LED bulbs gone wild

[moggymatt]

Was sitting on the throne and another one of my 6 month old, overly expensive LED bulbs over the sink is getting near the end of its 26 year lifespann.
It starts blinking like something out of Blade Runner and I start thinking, because that's what I do when I'm sitting on the Throne, and it hits me, isn't that morris code? Now I'm a little rusty, Boy Scouts was about 35 years ago, but I think it spelled out "We are here". Either that or "Message from GE: SUCKER". Either way I figured I was screwed buying those bulbs. #&*€!:*¥

[garys]

One thing I have figured out with both LED and CFL light bulbs is that they run just about forever without failure IF they have the standard size base. I have one ceiling fan in my house that is new enough that it had the Government mandated tiny candlebra size sockets, and the CFL and LED bulbs that fit into it don't last but a few months between burnout. So, that got me moving. I went to Menards and bought 4 new standard size sockets and put them into the fan fixture so they take the standard size bulbs like all my older fans.
Magically, I have no more bulb failures. Now they run year after year like they are rated to do. Apparently the electronics in the sockets doesn't cool properly in the tiny socket. The larger socket dissipates the heat faster so the base of the bulbs run cooler and they don't burn out.
I've never had a standard base CFL fail in the 15+ years I've used them. The tiny base ones burned out regularly. I've had only one standard base LED burn out early while the tiny base ones last about as long as popcorn on a hot stove.
So, there are no more of the candlabra size bulb sockets in my house, and I have eliminated the majority of my bulb failures. With LEDs, you have to expect a very few that will fail early like all electronic devices, but if they get past those first few months, you may never have to replace them again.

[mountainbreeze]

I had the same problem with CFLs. Big promises of a long lasting bulb that just didn't hold true. I doubt the LEDs will hold to their promise of 10s of thousands of hours of life either. I suspect it is not the element that fails but the supporting electronics instead. Such is life.

[JPG]

One thing I have figured out with both LED and CFL light bulbs is that they run just about forever without failure IF they have the standard size base. I have one ceiling fan in my house that is new enough that it had the Government mandated tiny candlebra size sockets, and the CFL and LED bulbs that fit into it don't last but a few months between burnout. So, that got me moving. I went to Menards and bought 4 new standard size sockets and put them into the fan fixture so they take the standard size bulbs like all my older fans.
Magically, I have no more bulb failures. Now they run year after year like they are rated to do. Apparently the electronics in the sockets doesn't cool properly in the tiny socket. The larger socket dissipates the heat faster so the base of the bulbs run cooler and they don't burn out.
I've never had a standard base CFL fail in the 15+ years I've used them. The tiny base ones burned out regularly. I've had only one standard base LED burn out early while the tiny base ones last about as long as popcorn on a hot stove.
So, there are no more of the candlabra size bulb sockets in my house, and I have eliminated the majority of my bulb failures. With LEDs, you have to expect a very few that will fail early like all electronic devices, but if they get past those first few months, you may never have to replace them again.

Government mandated, or 'decorator' desired funky shaped bulbs?

[garys]

Government mandated, or 'decorator' desired funky shaped bulbs?

Definitely Government mandated by Dept of Energy 2005. The change had nothing to do with decorator desired. All my older fans have the medium screw base and no problems with bulbs failing.
http://www.hansenwholesale.com/ceilingf ... lights.asp

"The most significant impact of this legislation was the effective elimination of the medium screw base incandescent lamps from fan light kits, moving the industry to candelabra and intermediate base sockets. "

[Gene Howe]

I've never had an LED fail...yet. Even those with candalabra bases. Probably because they're rarely used. The incandescents failed, though. My son's theory is that they failed from vibration. Though the fans run very smoothly. Our luck with CFL bulbs hasn't been as good. But, I'm glad they failed. They're just plain ugly.

[benush26]

First, I got a kick out of your swear word having the symbols for the Euro and the Yen!!! Maybe something prophetic there?? At least for England.

Back to LEDs. Fall of 2015 I got thoroughly fed up with the fluorescent tubes in the garage humming, popping and truing to imitate the northern lights as they turned on in the cold, so I bought a couple of the FEIT 4' LED shop lights at Costco when they were on sale. What a transformation!! Brighter and NO HUM!!! I've bought 8 more (a couple at a time) when they went on sale. As a bonus I can run 10 LEDs on one 15 amp breaker with NO worries of overload. When finally installed (could be a while yet), all 10 combined are less than 500 watts.
Recently I have been replacing the CFLs in the house with LEDs. I know I can get the "warmer" color bulbs but have been getting the daylight color because they're cheaper. Not sure I like the daylight as well as the warmer, but at a bit over $1 a bulb (Costco again, on sale), I figure I can live with it. This week I have been replacing working CFLs with the LEDs. Will have to wait for a nephew to come over to replace the ones that need a ladder, but many fixtures are within reach.

I've not tried to replace the candelabra lights because they are so seldom used and did replace all of them with filament a while back so they should be good for a few years. Maybe when it is time, they will have the bulb base/ heat issue figured out.

I have tried "thinking" on while on the Throne, but found that I an no longer skilled at multi-tasking (maybe never was!), so will just concentrate on one thing at a time.

Be well,
Ben

[JPG]

Since when was any department in the legislation business?

Or 'mandates' for that matter.

[reible]

I guess I've purchased my last ceiling fan. The ones I have now all use standard base bulbs and I hate those other sizes. I replaced a hall fixture that use the small bulbs with one that uses the full size ones and when I find another dinning room fixture I'd do away with those little bulbs there too.... well unless they have been legislated away.

I started replacing bulbs early on when the CFL's were just getting started. A lot of then failed early on, no where near the life cycle they should of had. To much of a pain to have them replaced so I just got new ones as I needed. It wasn't long and they made some changes for the better and they were lasting a lot longer.

Not too long ago I pulled them and went to LED's. So far none of them have failed. I have a whole bucket of the old CFL's ready to be given away. Don't miss them at all.

The only strange thing I have is the bathroom bulbs sing........ OK so it just a high pitched sound but I can hear it...... and well I'm sort of use to it but I want to figure out why they do that. There is a dimmer switch that is rated for any bulb so that should be OK but who knows it been there a good long time so perhaps I need to replace it. We had the dimmer part of one of those fail in the dinning room last week, so much for Lutron quality.

I still have some things on X10 so I have to be careful what I put in where but for the most part I'm all LED now except for the garage lighting. As the tubes fail there I'm replacing them with LED's.

Ed

[garys]

Since when was any department in the legislation business?

Or 'mandates' for that matter.

The forefathers envisioned a government with three branches, Legislative, Executive, and Judicial. However, somewhere along the way we added the Bureaucratic branch so we now have 4 branches.
The forefathers would turn in their graves knowing this as the Bureaucratic branch operates independently without oversight from the three legitimate branches, and that isn't the way it is intended to be.