Carolina
DIY
Switch by the door, pendant holder and a 100W bulb, some will remember, others weren't born yet when it went out of fashion, but this was the standard lighting for most rooms.
Then the residential energy saving craze began, 2 and 4-pin CFLs, starter vs no starter, 2D, U-shaped, M-shaped, spirals, Circlite and Circline -which despite their similarities, were not the same-, and many more, though this era of oddly shaped lights wouldn't last forever, around 2010 the very first commercially viable LED lighting solutions in a shape that resembled a standard light bulb began to appear, but they didn't make it to most homes until 2015 when mass production made them cheaper and more akin to regular light bulbs using a standard no-frills base, a direct replacement to incandescents without the hassle of rewiring or installing new luminaires.
As a sparky I've dealt with pretty much all lighting technologies, except for the elusive and now rare SLI/H.
But what's actually better? are LEDs miracle bulbs that will make you save hundreds a year and last for decades?
As with everything, I'd say it depends. On what you use, where it's installed, how, and what for.
Now, my experience with LEDs at home was... disappointing, I wouldn't define it with any other way, every time I wanted to "switch to LED and save hundreds a year!!!" I've sighed and felt I wasted my money, first of all 'warm' lighting isn't extremely popular where I live so I had to visit specific stores to get my hands on warm LEDs, bought Osram stuff thinking well it's a known brand and all, installed a few and... it doesn't looks at all like our regular incandescents, the brightness is fine but everything looks opaque or washed out because of the terrible CRI, the advertised 2700K CCT is nowhere near the same colour of an actual incandescent, I've left a few installed outdoors and they all started flickering or simply died less than 2 years after purchasing them.
These were retrofit bulbs, 100W replacements. I also tried retrofit MR16 GU10 ones, with the same result. I suppose I'll have to wait for a few more years to do the switch, for the moment we still use incandescents both regular and halogens in various shapes, and a pair of mercury vapor bulbs outdoors.
When it comes to working though... I'd say I'm disappointed in different ways. Had to install wafers and batten lights and I was never happy with the result, although the customers were satisfied with the results, I did warn them they're not gonna last for long without going into specifics, it's not uncommon for those to start flickering during their first year of use, it's usually the driver that goes bad due to overheating. Same goes for batten or panels that are supposed to replace linear fluorescents and troffers, I installed some at my workplace and 3 of them failed after 6 months of use, it doesn't help that the ceiling is insulated.
Thing is, you can't get anything that isn't LED anymore, third world markets have an obsession with always selling the latest products and keeping no stocks on older products, we're also heavily influenced by China as well as local retails depend on Chinese manufacturers and wholesalers have to offer. So, when doing any large jobs I must tell the customer I can only install LED because it's what's available.
If I'm in charge of sourcing materials I always suggest can downlights with regular ES base sockets or wall sconces that aren't integrated LED even if that means the same guy won't call me again to replace the dead integrated stuff in a few months or a year, some of you might think it's dumb but I'd rather lose those smaller jobs than cause the user a headache or have him call me angry because his super duper fancy LED sconce is flickering like a rave light.
Last job I did was wiring 3 whole apartments and I tried to make it as simple as possible, only regular downlights, a few GU10 spotlights and outdoor sconces, and regular ceiling fans, the ones you don't have to ---- in the bin when the light goes out and you can't find a replacement module because the manufacturer rendered it obsolete or it's not imported.
LED retrofit tubes.... terrible in every aspect, I won't even elaborate, I just avoid them.
Anyway, that's MY experience.
On the other hand, situation in other countries, mainly in Europe seems to be radically different, with LEDs that are actually decent and even emulate the looks of incandescents by making use of thin COB modules shaped like filaments, that's still unheard of in my country, and if it does come at some point it'll be prohibitively expensive, unless it becomes the norm in bulbs and the "ice cream" style isn't manufactured anymore.
Extra note. Ignore the US flag that appears next to my name, it was automatically added and honestly I have no idea how to change it or remove it. I don't live in the US. There's also a "1663" tag that was there upon making the post, for the sake of not breaking anything I won't remove it.
