Once again; I replaced an old light bulb with an Eco (expensive!) bulb and
the damn thing quit working the next day.
Over the past couple of years, every one of these new bulbs have lasted
an average of maybe six months. The ones that died in the shortest time
were the ones I installed outside.
Maybe you’re supposed to leave them on continuously – I don’t.
Maybe because their curliness looks cute, you’re not suppose to
turn them on at all.
Or maybe it’s just another green-energy rip-off.
Comments
Regards,
Ted
consumersearch.com/light-bulbs/best-led-light-bulbs
Or you could try:
Add: Many of the LED bulbs are the dimmable type, using standard already-installed dimmers, with no problems. When you can reduce 700 watts of incandescent in the kitchen to 28 watts, it's a no-brainer.
Technical Explanation: utilities typically use one of three available wiring "phases" to supply a home service. They then "split" that phase into two "hot legs", each leg being nominally 120 volts AC, with reference to the Neutral and/or "Ground" wire. This accounts for the three individual wires entering your home. (In actual practice the voltage is typically anywhere between 110 and 125 volts per leg.)
The voltage between the two legs is the sum of the individual leg voltages, or 240 volts (nominal). Most of the lighting and appliances in your home are supplied by the two available 120 volt legs. Larger appliances such as electric stoves, water heaters, central air conditioners and clothes dryers require the total 240 volts available between the two legs.
Note: Very old homes may still have a two-wire 120 volt service, not 3-wire 240 volts. A service of that age and type is marginal: it is incapable of handling typical modern electric loads, the copper wires themselves may be crystallized and brittle from age and overheating, and the older types of insulation may have unsafely deteriorated. Replacement should be seriously considered.
Bought my first (2) LEDs at Home Depot for a special need in about 2010 or 2011. Wildly expensive than at around $40 each. Today equal bulbs can be had for around $10-$12 - maybe less. From what I've seen they're near indestructable. I suppose you could break the glass - but simply fumbling/dropping one won't hurt it. So, the advantages are (1) much lower power consumption, (2) much longer life and (3) durability (which Flack's experience apparently contradicts).
BTW - The LED "Magic light" on Amazon is awesome for general room lighting or mood lighting. Syncs easily via bluetooth with your phone or tablet so you can control them that way. Built in timer which, once set, will turn them on/off per schedule. Dimmable and can be adjusted to something 1,000 different colors and shades. (However, the light output seems overstated in their advertising.) Have 2 inside the house. Will buy a couple more for deck lighting when the price falls. https://www.amazon.com/MagicLight-Bluetooth-Smart-Light-Bulb/dp/B00P6WAEHQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1499298774&sr=8-1&keywords=magic+light+bulb
Actually, that's not all that uncommon. The older systems that use fuses instead of circuit breakers are very vulnerable to such practice and because of that many insurance companies refuse to write insurance on a home that still uses fuses. Our 1918 home has a mix of fuses and circuit breakers (added later), and I speak from personal experience.
That's somewhat ironic, because fuses (IF you use the correct value) are intrinsically a bit safer than circuit breakers. A fuse will blow accurately virtually 100% of the time; circuit breakers have been known to be a little less reliable, as they use cheaply made moving parts, which have been known to malfunction, though not very often.
I'm going to check the voltage in the house - an older house.
I do have two LED bulbs that have lasted quite a while. They are the DAYLIGHT variety.
They produce a much brighter light (resembling daylight) and I use them during the winter months.
Thanks again.
@BenWP- Send me your mailing address and I will ship two boxes of somewhat used old bulbs, FREE to you!!!
From Flack's description, he stated the "curly" lamps. My assumption was that he was indeed relating to CFL lights, eh?
I recall reading comments somewhere when the CFL's first began to appear and questions related to the hazardous waste when a bulb was broken. Bad enough for the kids running around the house and now there is more than glass in the carpet. Have to obtain a "hazmat" person to correct the problem and provide a "good health cert. for one's home"........
Yes, there are and will remain days, times and ideas when one questions the "common sense" of theoretically well meaning and well "educated" folks, eh?
Still see these events too often.
Homo Sapiens do have too many slow learning curves.
Ya, all of that sort of stuff definitely LIGHTS MY FIRE! (Where's my gun?!)