The Lamp Room

About 6 or 7 years ago when LED light bulb first appeared in the shops I thought these have got a bright future. Although early exampled gave poor light output with a maximum of 2.5 watt I thought with a bit of R&D it could be a viable alternative. I cant quite put my finger on it but somewhere along the line things started to go wrong. Yes they are now "generally" reliable if used in a ventilated enclosure, they are "energy saving" although the claims of how much energy saving are debatable.

Whats changed my opinions of them? It seems those who decide everything in life thought it is now OK to have poor quality light. The filament style LED do look nice but thermal management limits them to about 6 watt (40-50w equivalent). The environmentalists went though a stage of desperately circulating buzz phrases like "Win win lighting", "Mercury free lighting", "You complained we listened", "Love-LED", the brain washing was endless, the ultimate. The Daddy himself - President Obama saying, "LED has matured - there is no need for old lighting technologies." That basically gave the green light to wipe out all other traditional lighting options.

Lionel Lebron is right when he says avoid anything that is described as "Green" or "Smart". In this case LED is a compromise.

I've never written a break-up letter but if I did it would go something like this;

I'm sorry LED I fell for you and thought we had a future together, I spend tens of pounds on you when you first became available. I thought people should give you a chance after all you were new and the promises you kept telling me in the future I would not be able to tell the difference to what you replaced really lifted my heart. Sadly after a few years you turned out like a lot of Green technology, you struggle to keep your initial promise of 25 years so now you have been given a special exception and now come with strict conditions prenuptial agreement stipulating how many hours you can be used a day. Your also now allowed to retire after 5 years of service. Your productivity is 50% as what I replaced you with and you have resulted in mass closure of factories in the UK and all you do is shout "I'm Green! I'm Green!" I'm so disappointed, you promised me the world but failed to live up to your promise as well as expect me to understand and compromise?

Seriously if that was a bit on the side would you keep her?

Well said!

Ha. I have really enjoyed reading this.
So true.

Very good! Just one point though...

LED filament lamps are available over 6w now. Was in B&Q earlier and they had a 12w variant, claimed 1520 lumens

Can you get frosted versions yet?

Yep seen them online, not seen any in high Street shops

Well Angus, you have slightly contradicted yourself here mate with these two lines....."About 6 or 7 years ago when LED light bulb first appeared in the shops", and, "you struggle to keep your initial promise of 25 years".....
If this was your bit on the side you had only known for 6 or 7 years, would you really dump her for what she `may or may not do` in 25 years time?

Anywho, yeah I have two of those 12 watt `giant` LED filament lamps in my kitchen, and yes their pretty bright with a nice colour.
My oldest pair of LED filament lamps are now at 3154 hours run time, and not showing any signs of ageing, diodes out, or colour shift yet, but its still early.
I also have a little 3watt thats been test running 24/7 since January 2016 that is now clocking up 18,448 hours, testing continues

Well Angus, you have slightly contradicted yourself here mate with these two lines....."About 6 or 7 years ago when LED light bulb first appeared in the shops", and, "you struggle to keep your initial promise of 25 years".....
If this was your bit on the side you had only known for 6 or 7 years, would you really dump her for what she `may or may not do` in 25 years time?

Anywho, yeah I have two of those 12 watt `giant` LED filament lamps in my kitchen, and yes their pretty bright with a nice colour.
My oldest pair of LED filament lamps are now at 3154 hours run time, and not showing any signs of ageing, diodes out, or colour shift yet, but its still early.
I also have a little 3watt thats been test running 24/7 since January 2016 that is now clocking up 18,448 hours, testing continues

heheh

Very good! Just one point though...

LED filament lamps are available over 6w now. Was in B&Q earlier and they had a 12w variant, claimed 1520 lumens

Still got enough inkies to last me a few years yet With the exception of a Crompton Pro 60 watt that popped after its glass>base cement failed and started blinking, they have been OK. It must be a year since I dropped LED and gone back to Inkies, anyhoo in that time I've only changed 3 failed lamps.

I don't know if its designed or if they always have given a "warning" they are about to blow but in the ones I've had fail, they have all dimmed and flickered a good 30 - 60 seconds. Also tripping the RCD