halogen ( not 25 years as sold). The costs to make to the environment must be big.

My neighbor who is a sparky always jokes about the amount he returns (as do I) for a replacement each time they last less than 10% of their lifetime.
Must be lucky with ours then we have 42 and not lost one in 18 months.

Ever been taken in by tradesmens myths?

Evanivitch

20,075 posts

122 months

Monday 20th January 2020
quotequote all
Four Litre said:
Another total con. Take into account their overall cost and that FACT they only last a few months more than halogen ( not 25 years as sold). The costs to make to the environment must be big.

My neighbor who is a sparky always jokes about the amount he returns (as do I) for a replacement each time they last less than 10% of their lifetime.
Is he buying them off a market stall?

I've had no-issue with Screwfix LAP bulbs in 5 years.

Dr Doofenshmirtz

15,227 posts

200 months

Monday 20th January 2020
quotequote all
V6 Pushfit said:
Four Litre said:
Another total con. Take into account their overall cost and that FACT they only last a few months more than halogen ( not 25 years as sold). The costs to make to the environment must be big.

My neighbor who is a sparky always jokes about the amount he returns (as do I) for a replacement each time they last less than 10% of their lifetime.
Must be lucky with ours then we have 42 and not lost one in 18 months.

Ever been taken in by tradesmens myths?
The lifetime is usually 'when used for x hours per day'. I guess it's a bit of a con if you only see the headline 'lasts 25 years'.

FiF

44,078 posts

251 months

Monday 20th January 2020
quotequote all
Dr Doofenshmirtz said:
V6 Pushfit said:
Four Litre said:
Another total con. Take into account their overall cost and that FACT they only last a few months more than halogen ( not 25 years as sold). The costs to make to the environment must be big.

My neighbor who is a sparky always jokes about the amount he returns (as do I) for a replacement each time they last less than 10% of their lifetime.
Must be lucky with ours then we have 42 and not lost one in 18 months.

Ever been taken in by tradesmens myths?
The lifetime is usually 'when used for x hours per day'. I guess it's a bit of a con if you only see the headline 'lasts 25 years'.
Off at a tangent but this is a car site. Have been looking at various vehicles with a view to purchasing.

Peugeot says"• LED technology will last for the life of the car, compared to halogen technology with much shorter life expectancy. "

Be interesting when a light unit fails out of initial warranty and they want many pounds to replace or repair.

Paul_M3

2,370 posts

185 months

Monday 20th January 2020
quotequote all
FiF said:
Be interesting when a light unit fails out of initial warranty and they want many pounds to replace or repair.
Not sure on other manufacturers, but the Porsche warranty under the exclusions section specifically states "bulbs (with the exception of LED units)" or words to that affect.

So at least they acknowledge it's not the same as replacing a £5 bulb and will be covered by warranty should a failure occur.

You'd hope other manufacturers would be similar.

Evanivitch

20,075 posts

122 months

Monday 20th January 2020
quotequote all
FiF said:
Off at a tangent but this is a car site. Have been looking at various vehicles with a view to purchasing.

Peugeot says"• LED technology will last for the life of the car, compared to halogen technology with much shorter life expectancy. "

Be interesting when a light unit fails out of initial warranty and they want many pounds to replace or repair.
And yet we see plenty of cars with failed diodes in an array of LEDs. Has anyone had an MOT failure for crossing the threshold?

WinstonWolf

72,857 posts

239 months

Monday 20th January 2020
quotequote all
Evanivitch said:
FiF said:
Off at a tangent but this is a car site. Have been looking at various vehicles with a view to purchasing.

Peugeot says"• LED technology will last for the life of the car, compared to halogen technology with much shorter life expectancy. "

Be interesting when a light unit fails out of initial warranty and they want many pounds to replace or repair.
And yet we see plenty of cars with failed diodes in an array of LEDs. Has anyone had an MOT failure for crossing the threshold?
My A8 turns the whole bank off when about four fail. I'm a bloody expert at desoldering and resoldering LEDs.

FiF

44,078 posts

251 months

Monday 20th January 2020
quotequote all
WinstonWolf said:
Evanivitch said:
FiF said:
Off at a tangent but this is a car site. Have been looking at various vehicles with a view to purchasing.

Peugeot says"• LED technology will last for the life of the car, compared to halogen technology with much shorter life expectancy. "

Be interesting when a light unit fails out of initial warranty and they want many pounds to replace or repair.
And yet we see plenty of cars with failed diodes in an array of LEDs. Has anyone had an MOT failure for crossing the threshold?
My A8 turns the whole bank off when about four fail. I'm a bloody expert at desoldering and resoldering LEDs.
To me there's a difference between differentiating between warranty terms for a bulb and LED units, and saying " for the life of the car."

It brings to mind those statements of "lifetime warranty." Which lifetime? My lifetime? The lifetime of whatever, which probably means just until it's knackered. Having said that Craghoppers are brilliant with their lifetime warranty, above and beyond.

anonymous-user

Original Poster:

54 months

Monday 20th January 2020
quotequote all
Four Litre said:
Another total con. Take into account their overall cost and that FACT they only last a few months more than halogen ( not 25 years as sold). The costs to make to the environment must be big.

My neighbor who is a sparky always jokes about the amount he returns (as do I) for a replacement each time they last less than 10% of their lifetime.
Apart from the environmental concern.. he’s onto a winner then?
Huge savings & free bulbs for life

TheAngryDog

12,406 posts

209 months

Wednesday 22nd January 2020
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Our kitchen lights are all LED (they were halogen) and there are 16 of them. The LED lights I replaced them with made the kitchen brighter, which is what I wanted.

The light on our landing is one of these;

https://www.diy.com/departments/alani-brushed-chro...

We then have this LED light in one of our bedrooms;

https://www.diy.com/departments/jago-brushed-chrom...

The rest are halogen, which I should really think about replacing. The issue is that I need dimmable gold ball style ones for 4 lamps and then I need ones to replace the circa 30 halogens in my ceilings downstairs. I have 6 MR11's that just flicker on then go straight off when fitted with LED bulbs. Perhaps I need higher wattage ones?

anonymous-user

Original Poster:

54 months

Wednesday 22nd January 2020
quotequote all
Some LED’s need all in the circuit to be changed, and if there’s any residual current will stay on but very dim.

Not too sure what your particular issue is though.