LED Bulb life outside?

Were the fittings designed for LED bulbs? They really don’t take kindly to fittings that don’t allow adequate heat dissipation.

Tim

LEDs run much cooler than incandescent or QI, but they still get hot. Do the enclosures have ventilation? I have a LED outside light but it is PIR controlled and probably spends no more than five minutes a day on, about one minute at a time.

There can be heat problems with indoor LED lamps if they are fitted to lampholders which do not allow enough circulation, even though the lamp isn't sealed.

They are sealed metal ones, although I have checked them when on with on of those thermometers you point and get a reading and, even after a couple of hours on, they don’t get much above ambient. I suppose the bulb could be getting hot but it seems unlikely.

I think all my outside lamps are LED... and failure rates has been very low - possibly even zero (they were incandescent - but got replaced with LED when those failed - not sure if I have ever replaced a LED one). Mostly PIR switched (apart from one where the PIR has failed "on", and I have not got round to fixing it yet!)

I only run filament style LEDs[1] though which may make a difference (the higher voltage across the "strings" of LED make for simpler PSU designs).

That implies they are overheating then. I guess if its sealed as an outside enclosure would be then maybe all the designs you tries are for free air cooling. There are probably some with a more conservative design that cannot get so hot. Of course the cooler the power supply or led is running, the less its wasting power and the longer its life. Brian

I suffered a similar short life issue, of LED lamps, in outdoor enclosures. The eventual fix, was to simply improve the ventilation.

Ventilation and being water tight aren’t exactly easy to achieve.

Perhaps I’ll try and find some Cfls and stock up.

The Philips Hue externals do that fine.

Mad.

Do you own shares in Philips?

Are Philips Hue externals both water-tight and allow ventilation? I might have thought the laws of physics would have got in the way?

No need for water tightness. Juts make sure there is a roof on top!

How many do you want?

LEDs run cooler. Best use a low wattage LED lamp.

I was going to say that a silicone spray that might keep water out of a fitting but I see some websites claim it goes hard and shouldn't be used on electrical fittings. However it seems silicone grease is ok.

Might also have ramifications on the thread re oven lamp!

Nope. And so few use usenet that I wouldnt bother to spruik Hues even if I did.

They don't get hot enough to need anything special ventilation wise and the externals are complete, so you can't put them where they don't get enough ventilation and the electronics is potted.

Not when you design them properly so they don't get hot, stupid.

Same here (except for the failed PIR). I do have to replace indoor LED lamps occasionally.

On Sat, 10 Feb 2024 18:09:18 -0000 (UTC), Brian snipped-for-privacy@lid.org wrote: [snip]

Does brand and cost make much difference? I always buy Philips and I don't think I have encountered any problems (inside, that is).

I bought some 12 Volt spotlights online and they produced horrendous radio frequency interference, even stopping my DAB radio working at all.

A fried LED can often be shorted & it works again. Need plenty of watts in your iron, as the LEDs are usually on an ali backing.