this post was submitted on 03 Nov 2023
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I'm in a nasty frame of mind right now, and this is what my 'tism brain decided to laser focus on for several hours. I'm mad that my light bulbs cost 10x more than they used to, and don't last any longer, and my power bill is higher than ever.

Yeah yeah, I know, it's probably just capitalism shitting it up on purpose for profit. And bulb science is probably solid, I guess. I'm just pissed off that I just barely managed to scrape through this pay period with $2.78 left in the bank before I default on my mortgage.

Anyway, any lightbulb science comrades got any info?

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[–] huginn@feddit.it 112 points 1 year ago (4 children)

I've never replaced an led bulb and I've had them 10+ years.

Dirty power can burn them out, as can bad heat dissipation

[–] darth_helmet@sh.itjust.works 27 points 1 year ago

It would probably cost like $1 of components to make most led bulbs resilient to all but spookiest of power delivery, but why sell something once when you can make them buy it over and over again

[–] ArmoredThirteen@lemmy.ml 16 points 1 year ago (2 children)

What do you mean dirty power?

[–] imPastaSyndrome@lemm.ee 34 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Let me copy and paste the top search result from Google:

β€œDirty power” is a term used to describe electricity that deviates from this standard due to spikes, surges, and dips. The term also applies to electricity that's been tainted by an outside influence, such as a stray wireless signal. Feb 13, 2023

[–] ArmoredThirteen@lemmy.ml 15 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Appreciate you thanks fam ❀️

[–] imPastaSyndrome@lemm.ee 15 points 1 year ago (1 children)

No problem, the cost is just one passive aggressive comment πŸ™‚

[–] tetris11@lemmy.ml 7 points 1 year ago

One man's passive-aggression is another's man's learning annex

[–] Saeculum@hexbear.net 21 points 1 year ago (3 children)

Some older wiring and devices can interact poorly and cause fluctuating voltages. The more stable the voltage, the less wear on the components and vice versa.

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[–] M500@lemmy.ml 8 points 1 year ago

I can’t think of a time where I had to replace an LED bulb either.

I mean, when I moved into a new condo, I replaced the bulbs with brighter ones, but the old ones worked and were covered in dust, so I’m guessing they were working for a long time.

[–] ColeSloth@discuss.tchncs.de 6 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Or some fell off the back of the truck chinese knock off crap leds.

As to electricity, even if you left all the non led lights on in your house all month, it's still only a small portion of the usage compared to the water heater, hvac, dishwasher, and laundry stuff. Along with all them watts in your TV and coursing through a gaming desktop.

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[–] Gormadt@lemmy.blahaj.zone 49 points 1 year ago (3 children)

There are a few reasons it could be happening so I'll start with some the most common

If your switches are dimmer switches and you're not using dimmer bulbs they burn out faster

If your light fixtures are sealed you need to get bulbs that are compatible with sealed fixtures

Make sure you're getting quality bulbs as lower quality bulbs will die faster

If your area has less than stable power your bulbs will burn out faster, though higher quality dimmer compatible bulbs will handle the less stable power better (you don't need a dimmer compatible light fixture to use dimmer bulbs)

I use GE Reveal HD+ bulbs in my fixtures (basic apartment sealed domes) and they just keep on keeping on and they're really color accurate.

I started with store brand LED bulbs and they just kept burning out and the color accuracy would be best described as vague at best. Not to mention they'd burn out pretty much every year when the storms would roll in and my power would get flaky.

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[–] hedgehog@ttrpg.network 38 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Heat is the main killer of LED bulbs. The Hook Up on YouTube did a comparison of several different bulbs and his investigation showed that filament style LED bulbs like the Phillips Ultra Definition ($3.50 per bulb) have a lower peak temp by like 80 degrees Fahrenheit than the standard style (12-24 LEDs in a ring). I recommend trying those out and seeing if you have better luck.

[–] PipedLinkBot@feddit.rocks 7 points 1 year ago

Here is an alternative Piped link(s):

his investigation

Piped is a privacy-respecting open-source alternative frontend to YouTube.

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[–] interdimensionalmeme@lemmy.ml 31 points 1 year ago (3 children)

They get too hot and the 0.07$ capacitor they put in it dries out and dies. You want the 0.09$ capacitor which lasts 1000 times longer, but usually they only put those in the 45$ led bulbs.

