LED christmas bulbs an economy or not?

[JWBH]

bought some LED christmas tree lights this year and paid a lot more for them than the normal filament bulbs. The filaments magically always fail to come on the following year despite working fine the previous christmas. How do they manage that? [ incidentally a japanese engineer told me they are now making stuff to fail very soon after the one years warranty is up. Also did you know the British county courts are sympathetic to claims that many especially expensive items should last for more than one year].

What i am asking here is whether it's possibly true what the shop assistant told me; that, 1. LED bulbs will last practically forever and, 2. if one bulb fails the rest will continue to light?

Would any of you really clever people possibly be able to explain simply how an LED is different from a filament bulb? thanks.

[Shawn Hirn]

Yup, its true. LED bulbs also use a lot less electricity than conventional bulbs. In fact, I heard a story on the radio last week that the efficiency of LED lights is so great that Wal-Mart is phasing out regular bulbs in all its stores and replacing them with LEDs in order to save money and create less pollution.

[Rod Speed]

than the normal

year despite working

Mindless conspiracy theory.

They dont. It you that buggers them up getting them off the tree with cheap and nasty filament bulbs.

very soon after the

Not even possible.

many especially

So are plenty of other small claims systems, particularly with durable items like cars and fridges etc.

Correct.

Correct, they're run in parrallel, not in series like the cheap filament bulbs.

an LED is different

Doesnt need anything clever. Filament bulbs are the same as they have always been, a metal filament that gets hot when on.

LEDs are a semiconductor diode that emits light when electricity passes thru it. Those small ones dont get anything like as hot as a filament bulb and so there isnt any intrinsic life limiting effect involved.

[Rod Speed]

Ericew wrote

Yes.

Wrong. And anyone with a clue would design them to last a couple of months at most if it was even possible.

[Don K]

than the normal

year despite working

japanese engineer told me

up. Also did you

expensive items

told me; that, 1. LED

continue to light?

In a sterile, benign environment, the LEDs might last that long, but these are probably in cheap plastic packages. The wires will flex and break, mechanical stress and temperature variations will break the plastic seals on the packages and contamination will get in and destroy the devices.

So unless you're buying LED Christmas lights in a MIL-SPEC package, I doubt their lifetime will be significantly better than any other kind.

IMO, it's not worth paying a premium over the cost of inexpensive filament bulbs. I've have several cascadable strings of cheap indoor lights that have lasted 20 years so far. If a string ever fails I'll just replace it, but so far, so good.

Don

[Rod Speed]

is whether it's

Fantasy and even if it wasnt, those effect take MUCH longer to happen than the failure of those small filament bulbs.

their lifetime will be

More fool you.

[TKM]

Uhhhh. Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain. ^^^^^^

TKM

[TKM]

Well, the LEDs should last a long time (several years), but not forever since they do get dim over time.

Whether the string goes out when one fails depends upon how they are wired. If they are in series (a single wire going from one LED to another), a failure in one will likely cause the rest to go out. LEDs can and do fail but not often and they don't "burn out" in the usual sense.

What I've noticed is that the LED string sets give less output than even the mini lamps in the usual string sets. So, it takes more LED lamps to get the proper lighting effect -- at least on an indoor decorated tree.

Yes, the old series string sets are a nuisance; but I found one of those little testers (looks like a pen) that isolates the failed bulb or faulty socket quickly. By the way, I find that poor connections in the socket cause about as many problems as failed bulbs.

Main difference between an LED and a filament bulb is heat. The filament in a standard lamp gets so hot that light is produced. The LED transforms electricy to light inside a crystal using the natural properties of the materials in just the right way -- no heat required.

TKM

[gavin]

I've noticed the opposite - I can't believe how bright the LEDs are! And the set of 90 I bought are rated at only 4.7 watts.

I also bought my son an LED torch as a stocking filler. It's got 68 LEDs in it and it's so bright you can't look directly at it.

[TKM]

Good point. Some LED sets, particularly the new ones around this year, are brighter -- especially the colors like blue and red. I was thinking of some of the sets with white lamps that didn't have the sparkle or output of the mini sets. They also have a bluish white color. Some probably like that -- looks like ice and all that; but I find it too cool in appearance.

TKM

[Don Klipstein]

I surely noticed the green bulbs being many times brighter and a more pleasant shade of green than in the original LED strings of a few years ago. The green ones are now fairly close to emerald green, and a few years ago they were mostly a very yellowish shade that looked yucky when brightness is low - which it was with the yellowish green ones.

- Don Klipstein ( [e-mail])

[Squibbly]

thats depends on how they are connected, if they are connected in parallel they should continue to work if one fails, if in serial mode, just like ordinary lights, then the rest wont light up if one fails

[gavin]

The white ones are definitely an "icy blue white". I have a set up next to some regular white lights which now look pale yellow compared to the LED ones. IMO the white ones are too much unless interspersed with coloured ones - but bright they certainly are.