LED Light Bulbs

[spierceisu]

I have all LED bulbs in my house and seems like I have had to replace them more often than I should have to. I thought LED bulbs were supposed to last a long time. I have had a few Candlabra style ones in my ceiling fan go out recently and they are not that old. They are 100watt equivalent and 2 of them started flickering at different times and needed to be replaced. I also have replaced some 60watt equivalent ones. Is this just because LED bulbs are so much cheaper now that and the quality is lower and they use less electricity but don't last as long?

 

[Gonzo]

I have all LED bulbs in my house and seems like I have had to replace them more often than I should have to. I thought LED bulbs were supposed to last a long time. I have had a few Candlabra style ones in my ceiling fan go out recently and they are not that old. They are 100watt equivalent and 2 of them started flickering at different times and needed to be replaced. I also have replaced some 60watt equivalent ones. Is this just because LED bulbs are so much cheaper now that and the quality is lower and they use less electricity but don't last as long?

What brand are you getting? We have recessed lighting and when one would go out my wife would come home with the cheap Good Value LED bulbs and those wouldn't last very long at all. When I replaced them with GE they did better and lasted longer.

 

[nrg4isu]

I have all LED bulbs in my house and seems like I have had to replace them more often than I should have to. I thought LED bulbs were supposed to last a long time. I have had a few Candlabra style ones in my ceiling fan go out recently and they are not that old. They are 100watt equivalent and 2 of them started flickering at different times and needed to be replaced. I also have replaced some 60watt equivalent ones. Is this just because LED bulbs are so much cheaper now that and the quality is lower and they use less electricity but don't last as long?

Because the power supplies die. The LED itself is pretty freaking indestructible. But in the race for price reduction, manufacturers created the shittiest possible power supplies.

 

[AgronAlum]

I have all LED bulbs in my house and seems like I have had to replace them more often than I should have to. I thought LED bulbs were supposed to last a long time. I have had a few Candlabra style ones in my ceiling fan go out recently and they are not that old. They are 100watt equivalent and 2 of them started flickering at different times and needed to be replaced. I also have replaced some 60watt equivalent ones. Is this just because LED bulbs are so much cheaper now that and the quality is lower and they use less electricity but don't last as long?

I haven't found a single brand that last as long they're supposed to. I converted the entire house to LED a number of years ago and I haven't seen a single benefit. I've tried Feit (menards), Phillips, Sylvania and GE. They all burn out with a year or so.

I also made the mistake of not buying extra fixtures when I converted the boob lights and cans over. Trying to find a match is going to suck when they start burning out.

 

[Clonehomer]

I have all LED bulbs in my house and seems like I have had to replace them more often than I should have to. I thought LED bulbs were supposed to last a long time. I have had a few Candlabra style ones in my ceiling fan go out recently and they are not that old. They are 100watt equivalent and 2 of them started flickering at different times and needed to be replaced. I also have replaced some 60watt equivalent ones. Is this just because LED bulbs are so much cheaper now that and the quality is lower and they use less electricity but don't last as long?

Same. They don’t completely die, but they start flickering. Which is annoying enough that they get replaced.

 

[spierceisu]

I have been buying Feit and Sylvania. I guess I will just live with replacing them, Thanks everyone for the info. I was wondering if since they started flickering that I had a power issue at my house and they weren't lasting as long as they should.

 

[NorthCyd]

I've thought about charting it because I have some that I feel have lasted a really long time and others that have lasted maybe months. I will say that I had a fixture I was running filaments in for a while and those things do burn out pretty darn fast in comparison overall.

 

[gypsyroad]

The decorative or styled bulbs seem to fail more often to me. Aside from that, I feel like I rarely replace bulbs now when I felt like I was constantly replacing incandescents or CFLs.

 

[aeroclone]

I've primarily purchased Cree, with Philipa as my second option. While most have been okay, I have replaced more than I should have needed to given these things are supposed to last 10x longer than the incandescents. Really hurts the economics of these things when you pony up the higher purchase price and then they don't last long enough to return the energy savings as a tradeoff.

