LED Bulbs purchase

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MadEngineer

4292 posts

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#1293165 28-Apr-2015 21:53

You get what you pay for. Not all LED's LAMPS (can I be the first to say that bulbs grow in the ground?) are created equal - wattage consumed doesn't give you an automatic light level for a duration of their life.

Don't think you're all fancy pants buying yourself a cheap LED lamp to save money when you could have saved more by purchasing correctly the first time.

You're not on Atlantis anymore, Duncan Idaho.

kiwigeek1

637 posts

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#1293167 28-Apr-2015 21:55

dx.com buy all mine there and they like half the price or 1/3 price of anything local

just read reviews.. they multivolts 90 to 250 volts E27 threads (standard in modern homes) but need

baynet converts for old homes.. they very cheap and sell those too there.

i bought some bright remote control bulbs for house.. they turn off and on like reg lights and

has 3 buttons to turn them in to disco lights too.. very cool and cost like $25nz

for hallway I have bright IR detection ones.. they turn themselves off after 3 mins no motion they cost like $20nz and you can get reg ones for liek $7 to 12 depending on
lumens

saved heaps on power so far.. makes a big difference.

also had these bulbs for years now.. they should last 5 to 10 years though

dusty42

117 posts

Master Geek

#1293192 28-Apr-2015 22:36

I have replaced 16 bayonet and ES incandescents over the last few days. Can't find them in the Mitre10 website, but this is what they have in store - 6W 2700k.

Four bulbs for $20

Binning is barely OK and colour consistency is not great. One bulb is a little pinkish, one is a little green. No flickering, they run perfectly.

Advantage of buying a lot at once is it allowed me to relegate the worst bulbs into least used sockets.

old3eyes

9120 posts

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#1293287 29-Apr-2015 08:36

kiwigeek1: dx.com buy all mine there and they like half the price or 1/3 price of anything local

just read reviews.. they multivolts 90 to 250 volts E27 threads (standard in modern homes) but need

baynet converts for old homes.. they very cheap and sell those too there.

i bought some bright remote control bulbs for house.. they turn off and on like reg lights and

has 3 buttons to turn them in to disco lights too.. very cool and cost like $25nz

for hallway I have bright IR detection ones.. they turn themselves off after 3 mins no motion they cost like $20nz and you can get reg ones for liek $7 to 12 depending on
lumens

saved heaps on power so far.. makes a big difference.

also had these bulbs for years now.. they should last 5 to 10 years though

Do you know where you can buy these bayonet converters from??

Regards,

Old3eyes

richms

28191 posts

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#1293299 29-Apr-2015 08:56

old3eyes:

Do you know where you can buy these bayonet converters from??

DX sell them. Not sure if they are a legit E27 socket or one with the threads connected to one of the poles of the B22 cap. Also not sure if they would pass the finger tests. Not that those really matter much with the huge variety of lamp shapes. Hard to have one that will pass a finger test on a small lamp but still fit a chunky wide one in.

I dont even know if the lampholders have to pass tests like that here or not.

Richard rich.ms

bp1000

93 posts

Master Geek

#1299617 7-May-2015 08:06

bp1000: LEDFocus have cheap priced R80s. http://www.ledfocus.co.nz/products/led-bulb-for-downlight/r80-11w/r80-11w-973.html.

Anyone had any experience with them?

I have just replaced a mix of R80 CFL and incandescent with 11W LEDs from LEDFocus. I'm very happy with the result so far - the light produced is much brighter than either the CFL or incandescent lamps I replaced. I was using incandescent in task lighting areas as the CFLs did not produce enough light and took a while to warm up.

The LED lamps are made in China, but outwardly seem well made. The website ordering process is a little clunky, but they responded immediately to emails I sent and the order was dispatched and delivered quickly.

Now its just a matter to see how the lamps go over time. LEDFocus offer a 30 day hassle free return and a 24 month warranty, so if there are any issues with the lamps I will see how well these processes work.

I'll also keep an eye on my electricity use.

heylinb4nz

656 posts

Ultimate Geek
Inactive user

#1299704 7-May-2015 09:56

MadEngineer: You get what you pay for. Not all LED's LAMPS (can I be the first to say that bulbs grow in the ground?) are created equal - wattage consumed doesn't give you an automatic light level for a duration of their life.

Don't think you're all fancy pants buying yourself a cheap LED lamp to save money when you could have saved more by purchasing correctly the first time.

Wow I got lucky then

My $4 Aliexpress 12W COB LEDs running on my 10-60W Halogen transformers are still going great 6 months on...out of the 40 or so I purchased, 2 were faulty (Manufacturer sent free replacements within 2 weeks).

They put out the same light as my 50W halogens as well.

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n4

959 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1299721 7-May-2015 10:35

+1 for LEDfocus. Bought some hard to find E14 small globes and the product was well made and well priced. Great service as well when a bulb got damaged in transit (no fault of the seller).

Samsung Note20 Ultra, on 2degrees

richms

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#1299725 7-May-2015 10:38

Any flicker in the cheap led focus ones? Too many lamps are made with capacitive power supplies and not enough smoothing on them for me to risk a lot of them from there.

Richard rich.ms

bp1000

93 posts

Master Geek

#1299839 7-May-2015 13:17

richms: Any flicker in the cheap led focus ones? Too many lamps are made with capacitive power supplies and not enough smoothing on them for me to risk a lot of them from there.

I'm not seeing any flicker (note I only have the cool white R80s from LEDFocus, though I will be getting some additional candle type for bedside lamps, and some standard globe types in the near future).

The light seems very consistent viewed from different angles, and they also seem consistent from lamp to lamp.

The R80s are the same size as an incandescent. My older CFLs were slightly bigger. The LED R80s are quite heavy compared to CFL and incandescent ones, though I've not compared them to other brands. I did see "Click" brand R80s in Bunnings last week ($20 per lamp), but I didn't have a detailed look.

mattwnz

20164 posts

Uber Geek

#1299879 7-May-2015 14:38

kiwigeek1: dx.com buy all mine there and they like half the price or 1/3 price of anything local

just read reviews.. they multivolts 90 to 250 volts E27 threads (standard in modern homes) but need

baynet converts for old homes.. they very cheap and sell those too there.

i bought some bright remote control bulbs for house.. they turn off and on like reg lights and

has 3 buttons to turn them in to disco lights too.. very cool and cost like $25nz

for hallway I have bright IR detection ones.. they turn themselves off after 3 mins no motion they cost like $20nz and you can get reg ones for liek $7 to 12 depending on
lumens

saved heaps on power so far.. makes a big difference.

also had these bulbs for years now.. they should last 5 to 10 years though

The problem with buying overseas though , is whether they are certified for NZ. If a fire was proven to be caused by one, I suspect an insurer may not pay out if they aren't certified for NZ and NZ power etc. They do have certification for a reason. Personally I would prefer to pay more for something that is connected to the mains power, for that piece of mind, as it is like insurance. They can get very very hot. I have purchased some LED exterior floodlights for trees, off a seller on trademe and had to make sure that they had certiifcation first which they emailed me for my receords, and that was about half the price that big box retailers were selling them for.

richms

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#1300053 7-May-2015 17:34

Its a huge grey area. For ages you could sell anything as a lamp because there was no need to comply with anything for lamps since the rules were made when they were just a piece of hot wire in a glass sphere.

Richard rich.ms

linw

2849 posts

Uber Geek

#1300271 7-May-2015 22:40

Yea, they failed with no current - safe as. But now you have to worry about the possibility of the electronics frying.

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