You can do like me, when they die, take them apart and replace the capacitor with a super deluxe 0.11$ one !

[–] deathbird@mander.xyz 6 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Holy shit I never thought about what's inside an LED bulb past the LEDs themselves.

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[–] FARTYSHARTBLAST@kbin.social 28 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Either an electrical problem that's burning them out or shitty bulbs.

If you have a dimmer switch, you have to get dimmer compatible bulbs.

[–] francisco_1844@discuss.online 13 points 1 year ago (2 children)

shitty bulbs.

+1 on that as a potential issue. Don't recall the brand, but I had bought a pack of light bulbs where the whole pack was having issues, to the point I called an electrician to check. When the electrician came and saw the brand he told me "those are garbage" and that he had seen plenty of people having issues with that brand.

I threw those away, bought some other brand. The exact same places where I was having to replace light bulbs often no longer had any issues.

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[–] TigrisMorte@kbin.social 25 points 1 year ago

Bet would be a combo of cheapest you could buy and unstable power.

[–] Ithorian@hexbear.net 21 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

It's either the wiring in your house or the light fixtures or both.. If I remember right older light fixtures, like before the last 15 years, don't have the right type of power regulation and it kills LEDs quick. Source: Not an expert just have the same problem in my place.

[–] FaceDeer@kbin.social 15 points 1 year ago

I think with an old light fixture it's more likely a heat dissipation problem than it is the quality of the power. Incandescent light bulbs handled heat just fine (that was their whole point - they heated up until they were white-hot inside) but heat kills LED bulbs.

I have no idea what you're doing wrong. All the led bulbs I've got are coming up on ten years old and working fine.

[–] kaupas24@kbin.social 18 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (6 children)

Your bulbs might be burning out because of overheating. These bulbs have their powersupply in the bulb screw, so there's no real place for the heat to go. I have a ceiling lamp that causes normal bulbs to reach temperatures as high as 100c, and so they burn out every couple of moths. This might be your issue.
Edit: fixed misspell

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[–] Blackmist@feddit.uk 16 points 1 year ago

You're either buying really shit bulbs or you've got shit power. Probably the latter.

[–] stolid_agnostic@lemmy.ml 16 points 1 year ago

I’ve never had an LED bulb go bad. Even those that sit in a drawer or box for years at a time.

[–] Aylex@lemmy.ml 15 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (3 children)

This is a really interesting article on lightbulbs, which have a pretty conspiratorial past: https://interestingengineering.com/science/everlasting-lightbulbs-exist-ed

Did you know that a secret meeting was held in Geneva in 1924 between lightbulb manufacturers that lead to the formation of the 'Pheobus Cartel'?

"The main objective of this cartel was to agree to control the supply of light bulbs. Each understood that if any one of them managed to develop a long-lasting light bulb, the need for replacement bulbs would likely dry up.

Bulbs were lasting too long. Not ideal from their point of view.

So, to combat this, all members of the cartel agreed to reduce the lifespan of bulbs on purpose. Initially, this was set to no more than 1,000 hours!"

The longest-lasting lightbulb was first turned on it 1901 and is still shining.

EDIT: Seems this is a myth, see replies for more information!

[–] Open_Mike@artemis.camp 15 points 1 year ago (4 children)

Technology Connections largely debunks this myth.

Light bulb will run for a very long time if you don't want it to be bright.

https://youtu.be/zb7Bs98KmnY?si=SDXvd0E9SPFbxKSG

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[–] Galli@hexbear.net 8 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (3 children)

Here is a really interesting video on lightbulbs which goes into how the light bulb cartel standard was more of a min-maxing of lifespan vs energy cost vs brightness than it was planned obsolescence.

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[–] bluGill@kbin.social 4 points 1 year ago (2 children)

I've heard that story, but it doesn't fit the facts. Bulb life and efficiency is a compromise and no conspiracy is needed for manufactures to all settle on a similar optimal compromise. Long life bulbs existed back in the day, they were sometimes useful but mostly not worth it.

[–] Moonguide@lemmy.ml 16 points 1 year ago

Also, that lightbulb that still shines today is kept on such a low output that it would not be useful for anyone.

