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Unread 09-12-2010, 14:15
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Brandon Holley Brandon Holley is offline
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AKA: Let's bring CD back to the way it used to be
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Re: FIRST Fundraiser: Selling LED "Lightbulbs"

Quote:
Originally Posted by Tom Line View Post
Brandon, forgive my skepticism. I've seen similar claims on the CFL's that everyone is being forced to swap two, and not once have I had one of the dozens I've used last anywhere near the advertised time. It seems that while the non-circuited bulb portion doesn't break, the board itself and the mini-ballast simply aren't up to the task of being turned on and off a couple times a day. In fact, I've gotten significantly less life out of most of the CFL bulbs that I have comparable incandescent, especially in locations like the bathroom where they are turned on and off 15 or 20 times a day.

I've talked with several barn and home builders and they've complained - they installed CFL bulbs at the request of their customers and have had to warranty large numbers of those bulbs. In one case a neighbor of mine who had a 40x100 pole barn built for his dog training facility has had to warranty nearly 30 bulbs - so many that GE has assigned him an engineer to contact directly, and they simply send him a free box of bulbs when he calls because they've gotten so many of his returns over 2 years.

I hope LED's are better. As far as I know they don't require the high voltage ballast that seems so fragile in CFL's.

Tom-
The skepticism you have is widely seen with many consumers. *Excuse my french* Crappy companies have produced crappy products that have really soured many people to anything other than the classic incandescent.

I work as a mechanical engineer designing LED light fixtures, so I may be a bit more high on LEDs than most people, but I've seen a lot of progression in the few years I've been doing this.

You are right in your assumption that LEDs do not require high voltage ballasts. The beauty of them is that the power supplies are actually quite simple (relatively speaking), which allows them to last very long. I've seen many LED fixtures last well beyond their life rating. Many reputable companies like Philips, Sylvania and Cree will stand by those claims and do not leave customers out to dry.

CFLs and LEDs are two very different ball games. Although the end result of illuminating a room or space is the same, the way the two technologies do it is extremely different.

-Brando
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