Light Bulb Ripoff

[billt]

I purchased a 3-Way LED bulb to replace an incandescent bulb that you can no longer buy. They advertise an AVERAGE life of 25,000 hours, (Cree 3-Way LED). That's the equivalent of 2.8 YEARS of continuous use. Mine failed after less than 1,000 hours. Normally I would just purchase another. But I paid almost $25.00 for this bulb. This is the 3rd one of these type of bulbs, (LED), that I've had fail in such a short period of time. When I went on the Home Depot website and read the reviews, I was not alone. There were people complaining left and right about much the same thing.

They really need to improve the longevity of these bulbs, if they are going to charge this much money for a product that lives nowhere near as long as they advertise it. The one's I've purchased did not last as long as the $1.50 incandescent bulbs that they replaced. I wish I could go back to them.

It's not just the LED bulbs either. All of these CFL's, (Compact Fluorescents), are much the same way. I'm constantly replacing them. They burn out much quicker than incandescent bulbs do. Or else they flicker, or don't come on right away, sometimes taking several seconds to come on. This is especially true in outside applications in cold weather. And when they do come on they are very dim until they "warm up". I should have stocked up on incandescent bulbs while they were still available. Now I'm stuck with buying these worthless, expensive turds.

In comparison, we've been in this house for over 18 years. I have regular 48" Fluorescent lighting in my kitchen. I've replaced the bulbs once. And they burn more than any other bulbs in the house. Usually from when we get up, until we go to bed.   

[billt]

My wife just called me from Wal-Mart, and she said they had incandescent 3-Way bulbs for $2.50 for a 2-Pack. 75W-125W-175W. I told her to get half a dozen packs.

[Solus]

Same experience with Cree 100W LEDs.  And CFLs...

I liked the 100W LEDs because they would not over load a socket rated for 60W incandescent...if the LEDs fit in the space.

Not sure if it is Cree or the whole LED concept...but the price/longevity is way out of balance.

Deceptive advertising is at work also. 

But then an ad that says "Guaranteed to last almost as long as a $1.50 old fashioned incandescent bulb for only  15 Times As Much!!" won't generate a flood of sales.

[Timothy]

Forced upon us by the .gov is destined to fail!  I had a few Cree fail too.  I bought 150 bucks worth of Phillips and they're fine! 

Problem is that my electric bill went up due to New England's reliance on coal...

I doubt the bulbs reduce cost at all...

[billt]

Another thing I've noticed with the Cree 3-Way LED's is the base, (heat sink, ballast, whatever), gets hotter than hell. It will blister your fingers if you touch it after it's been on for a while. This type of very high temperature operation can't help the life of these things. They basically cook themselves.

[Sponsor]

[Timothy]

Heat is lost energy!  How efficient can that be?

[billt]

OK, I took it back to Home Depot with the receipt. They couldn't have been nicer. They still sell the Cree 3-Way I brought back. They told me they would replace it with the same, OR, they would be willing to give me a Phillips 3-Way that was more money, and was the latest and greatest with "improved" technology, internals, etc. So naturally I went with the Phillips. So now we'll see how long this one lasts??

I'm sure eventually they'll get these things right. The problem is "eventually" I'll be dead.

[tombogan03884]

I never heard of Cree, but I bought dollar store compact flouresents when I moved into this apt for $5 / pair and in 9+  years they are still working. The one in the bathroom has been on the whole time.

[alfsauve]

Cheaply made LED and the bulbs are a ripoff.     LEDs do give off some heat, and yes, that heat needs to be conducted off or it will shorten the life of the diode.  Hence the large heat sinks, that do get rather hot, but not as hot as a comparable incandescent.   

Generally accepted advertising practice is to rate the life of  lamps based on a 3hr maximum usage per day.  Or at least per on cycle.  Prolonged heat is not good for LEDS.    Flourscents are rated on a minimum of 3hr usage per on/off cycle. 

Incandescents are still available, because they have improved their efficiency.    I do like LEDs because I can stick a 100W LED in a fixture only rated for a 60W lamp. 

I started writing the date I installed the lamp on the base of the lamp with a magic marker.

My gut say Phillips is going to be a better quality than Cree.

[billt]

It's been on for about 2 hours now, and I touched the heat sink and it is hotter than hell. (Highest setting). So I switched it off to let it cool. I'm going to try to run this one less continuously and see if it lasts longer. I had it on the highest setting. When I turn it back on I'll use the lowest setting and see if it doesn't get so hot.