re: Anybody else live in a newish house that has all LED lighting? What a pain in the arse

Thank goodness Obama saved us from the evils of incandescent light. Who likes warm mood lighting anyway???

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My Last incadescent light went out and i need a new one for my reading lamp. I like that color light more than led.

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Napoleon, how often do you go to the Baton Rouge area? I bought a bunch of GE Reveal incandescent bulbs when they were being outlawed. I dislike the CFLs and at that time, didn't know LEDs were going to be an acceptable and viable (though expensive) option.

Are you looking for 40W, 60W, or 100W bulbs? I have them all.

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I thought these LEDs were supposed to last like 20 years.

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They base those numbers on the expected average. A few may conk out early, and others may be burning after you are dead and buried.

We had florescent under-cabinet lights. Frequently changing the little bi-pin tube bulbs was a PITA and expensive. One fixture crapped out altogether after working on and off for years.

I ripped them out and went all LED. I was a little hesitant when I asked the seller how to change the bulbs, and they said: You don't; you change the whole fixture. So far, so good. No regrets (yet).

I also replaced the incandescent ceiling cans with LED. Can no longer tan or dry sauna in the kitchen, but it's lots cooler in the summer.

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bullshite

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I’m ask shocked as you are, but it’s actually true.

motor home I bought new in 2010 had all incandescent lighting. While dry camping I could go 2 nights before batteries ran down. I changed all the lights to led, and got 4 nights of use.

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honestly a one off that the light went out.

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Nope. Been in new construction for 5 years and have replaced 4 garage ballasts (2 have since gone out again since replacement) and no less than 10 "long-life" LED fixtures. It's a certifiable pain in the arse and way more expensive to install and replace. If there is any material utility savings (I don't see it based on the bill), it is outpaced by replacement costs and maintenance.

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Thank goodness Obama saved us from the evils of incandescent light. Who likes warm mood lighting anyway???

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LED lights come in all colors and color temperatures. They are superior to incandescent bulbs in literally every application except for in applications in which the waste heat is desirable, like in an attic during winter.

ITT: a bunch of people bitching about LED lights when their actual, and legitimate, bitching point is about “disposable” light fixtures that happen to use LED diodes.

I felt like a dumbass when I had to call the light store I bought our kitchen island pendant lights from to ask how to change the led because I couldn't figure out how to get into the housing. That's when she told me you can't change them and have to replace the whole $190 fixture...

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It was a big lie. I change out LED more often than I did with old bulbs. They f’d us royally.

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If that is true then you are buying poor quality LED bulbs, you are fricking yourself.

I will give one simple example that I have verified every part of.

We have a chandelier in the great room that stays on 15+ hours a day. We leave it on all day so the dogs have a bright room if the weather is bad or they just want to be inside (they have a dog door). I replaced those bulbs with quality LED bulbs in 2012. At the time they were $5.26 each. Given I could replace all 6 incandescent bulbs for less than one they seemed expensive. I didn't do it for the energy savings but because at least once a year I had to haul the 14ft step ladder out of the garage to replace an incandescent bulb and it is a PITA to get in and set up.

The first set lasted just short of 6 years. I replace all of them at once and mark the working ones and will use them in easy-to-access areas. The second set lasted over 5 years and the third set is going strong now. That saved me at least 10 trips in with that heavy cimbersome ladder. Overall the LED bulbs probably cost me $50 more than incandescent bulbs. However, I did the energy savings numbers after that first bulb failed in the first set:


Over nearly 6 years they probably were used about 1800 days since we are out of town some.

The incandescents used ~5.4 kWh per day so on the low end for easy math that is 54 cents a day or $972 for 6 years, averaging 300 days a year.

The LEDs use .81 kWH per day so at a low 10 cents per kWH that is $146 for the 6 years.

That is a conservative $800 of savings on that one fixture (admittedly high use), including the higher cost of the LED bulbs.

Buy quality bulbs and factor in the energy and trouble savings and LEDs are a massive upgrade to incandescent bulbs.

I have zero desire to go back to incandescents or fluorescents.



One other note: We had 4 fixtures in the kitchen with Circline bulbs. When one went out a couple of years ago the only ballast I could find that was small enough to fit was over $100. I was able to find plug in LED replacements for Circline bulbs (you just wire around the ballast) for $30 each, I just replaced all 4 for not much more than the ballast. The LEDs use less than 15% of the electricity. So they will pay for themselves as well.

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I'll make the required "it's not the actual LED that goes bad, it's the cheap capacitor that goes bad" post. that's supposed to make us feel better.

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It should make you feel like you know more than you did before. Capacitors, especially cheap capacitors, are heat sensitive. Anytime you hear someone complaining that their fancy LED bulb that was supposed to last two decades died in a couple of years, it's almost always because it was a cheap bulb placed in an enclosed fixture when the box specifically told them that bulb wasn't rated to be in enclosed fixtures.

But hey, it was cheap!