Disappointing unreliability of LED lightbulbs

[mtbc]

I have a battery-powered LED flashlight and reading light and such that have lasted fine. I thought it would be a reasonable investment to buy LED lightbulbs for our house. We have bought various makes and models individually as previous halogen bulbs failed; that used to be a rare event. I was under the impression that I should expect LED bulbs to last for many years and am disappointed in how many of those replacements have already failed. A typical symptom is rapid unpredictable flickering before they cease to function.

I am all for energy efficiency but, without being sure which manufacturers provide reliable bulbs, I may consider returning to compact fluorescents. Perhaps the LED bulbs are still worth the cost in terms of energy consumption though I would guess that most of our electricity goes to the larger appliances, maybe some to the television, I doubt that the lighting and computers account for much of the total.

Comments

[wpadmirer]

That's interesting, as our LED lightbulbs have lasted a very long time. I wonder if it's the difference in the way power is delivered where you are?

[dewline]

The brands my house goes with seem to be similarly long-lived.

[igrdk]

I had some bad experience with fluorescent lamps, therefore decided to replace incandescent bulbs with LED ones gradually, one by one, as they burn out.

And I keep records :)

So far, I've installed 24 LED bulbs. Average work duration is 340 days.

21 keep on working, 3 already burned out :( All failed bulbs were used in bathrooms, by the way.

9 already saved more money then they cost, including 2 burned out.

[doug]

I've had very disappointing lifetimes from some of my LED bulbs too. Like a few months or so, rather than years.