re: LED lights suck. Bring back incandescent

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ut can you unpack this logic for me? I get that the drivers can get hot. I've handled LED wafer lights that had been on for hours and they're certainly not "cool" to the touch, but compared to incandescent? Barely a blip.

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The LED itself barely puts off any heat at all you are correct. However the electronics to drive the circuit are usually all found in the base of a bulb which is screwed into a heat trapping environment. Edison type bulbs are the worst offenders especially CAN lighting. Unlike incandescent where the heat was mostly emitted at the top it is trapped at the base.

LED only fixtures spread this out and you will find last a very long time.

The bad for your eyes generally mean blue light output which some people do not like or they believe is tied to brain activity etc.. You can generally filter this out and bulbs exist that filter most of it now.

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LED lights also emit radio waves

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All the radiation we are constantly exposed to can't be good. I don't have any studies or data to back any of it up. But there is no hiding from it in the modern industrialized world we live in.

I get it. I have mostly open, 6" cans. The sealed ones are over showers.

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The underlying problem is that leds operate at low DC voltages but houses are still wired with pretty high AC electricity. Every single bulb requires rectifier and stepdown circuits which can be very inefficient and prone to failure.

To really take advantage of light emitting diodes homes need a separate low voltage DC circuit.

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Fun fact: Not all DC fixtures are compatible with LEDs either. I learned this the hard way. Had some fairly expensive Nora Lighting track heads in my kitchen, all with DC MR16 bulbs. These are the fixtures that have the transformer built into the base where they attach to the track.

I replaced a couple of the halogen bulbs with MR16 LEDs. After a month or so, the fixtures (not the bulbs) died. I did some research and found that those specific track heads had been discontinued by Nora. The reason: the transformers apparently had a minimum load. Not an issue with 25-50W halogen bulbs, but after a while of usage with a low-wattage LED, the transformer would fail. Wound up having to replace the track heads.

Just a PSA for anyone with DC track lights.

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At the same time, I refitted twelve ceiling cans with CREE leds running at 120V. They are still working.

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Funny, ceiling fans are where I’ve had the least luck with LEDs. I assume it’s some combination of the vibration and the el cheapo candelabra bulbs my wife has been buying.

All of the LEDs in track fixtures in my house are Phillips, and I don’t think a single one has failed yet after 8-10 years. They were expensive at the time but they’ve paid for themselves by now between the energy cost and the cost of replacing GU10 and BR20 halogens.

You guys are lucky.
Incandescent lightbulbs are banned in Kommiefornia. I shite you not.

Unless they're for "decorative" purposes...certain chandelier bulbs, landscape lighting, etc., but even those are hard to find.

Never had a problem with any of my LED's in my house. They are brighter, last longer, and look better. Buy better lights

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Incandescents suck. Bring back oil lamps.

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Oil lamps suck. Bring back torches.

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The heat doesn’t damage the fixture. It damages the LED bulb.

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I'd say it damages the electronics faster.

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That seems a little pedantic, no?

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Put me in the hater group. I can spot the led light output a mile away. Very irritating to my eyes. The shadows they cast are harsh with no scatter. Like being on the moon. Really unnatural. Christmas tree lights are all led now which suck. Not warm and cozy but rather cold and sterile.

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There are plenty of options available for warm LEDs. People just have to actually pay attention to the color temperature on the box.

The thing you mentioned about shadows is legitimate and has to do with the fact that LEDs are much more of a point source than incandescents (since there’s no filament, for one). It’s particularly noticeable in floods because the reflector in incandescent flood bulbs provides additional diffusion/wider beam angles.

But again, you can get LED bulbs with wide beam angles and pretty good diffusers. As with color temperature, it requires the person buying the bulb to actually read the box. The root cause of most LED issues (whether lighting quality or reliability related) is that people get sticker shock from the price of quality bulbs, which creates a huge market for really shitty bulbs.