[HN Gopher] The Great Lightbulb Conspiracy (2014)
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The Great Lightbulb Conspiracy (2014)
Author : haunter
Score : 12 points
Date : 2024-07-11 18:15 UTC (4 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (spectrum.ieee.org)
(TXT) w3m dump (spectrum.ieee.org)
| Animats wrote:
| Is there a similar conspiracy today for LED lightbulbs? They
| should be lasting 10,000 to 20,000 hours, but they don't.
| Izkata wrote:
| IIRC this is because those estimates are for the part that
| actually emits light, but the electronics in the base that
| control it are what fail faster.
| thrtythreeforty wrote:
| As a consumer, I don't give a shit - it's false advertising.
| I have taken to writing the installation date on the bulb
| body in Sharpie; I suspect I won't be able to force
| manufacturers to honor their claimed lifetime, but perhaps
| I'll get a free box of bulbs after a blog post about it goes
| viral.
| Astronaut3315 wrote:
| Adding more LEDs to the design allows them to be underdriven,
| increasing efficiency and longevity. The driver board and LEDs
| run cooler that way. Less heat equals less stress on
| electrolytic capacitors, a common failure point.
|
| There's only a few bulbs I'm aware of that follow this pattern.
| The Philips Dubai Lamp takes this to an extreme. A 60W
| equivalent uses only 3W. Other 60W eq. LEDs tend to be ~3x
| that. All that heat has to go somewhere.
|
| I just picked up a 40W eq. bulb from IKEA that has double the
| normal amount of LED strands- they're unusually long, too. It
| also uses about half the power of the LED bulb it replaced. I
| expect it to last quite a long time.
| jchw wrote:
| I would love to know why this is apparently being downvoted,
| as far as I know it's true. A lot of cheap LED bulbs use few
| LEDs being grilled at relatively high current and definitely
| get hot enough to impact the lifespan of the LEDs. Am I
| missing something?
| Astronaut3315 wrote:
| My initial reply was a bit rough around the edges. I've
| since edited it for clarity.
| jchw wrote:
| Ahhh I see. I know it's discouraged to discuss voting for
| good reason, but I was definitely perplexed. That makes a
| lot more sense.
| ssl-3 wrote:
| Someone thinks your comment is worthy of down voting, but
| you're absolutely correct.
|
| Heat is a primary killer of many electronic things, including
| LED bulbs and their constituent parts.
|
| And LEDs -- the diodes themselves -- do tend to become more
| efficient (in terms of lumens produced per Watt of input)
| when not pushed to their extreme operational limits.
|
| And it is definitely possible to create a longer-lasting,
| more-efficient LED bulb.
|
| It's absolutely trivial to do this, even: To start, just add
| more LEDs, reduce their individual RMS current, improve heat
| sinking and dissipation, and use better capacitors.
|
| But it does cost more to do these things, and regular
| consumer products are all built down to a price.
| dredmorbius wrote:
| I've seen a few failures, most of which seem to involve
| electronics.
|
| A set of reflector spots (replacing 45W halogen bulbs) all in
| recessed ceiling fixutres in one specific location within the
| house failed within a few months of one another.
|
| Another spot in the kitchen, in an exposed can, failed within a
| year or so. It was located directly over the sink.
|
| I suspect moisture / condensation as issues in both, as the
| ceiling cans have minimal insulation between them and the roof,
| and the kitchen fitting would be exposed to steam / vapour
| coming off the sink.
|
| Other than that, a couple of stick-style closet bulbs have
| failed, also apparently electronics. And one fixture in the
| garage which seems to have been physically struck.
|
| That's over roughly a decade's experience and roughly 30 bulbs
| / fixtures. Far better than incandescent or even CF bulbs.
| Though still not quite meeting expectations.
| vundercind wrote:
| Had similar issues with CFLs, when those were A Thing. "Oh they
| last sooooo long! Don't worry, they're expensive but they're
| actually cheaper than incandescent because they last so long
| and use so little power!"
|
| Shitty light, and they consistently averaged a shorter lifespan
| than cheap incandescents across two houses. Nope. Done with
| that tech forever.
| cyberax wrote:
| I still have CFLs in my bathroom. The plastic in the plug has
| faded from white to yellow. Yet they still work fine,
| although it takes them 3-5 seconds to get to full brightness.
| leni536 wrote:
| Here is a more nuanced Technology Connections video on the
| matter:
|
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zb7Bs98KmnY
| daseiner1 wrote:
| I inevitably feel obligated to share "Byron the Bulb" from
| _Gravity's Rainbow_
|
| https://www.tildedave.com/byron.html
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