Then the residential energy saving craze began, 2 and 4-pin CFLs, starter vs no starter, 2D, U-shaped, M-shaped, spirals, Circlite and Circline -which despite their similarities, were not the same-, and many more, though this era of oddly shaped lights wouldn't last forever, around 2010 the very first commercially viable LED lighting solutions in a shape that resembled a standard light bulb began to appear, but they didn't make it to most homes until 2015 when mass production made them cheaper and more akin to regular light bulbs using a standard no-frills base, a direct replacement to incandescents without the hassle of rewiring or installing new luminaires.
As a sparky I've dealt with pretty much all lighting technologies, except for the elusive and now rare SLI/H.
But what's actually better? are LEDs miracle bulbs that will make you save hundreds a year and last for decades?
As with everything, I'd say it depends. On what you use, where it's installed, how, and what for.
Now, my experience with LEDs at home was... disappointing, I wouldn't define it with any other way, every time I wanted to "switch to LED and save hundreds a year!!!" I've sighed and felt I wasted my money, first of all 'warm' lighting isn't extremely popular where I live so I had to visit specific stores to get my hands on warm LEDs, bought Osram stuff thinking well it's a known brand and all, installed a few and... it doesn't looks at all like our regular incandescents, the brightness is fine but everything looks opaque or washed out because of the terrible CRI, the advertised 2700K CCT is nowhere near the same colour of an actual incandescent, I've left a few installed outdoors and they all started flickering or simply died less than 2 years after purchasing them.
These were retrofit bulbs, 100W replacements. I also tried retrofit MR16 GU10 ones, with the same result. I suppose I'll have to wait for a few more years to do the switch, for the moment we still use incandescents both regular and halogens in various shapes, and a pair of mercury vapor bulbs outdoors.
When it comes to working though... I'd say I'm disappointed in different ways. Had to install wafers and batten lights and I was never happy with the result, although the customers were satisfied with the results, I did warn them they're not gonna last for long without going into specifics, it's not uncommon for those to start flickering during their first year of use, it's usually the driver that goes bad due to overheating. Same goes for batten or panels that are supposed to replace linear fluorescents and troffers, I installed some at my workplace and 3 of them failed after 6 months of use, it doesn't help that the ceiling is insulated.
Thing is, you can't get anything that isn't LED anymore, third world markets have an obsession with always selling the latest products and keeping no stocks on older products, we're also heavily influenced by China as well as local retails depend on Chinese manufacturers and wholesalers have to offer. So, when doing any large jobs I must tell the customer I can only install LED because it's what's available.
If I'm in charge of sourcing materials I always suggest can downlights with regular ES base sockets or wall sconces that aren't integrated LED even if that means the same guy won't call me again to replace the dead integrated stuff in a few months or a year, some of you might think it's dumb but I'd rather lose those smaller jobs than cause the user a headache or have him call me angry because his super duper fancy LED sconce is flickering like a rave light.
Last job I did was wiring 3 whole apartments and I tried to make it as simple as possible, only regular downlights, a few GU10 spotlights and outdoor sconces, and regular ceiling fans, the ones you don't have to ---- in the bin when the light goes out and you can't find a replacement module because the manufacturer rendered it obsolete or it's not imported.
LED retrofit tubes.... terrible in every aspect, I won't even elaborate, I just avoid them.
Anyway, that's MY experience.
On the other hand, situation in other countries, mainly in Europe seems to be radically different, with LEDs that are actually decent and even emulate the looks of incandescents by making use of thin COB modules shaped like filaments, that's still unheard of in my country, and if it does come at some point it'll be prohibitively expensive, unless it becomes the norm in bulbs and the "ice cream" style isn't manufactured anymore.
Extra note. Ignore the US flag that appears next to my name, it was automatically added and honestly I have no idea how to change it or remove it. I don't live in the US. There's also a "1663" tag that was there upon making the post, for the sake of not breaking anything I won't remove it.