[–] Semi-Hemi-Demigod@kbin.social 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Technology Connections did a good video debunking the light bulb conspiracy myth: https://youtu.be/zb7Bs98KmnY?si=kuo40VBOPtMzokqZ

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[–] TychoQuad@lemm.ee 15 points 1 year ago

16 years ago, when I moved into a new apartment, I bought a 4 pack of colour changing led light globes. I liked them so much, I ended up replacing all of the remaining globes in the apartment with white only versions when they became available.

About 7 years in, 2 of them started having problems, so I replaced them. The other 2, along with the others I bought along the way are still going strong. I took them with me when I moved out of that apartment and put back the globes that the apartment had when I first moved in.

My current place has all the globes I bought, along with some my roommate had from the same timeframe. He never had any problem globes.

Now, these globes weren’t cheap, but I think that’s the point. Light globes don’t burn out like they used to, but if you buy the cheapest piece of crap you can find, you’re gonna get… well, the cheapest piece of crap.

As for your power usage, I suggest you look elsewhere. Even the crappiest led light will use less power than practically everything else.

[–] nothacking@discuss.tchncs.de 15 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Bad design. These bulbs often run supper hot, resulting in premature failure from electromigration and similar. Some manufacturers are better about this then others, so try another one. Filament style bulbs also tend to run colder, and last a lot longer. (But they flicker and play badly with dimmers)

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[–] Lols@lemm.ee 14 points 1 year ago

where are you people buying your bulbs, i have not touched onein a year at least

[–] Grass@sh.itjust.works 12 points 1 year ago

The first few generations of led bulbs last longer. I have tons that are still going and no noticable loss in brightness even though the packaging said to expect that in place of burning out. Now there are a lot of shit tier ones mixed in. As others have mentioned there are also a number of specific compatibility problems too.

[–] Kalkaline@leminal.space 11 points 1 year ago (3 children)

I've heard the explanation that they don't dissipate heat well and their lives are shortened because of the fixture they're placed in. With incandescent bulbs, heat wasn't the issue it is with LEDs.

[–] Whisker@lemmy.ml 9 points 1 year ago

And the ability to dissipate that heat apparently depends a lot on the orientation of the bulb (socket up or down), enclosures, etc., so you can end up replacing LED bulbs in certain fixtures more frequently than others.

[–] CalicoJack@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

This is most of it. If they're facing up (typical lamp), they'll last for years. If they're facing down (ceiling fixture), especially with a shroud around the bulb, they won't last much longer than an incandescent. The control chip burns up if they get too hot.

So just put cheap ones in the fixtures that'll kill them. You can get decent bulbs for less than $1/per.

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[–] hotcouchguy@hexbear.net 9 points 1 year ago

The bulbs generally contain around 10 LEDs arranged in series, so if any one of them fails, the bulb no longer works. Also they are generally not cooled well, and the heat leads to faster failures.

If you have a dead one around, pry it open and you'll likely see some slightly charred or discolored plastic and also one LED with a tiny charred spot.

Seems like it would be easy enough to mitigate both of those problems with basic design improvements, but cheap design causing early failure is sort of a win/win from the mfg perspective.

[–] DireLlama@ttrpg.network 9 points 1 year ago (1 children)

What are you on about? I've switched to LED bulbs about 10 years ago, and I've never had to replace a single one...

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[–] barbedbeard@lemmy.one 9 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Two factors, quality and heat. If you buy bad quality they will last a short time. If the fixture is not designed to dissipate heat it will last less time. I found out the last one for a couple of mine. The ceiling lights with a shade kinda of a bowl like. The LEDs ones lasted less than a year. Then one of them I didn't find the nut for it and put some other one that didn't fit quite well but let the air flow and that one outlasted the other ones. Yes heat will kill your LEDs.

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[–] Rhaedas@kbin.social 7 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Brownouts, even ones so minor the human eye can't see, are killers to electronics. Learned that decades ago when I got my first computer (C-64) and had to return a few before we figured out it was bad power. Building code ought to include protection within the main breaker box. Maybe in some places they have such a thing.

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[–] tim1996@lemm.ee 6 points 1 year ago

Pay for on brand bulbs they last waaaay longer

[–] FuckyWucky@hexbear.net 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)
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[–] rufus@discuss.tchncs.de 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I usually buy the ones from IKEA and they last at least a few years.

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