Supposed life span of a GU10 LED spotlight...

[Turfy]

We've all been sold the benefits of the LED bulbs and the joint biggest selling point for me (on par with the energy savings) is the lifespan.

They generally say they will last between 30k - 0k hrs. I'm just not seeing, it and every few months we are replacing the odd bulb (in one of the rooms in the house - there are 56 bulbs in total).

Faulty bulbs or do they just not do "what it says on the tin"?



Example of said LED spotlight/bulb:

Edited by Turfy on Saturday 18th May 12:13

[Robbo 27]

I have 6 of these bulbs in the bathroom which have lasted 7 years, I bought 2 others from ASDA and they lasted 3 months.

Edit, 6 others in the kitchen and none of them have been changed in 8 years.

The make is lightingever.co.uk and they have a 5 year warranty.

https://www.lightingever.co.uk/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI...

Edited by Robbo 27 on Saturday 18th May 12:16

[Turfy]

Robbo 27 said:

I have 6 of these bulbs in the bathroom which have lasted 7 years, I bought 2 others from ASDA and they lasted 3 months.

Edit, 6 others in the kitchen and none of them have been changed in 8 years.

It's annoying.

I now just buy them on Amazon so I can reference when they were bought and just send them back as faulty!

It narks me because its one of those claims that they just seem to get away with and either, no one keeps the receipt, can be bothered to return them or just doesn't care as they are so cheap.

It's more the principle!

[nyt]

I had a number of Ebay/Amazon cheapies die fairly quickly.

I've been using Ikea bulbs for a while with no problems. Their Alexa controlled version seem pretty reliable too.

[anonymous-user]

My house is full of Philips led lamps, a mix of gu10, mr16 etc, in 5 years I’ve had maybe 5 fail out of 100ish.

Buy branded I would say.

[Turfy]

Is the general consensus that they are so cheap to replace and generally as an overall % kinda last a long time so who cares?

[Robbo 27]

Turfy said:

Is the general consensus that they are so cheap to replace and generally as an overall % kinda last a long time so who cares?

All depends on your outlook, my view is that if a manufacturer (of anything) makes a claim for the product then they ought to stand behind that product if it fails to perform as described.

Others take the view that an item only cost a few pounds and has lasted a year, it should have lasted 5 years but it will do.

I get more cheesed off when the product causes damage. I bought some CIF Kitchen Cleaner. Used it once and some overspray landed on my cooker, the cleaner dissolved the paint like Nitromors, the makers of CIF said that I should have read the label which said do not use near painted surfaces, I needed a jewellers loupe to read that warning, the print was so small.

[JulianHJ]

I've got Philips GU10 and MR16s throughout, and have done for the last five years - no failures yet and the quality of light is better than the cheaper bulbs they replaced.

[Teddy Lop]

As said the better brands last better. I've fitted many hundreds of megaman over the last few years and replaced about 3.

[colin_p]

I've also got a mixture of GU10 and MR16's and all of them are the Screwfix LAP brand, warm white.

Three of the GU10 bulbs are external and are on dusk till dawn all year round (grabs calculator...) that is approx 2,500 hours per year based on an average of seven hours a night. They have been in for two years so far, so about 5,000 hours, without any issue.

Not had any issues with the internal bulbs either except that they can be a tight fit into down lighters that utilise those spring clips to hold them in. Had one or two pop out, but that is easily resolved.

I've just checked the Screwfix site and they are doing 50 packs of them for £50, a pound each! That is cheaper than I ever remember GU10 halogens being. The MR16's are a bit more expensive but still cheap in the scheme of things, especially when you factor energy use in.

[Turfy]

Robbo 27 said:

Turfy said:

Is the general consensus that they are so cheap to replace and generally as an overall % kinda last a long time so who cares?

All depends on your outlook, my view is that if a manufacturer (of anything) makes a claim for the product then they ought to stand behind that product if it fails to perform as described.

.

Yeah, this is kinda my point and the principled me (heart) gets mildly narked at it. But head says it's just a few bulbs per year and a few £ so let it go.

Note to self, buy more expensive and monitor!!

[Andy 308GTB]

colin_p said:

I've also got a mixture of GU10 and MR16's and all of them are the Screwfix LAP brand, warm white.

I put 20 or so of these in my kitchen, at least 3 years ago - probably more, and none have failed.
I bought boxes of spares so I could replace with identical bulbs but they are sitting in a cupboard, unopened...

[Alucidnation]

We haven't fitted Gu 10's for years now.

Just rip them all out and replace them with a proper dedicated sealed quality LED fitting.

[finlo]

Alucidnation said:

We haven't fitted Gu 10's for years now.

Just rip them all out and replace them with a proper dedicated sealed quality LED fitting.

And when one fails in a couple of years time you won't be able to find a matching replacement!

[V8RX7]

I've never had to change one !

I have the cheap LAP led GU10 for approx 8yrs in my hall

Wickes £2 ones in the bathroom 5yrs

Enlite £5 ones in the kitchen 4yrs

I have a load of spares from bulk buys and I'm starting to think I'll never use them

[Teddy Lop]

Alucidnation said:

We haven't fitted Gu 10's for years now.

Just rip them all out and replace them with a proper dedicated sealed quality LED fitting.

been there, done that, then went back to the future.

Clients tend to like the idea of being able to pop a new bulb in when ones light unit fails rather than call a man.

Not to mention the above comment of matching up bezel styles as manufacturers quit or discontinue models.

[V8RX7]

Alucidnation said:

We haven't fitted Gu 10's for years now.

Just rip them all out and replace them with a proper dedicated sealed quality LED fitting.

I have 20 (I could have reduced that to 16) enlite GU10 in my 8m x 8m kitchen - 60 degree, dimmable, 500lu and cost circa £4.50 plus a £4 fire fitting = £8.50

Why would I want to pay more for integral type ?

I even bought 4 various integral type to test and found their light output / distribution no better than the enlite.

[Alucidnation]

finlo said:

Alucidnation said:

We haven't fitted Gu 10's for years now.

Just rip them all out and replace them with a proper dedicated sealed quality LED fitting.

And when one fails in a couple of years time you won't be able to find a matching replacement!

Yes good point!

I had this issue recently so the manufacturer repaired it foc!

[Evanivitch]

Andy 308GTB said:

colin_p said:

I've also got a mixture of GU10 and MR16's and all of them are the Screwfix LAP brand, warm white.

I put 20 or so of these in my kitchen, at least 3 years ago - probably more, and none have failed.
I bought boxes of spares so I could replace with identical bulbs but they are sitting in a cupboard, unopened...

This. Replaced all bulbs in house with LED four years ago. Only issues have been with Amazon non-brand G9s. Everything Screwfix LAP has lasted fine.

[dave7108]

My house consists of:

Philips stuff lasts, ive had bulbs from 2009 still working fine. Currently had 40 hue bulbs and they are great.
JCB Led bulbs pile crap. Bought 10, 7 have gone after less than a year.
Osram no issues
GE had one go. Just went dead.
Megaman had 1 go funny. Slightly annoyed over this as thought this was a top end make.
Some ebay chinese ones lasted up to 3 years. These were dangerous, got very hot and couple smelt of burning. I binned them all.
Ikea seem to be ok though only had them a year.
Lap : had couple go flickery

You get what you pay for. Id only buy Philips from now on. You can buy them on amazon sometimes in packs of 8 or 10 for a decent deal.