LED bulbs... any good?

crunchman

I just got some Phillips LED bulbs that are brilliant.

I've been using LED GU10s for years but I had quite large stocks of CFL bayonet fitting bulbs from when the electricity companies were giving them away free or subsidising them so you could buy them for 10p.  I ran out of "40W" equivalents so ordered some of the Phillips LEDs.  Despite being lower power consumption, the LEDs are significantly brighter than the supposedly equivalent CFL bulb with a much better quality of light.

Evilmags

My pool has a multi coloured LED strip round the whole top of it. 

ICBM

Evilmags said:

My pool has a multi coloured LED strip round the whole top of it. 

Mags at home...

http://www.haro-online.com/stuff/sexybea1.jpg

Strat_a_tat_tat

Evilmags said:

My pool has a multi coloured LED strip round the whole top of it. 

Took me long enough to save up for the bulbs... not sure I'll have enough to get a pool - even if I live to 160.

spark240

Myranda said:

randella said:

Sporky said:

Chateau Sporky is mostly LED these days, apart from the poncy filament bulbs in the living room lights which look like a demented steampunk spider. In a good way.

Carbon filament bulbs, love them.  I've gone for some weird gothic look in my living room without realising it.

Traditional dichroics are a pain in the arse - I used to rent a house lit entirely by GU10s and they'd pop all the time.  Trouble was they'd take out the main breaker with them so you'd be plunged into darkness about once a fortnight.

pics?

Anyone know of any LED strip configurations that can be indefintiely expanded?  I'd like to light my shelves (as well as some ambient lighting) but everything is 4 strips per controller... 

Its all about the led wattage and driver wattage, we generally run  from a 24v 150w remote driver, you can split the led into as many pices as you want as long as it doesnt exceed the driver output.

Rocker

I just realized that the landing lights on our runway are LED lights. We prefer to land the Learjet during daylight hours..

Strat_a_tat_tat

Rocker said:

I just realized that the landing lights on our runway are LED lights. We prefer to land the Learjet during daylight hours..

That's so yesterday... nowadays, we're flying an LEDarJet.  It matches our Toyota PriArse.

thomasross20

You'll soon be able to access the internet via led lights. Seriously, there's a company in Edinburgh developing the chips for it now. 

NeilMcG

It's a bit of a minefield due to the massive pace of development and change in LED technology.

I had a go at replacing a few areas of halogen GU10s in my kitchen a couple of years back and ran into a couple of problems: the lamps are physically larger than halogens so don't fit in all fixtures and the colour temperature and colour rendering index looks a bit different on every make and model of lamp I tried even when theoretically a close match.

I bought a few to test and found one model that was ok-ish so replaced the 4 lamps in 1 fixture that get used the most and would take a larger lamp. I still don't like the colour though, it's a bit green-y & not as nice as a conventional halogen.

I had another look recently and the bulbs appear to have got smaller, I haven't started to make any test buys yet to see if the colour temp/rendering has improved too.

ICBM

Allegedly LED street lights are being fitted with various forms of surveillance technology too...

exocet

NeilMcG said:

It's a bit of a minefield due to the massive pace of development and change in LED technology.

I had a go at replacing a few areas of halogen GU10s in my kitchen a couple of years back and ran into a couple of problems: the lamps are physically larger than halogens so don't fit in all fixtures and the colour temperature and colour rendering index looks a bit different on every make and model of lamp I tried even when theoretically a close match.

I bought a few to test and found one model that was ok-ish so replaced the 4 lamps in 1 fixture that get used the most and would take a larger lamp. I still don't like the colour though, it's a bit green-y & not as nice as a conventional halogen.

I had another look recently and the bulbs appear to have got smaller, I haven't started to make any test buys yet to see if the colour temp/rendering has improved too.

The colour temp and rendering on the Philips Master series is very good indeed. I'd say that they are indistinguishable from Halogen but they are more expensive than most GU10 style units. I find that the size issue is not a problem for units rated at 4 watts and below. Above that they do get bulky and are not necessarily direct replacements for Halogen. 

Rocker

Strat_a_tat_tat said:

Rocker said:

I just realized that the landing lights on our runway are LED lights. We prefer to land the Learjet during daylight hours..

That's so yesterday... nowadays, we're flying an LEDarJet.  It matches our Toyota PriArse.

Brilliant!  Wow! awarded.

thomasross20

ICBM said:

Allegedly LED street lights are being fitted with various forms of surveillance technology too...

How'd you know about that?  
I seeeee youuuuu lol

Sarge

My house is 95% 4pin push fit bulbs, the ones with the starter in the pendant,  bloody stupid idea as I cant (or couldn't ) get them locally anywhere. 
just replaced the lounge one with my first LED 40w equivalent warm white and its a bit bloody orange! 

ICBM

thomasross20 said:

How'd you know about that?

Apologies for the Daily Mail link - it's actually the *least* nutjob website this seems to be posted on .

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2054177/Big-Brother-watching-New-street-lights-Homeland-Security-applications-including-speakers-video-surveillance-emergency-alerts.html

I'm pretty sure I've read it somewhere much more believable too - although unfortunately I can't remember where.

Axe_meister

Ikea GU10s have proven to be the most reliable and have good colour in my experience and a good fit

thomasross20

It's all true  

ICBM

thomasross20 said:

It's all true  

Do you design the chips for them?

p90fool

ICBM said:

I'm pretty sure I've read it somewhere much more believable too - although unfortunately I can't remember where.

They erased that part of your memory when you were walking your dog on Monday.

Strat_a_tat_tat

p90fool said:

ICBM said:

I'm pretty sure I've read it somewhere much more believable too - although unfortunately I can't remember where.

They erased that part of your memory when you were walking your dog on Monday.

What dog?  I had a dog???

Damn... those things are powerful.