An LED success story...

[Dave Plowman (News)]

As some may of gathered,I'm not a fan of either CFL or LED as straighfroward replacements for tungsten. At least where the quality of light matters to me. So as such I have near enough neither indoors. Not much point in paying for an expensive lamp when it's just going in a cupboard. ;-)

But I do have CFLs as outside lights. Bit of a pain in this weather as they take so long to get up to full brightness.

I have two above the front door - needed to get the sort of light level I wanted, and to give a reasonable life and low energy costs.

And they've been ok - and have lasted pretty well as claimed. Probably because they run cool being outdoors.

One failed the other day, so I decided to replace the pair with LEDs.

Got a pair of cool white 9w BC from LEDhut. And they seem just as bright as they claim - for once.

I chose cool white as it looks a bit like a shaft of moonlight coming in through the fanlight. ;-)

Be interesting to see just how long they last. I've noted the purchase date and put the receipt somewhere safe.

[harryagain]

Have you considered gas lights?

[John]

Find LED,s ok for outside use but useless as replacement for a 40watt wall lights ( 5W )golfball. Shadow on half the shade and poor light. If original fittings are designed for LED's then no problem.

[Davey]

Had one of those in a Kansas City rental. It just burned, and burned, and burned........day and night.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Well, yes. If they are sold as tungsten replacements they should be just that. And so much lighting these days in a house is part illumination, part effect.

If all you want is illumination, fluorescent tubes are probably still as good as anything. But if you want something more subtle - as most will in a house - I'm not happy with something inferior to tungsten - just because it claims to save some pennies.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Now that's an idea. Sadly I removed all the pipework when re-wiring, etc.

[Gordon Henderson]

When I fitted a new light in the livingroom, it was rather heavy, so was suspended from the joists above - and when I took up the floor board to fit it, I found some old piping and ... lots of scorch marks and soot on the laths surrounding the rose...

Gordon

[Andrew Gabriel]

Pipes were throughout my first 1909 house (electricity didn't arrive in the road until 1927). I would love to have found some of the gas lamps dumped in the attic or under the floor, but sadly all that was there were some of the original wiring accessories which had been ripped out and dumped there in the 1970s. The gas pipes were still 'live', but I disconnected all the original gas pipework.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

I was surprised to find some of mine was still live too. Used at least some of the notches they'd cut into the joists for central heating pipes.

[Peter Johnson]

I've found LEDhut to be ok at changing leds that haven't lasted. They have a five-year warranty and you can look up past transactions in your account on the website so no need to look for paperwork.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Good to know - I'm more used to the Lidl principle. ;-)

As a matter of interest, does a 9 watt LED consume exactly 9W from 240v?

[Adam Funk]

I know what you mean, but I used to find that incandescents didn't last long in motion-sensor lights. I think the warm-up time is less inconvenient than having to change the lamps more frequently in the dark.

[Jonathan]

I write the installation date on the bulb before I put it in for these reasons.

Jonathan

[Adam Funk]

That's a good tip. Thanks.