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Rick Potter
09-09-2013, 1:43 AM
I have half a dozen LED night lites from HD around the house. The package says they last six years or so. That may be true, but after just a few months every one of them has gone down to just a glow, with not enough light being emitted to see anything. I suppose they consider that as still working, but it is useless. I got more life out of the old style night lites with the 4W bulb. They usually lasted at least 6 months. Not impressed.

On a second note, going through Costco and Sams Club I checked out new LED bulbs that were about $8 each (60W equivalent). I don't remember the exact lumens, but they used about 13 watts, just like a standard 13W CFL (60W equivalent), and put out about the same lumens also. The 13W CFL's were about a buck each in packs.


What's up with that? I thought you were supposed to get a lot more lumens per watt, with the LED's. As far as lasting much longer...I have doubts...see paragraph one.

Sounds to me like they need a lot more development before they are ready to take over the household market.

Rick Potter

Edit: OOPS, thought I was in the off topic area. Could someone change it please?

Curt Harms
09-09-2013, 6:58 AM
Like many things, I suspect there are LEDs and there are LEDs. I bought an LED stick light affair that plugs into a USB port to illuminate a PC keyboard. Amazon had 'em for like $2.90 for 10 LEDs, free shipping with a $25 order. I bought one as a filler. It worked pretty well -- for about 2 weeks. Then 1 by 1 the LEDs started to flicker and go out. I returned that one and got another one. Same story. I decided to try a Daffodil branded USB light and that's been fine for about a year. I have no experience with screw-in type bulbs. I did install a couple 12 volt LED puck lights and about 15' of LEDs on a tape. It's only been a few weeks but so far so good.

Erik Loza
09-09-2013, 10:52 AM
I installed a bunch of these in the house and have been very satisfied with them...

270542

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Cooper-Wiring-Devices-15-Amp-LED-Night-light-Combination-with-Tamper-Resistant-Receptacle-White-TR7735W-K-L/203492680#.Ui3gPLz1uvs

...Not inexpensive but a very clean install and maintain wall outlet functionality. They are dimmable, so I can turn them off if need be.

Erik Loza
Minimax USA

Wade Lippman
09-09-2013, 11:00 AM
I installed a bunch of these in the house and have been very satisfied with them...



http://www.homedepot.com/p/Cooper-Wiring-Devices-15-Amp-LED-Night-light-Combination-with-Tamper-Resistant-Receptacle-White-TR7735W-K-L/203492680#.Ui3gPLz1uvs

...Not inexpensive but a very clean install and maintain wall outlet functionality. They are dimmable, so I can turn them off if need be.

Erik Loza
Minimax USA

I bought one similar to that 5 years ago. It works, but is so dim that it hardly lets you do more than see the wall it is on.
How bright is this one? Comparable to a normal night light?

Erik Loza
09-09-2013, 12:40 PM
I bought one similar to that 5 years ago. It works, but is so dim that it hardly lets you do more than see the wall it is on.
How bright is this one? Comparable to a normal night light?

Those ones I got at Home Depot are quite bright. In fact, I have most of them dimmed in the house by several levels so that they are not obnoxious at night. I suspect that as they keep continually upgrading LED technology, the LED's get better and better quality. Mine are 1+ years old now and I have not noticed any decrease in brightness.

Best,

Erik Loza
Minimax USA

Mel Fulks
09-09-2013, 12:54 PM
Same experience as Wade. Bought a pack of two in bubble card designed to make it a hassle to return junk. Just a glow ,no real illumination. The cartoon character night lights of my youth were great.

Brian Elfert
09-09-2013, 1:43 PM
Same experience as Wade. Bought a pack of two in bubble card designed to make it a hassle to return junk. Just a glow ,no real illumination. The cartoon character night lights of my youth were great.

Most stores will still let you return items that are sub-par quality even if it is open. They can usually get credit from the vendor for the item.

I have had three LED lights on my motorhome go bad, but two of the failed lights seem to have some sort of circuit board failure as half or all of the LEDs went out. One light has just one bad LED on it.

Steve Peterson
09-10-2013, 2:02 PM
I think the LED manufacturers are using deceptive advertising to sell a cheap design. The package lists something like 50000 hours of LED life, but they neglect the fact that the capacitors or other components on the circuit board start failing after a few months. I have plenty of the $1-2 LED night lights that are so dim that they are completely useless well before 50000 hours.

The ratings are probably the number of hours until the LED is at 50% of the initial brightness. However, the complete unit is closer to 10% of the initial brightness within a few months.

Steve

Erik Loza
09-10-2013, 3:06 PM
This is an interesting discussion. I am (slowly) converting our entire house over to LED's. Both the wall outlet type which I linked earlier as well as PAR-type, for my recessed cans. I probably have three or four brands of various LED's in the house right now: Feit, Sylvania, Cooper, and some generic one from Frye's. They have all been in use now for 1+ years and while I have had a couple just up and die suddenly (interestingly, the most expensive of them, some Sylvanias, which I returned to Lowe's with no hassle...), I have not noticed any gradual dimming or decreasing output from any of them. Not a one. In fact, my desk lights are couple of PAR20 Sylvanias that are on a wall timer and run for 10+ hours a day. Still as bright as ever. Maybe some really cheap ones dim but I have the cheapest PAR-based ones you can buy and they haven't dimmed for me.

The one thing that will kill LED's is heat. I suspect the two Sylvanias which died were too large for the recessed can and did not allow enough air flow to cool the LED's circuit board. They had some type of plastic cage around the base. The el-cheapo Feits I have, have a finned aluminum housing and those have been running forever as well.

I'm no expert on any of this except to say that my experience with household LED's has been overwhelmingly positive and I'm going to keep switching the house over as I can.

Erik Loza
Minimax USA

Brian Elfert
09-10-2013, 3:52 PM
A bit off the original topic, but the Cree light bulbs sold at Home Depot seem to be getting good reviews. I'm waiting for a 75 or 100 watt version before I take the leap. A 60 watt LED or CFL bulb seems to have less light output than a 60 watt incandescent bulb.

Dan Hintz
09-10-2013, 7:36 PM
Cree is consistently at the front of the pack as far as research goes... if they make a claim about their products, you can be sure it will meet that spec. Look for bulbs that use Cree LEDs, and if they also use quality components for the power converter, you have a winner of a bulb.

Jerome Stanek
09-11-2013, 7:55 AM
I use a lithophane as a night light. It has leds to light it up. There is no heat and I leave it on 24 7