 

[AgronAlum]

I have been buying Feit and Sylvania. I guess I will just live with replacing them, Thanks everyone for the info. I was wondering if since they started flickering that I had a power issue at my house and they weren't lasting as long as they should.

I'll put a little condition on my "they all suck" statement.

While I don't think any of them are great, Feit is by far the worst of the bunch. Avoid those.

 

[nrg4isu]

If you've paid close attention, you'll have noticed that the more recent LED bulbs are not quite as efficient as what I'm going to call "first gen" bulbs. The first gen bulbs had their own switching power supplies in them and were generally heavier than the ones you'll see now. However, the first gen you'd see ~4.5 watts for a 60 watt comparable bulb. Now you'll see 7-8 watts instead. Clearly the power supplies have been the issue, but I believe they're getting better. I'm sure there's some electrical and manufacturing wizardry that is enabling this.

Long story short, in my opinion, LEDs ARE a major advancement over traditional bulbs... but there were/are pretty major problems with mass manufacturing in the early iterations of them. Another example is the coating that is wearing off prematurely which is causing the purple/blue streetlights.

 

[AllInForISU]

Have you ever checked or had someone check what your power is running at? In theory it should be between 110-120v but in the case that you are running higher or lower than that can affect the life of your bulbs as well.

 

[AllInForISU]

I'll put a little condition on my "they all suck" statement.

While I don't think any of them are great, Feit is by far the worst of the bunch. Avoid those.

You really do get what you pay for when it comes to electrical components like bulbs, outlets, etc

 

[CycloneDaddy]

I write the date on the bulb when I install them.

 

[3TrueFans]

Have you ever checked or had someone check what your power is running at? In theory it should be between 110-120v but in the case that you are running higher or lower than that can affect the life of your bulbs as well.

 

[audiokiwi]

I've had bad luck with generics from the grocery store. My Philips hue lights are going on a decade strong (the oldest ones do have some noticeable dimming, so I use them more for accent now), but those cost $20-40 depending on if they're color changing or not. Ikea LEDs have lasted 5-7 years for me with no flickering and are pretty affordable. The electricity at my current place is not super clean. All my bulbs are fine, but the cheap built-in LED fixtures my landlord installed flicker like a mofo in certain rooms.

 

[jcyclonee]

Although they don't last anywhere near as long as their guarantee, they do last way longer than the old incandescent bulbs. This being said, I'm not about to hold onto receipts for my light bulb purchases and keep up a spreadsheet to get my replacements.

If you've ever bought the little 2 watt-ish LED night lights, they might last forever.

 

[cyputz]

I haven't found a single brand that last as long they're supposed to. I converted the entire house to LED a number of years ago and I haven't seen a single benefit. I've tried Feit (menards), Phillips, Sylvania and GE. They all burn out with a year or so.

I also made the mistake of not buying extra fixtures when I converted the boob lights and cans over. Trying to find a match is going to suck when they start burning out.

Get the perky Cree lights. Others sag early

 

[Jayshellberg]

My neighbor told me that he gets his from Costco and has been happy with their performance.

 

[CascadeClone]

I have been buying Feit and Sylvania. I guess I will just live with replacing them, Thanks everyone for the info. I was wondering if since they started flickering that I had a power issue at my house and they weren't lasting as long as they should.

I've bought both and they were garbage. I will say the Feits seem to be getting better.

One thing that kills them is HEAT. Some of the older bulbs the power supply gets too hot, and that causes fatigue and eventual death. I have had a lot of them where the heat cracks the base and then they go out. Newer bulbs don't run as hot and should last longer.

I took my older bulbs and put in the garage and other open spaces where less heat gets trapped (like in a globe). Seems to have helped.

But in general, agree. This "LED bulbs will outlive you" is a huge load of crap.