Electrek Poundland LED Light Bulbs - Are they Safe?

[barkymalarkey]

Hi all

I wondered what people's opinions are on the Electrek LED light bulbs available from Poundland for the bargain price of... you guessed it... £1!!!  (On closer inspection it would look like they are actually made by/for Poundland too.) 

I have had a couple of them for probably the best part of a year. One died after a few months. The other is still going, but it does see less use. I'm happy to accept that longevity might be questionable. But what I've really come to ask is how safe are they? I had a cheap bulb blow on me before (can't remember what type, but not LED) and there is still the burn mark to remind me on the carpet. I'm just glad I was here when it happened. So what about these cheapo LED bulbs, are they safe? Or a potential fire risk? Or any other types of risk that I should be concerned about before I start using more of them? 

Many thanks

Max

 

[Murdoch]

I would suggest you spend more on a "badged" product

 

[steptoe]

I'd agree with @Murdoch

The price of LEDs have fallen dramatically the past few years, decentish LED lamps can be had now for about a fiver.

 

[roys]

I've used the Screwfix GU10 LAP LED lamps (roughly 20 of them) throughout my house and had no probs with them, that was 2 years ago I fitted them.

Just looked them up at SF and they are £9 for 5 so not quite double what your Poundland ones are but still cheap as chips

 

[Blue Duck]

Ask Big Clive....

 

[roys]

Big Clive does very good reviews, I have watched a lot of his stuff you YouTube, very knowledgeable and a good delivery style, and to top it all he is an industrial spark.

 

[Evans Electric]

Sometimes there are bargains at £lands .    Retail prices are a nightmare to understand  but  always remember .... no one does "owt for nowt "      There are no free dinners .     Why would I pay massive business rates on a retail outlet  then sell stuff at below cost price .   

Sometimes they sell stuff like a SMALL Fairy Liquid  @ £1  but not the bigger ones  and the savings  , per ltr are to buy the giant one at ASDA  prices .    

 

[Andy™]

2 hours ago, Blue Duck said:

Ask Big Clive....

i was going to say the same thing. looks like he's popular round here

 

[Evans Electric]

What an excellent video  from Big Clive  I'll watch more of those .  

My only comment is he didn't actually give a opinion as to the quality of the lamp although he was impressed with the miniature circuit board.  

I noticed he said the lamps were 2.6W   so I'm guessing  the output lumens are not great ,  hence £1  ea. 

 

[Murdoch]

To the OP:

You need to compare the wattage, the output lumens value and the output colour....

 

[barkymalarkey]

Hi all

Many thanks for the helpful replies. I'll check out bigclive as soon as I've sorted out a problem I'm having with my PC (no sound). It will be interesting to see what he has to say. Seems there are quite a few of his vids that will be helpful...

At the end of the day, I like the Electrek/Poundland bulbs in terms of the amount of light they give off, the "colour", etc. etc. I really like them. I just want them to be safe. And if they can last for more than just a few months that would be great too. But safety is what I'm most interested in. 

Cheers

(PS - I will check out those Screwfix bulbs as well)

 

[SPECIAL LOCATION]

The thing is with LED lights is that there is some cheap rubbish out there...

BUT there is also some very overpriced rubbish out there as well!!!

Somewhere in the middle there is some reasonably well priced, half decent kit, that does the job and lasts nearer the expected lifespan...

the tricky bit is working out which is which.....

BUT..  when many average lifespans are quoted as 20,000+ hours or more...

and at say 6 hours a day 365 days a year..  (that's 2,190 hours per year)...

It would take just over 9 years to find out if they really are up to the mark,   without premature failure or burning your house down in the next 10 years!!!

At the end of the day its a bit of pot luck and what you are willing to take a punt on....

I am convinced that with a large quantity of LED lamps and fittings we are all being the guinea pigs to see if they do actually work as expected.

Only time will tell......................

Guinness :C

 

[Geoff1946]

I often wonder how some of the lifetime figures quoted are arrived at. Clearly it cannot be by testing. I tend to suspect it's "Think of a number that sounds good".

 

[steptoe]

I fitted 10 Kosnics in my kitchen in 2009 (iirc) , and nobody in my house knows how to turn lights off,

Its only been in the last year or so I've had to start replacing them, 

Still got 4 of the originals going tho,

 

[Evans Electric]

and at say 6 hours a day 365 days a year..  (that's 2,190 hours per year)...

I think that is the main criteria .... the term  "Average"  they   are on for .  

I've been fitting Eterna   Skyline   600 X 600  flat LEDs  at the printers  instead of maintenance  on their 1200 X 600 X 4 lamp  recessed fluorescents .   The Skylines have this lifetime figure  but they run two shifts there  so lights  are on  for  80 hours  per week  .  

 

[Doc Hudson]

The problem with these expected duration figures is that normally there are a few other related factors that also influence the lifespan, in some cases these are not mentioned at all, or in other cases they are in very small print so they can will be missed. Things such as ambient temperature, number of switch on/off events that occur, The nominal voltage and how stable it is. Also I may be wrong but I think the figures just relate to the LED element of the lamp, not the electronics bit behind the LED, that are there to stop the LED's being fried with 230v+. I have seen a few failed lamps, where if you investigate closer it is clear that the LED chip(s) are still working but the small PCB behind it has a component or two that has failed.

Doc H.

 

[kerching]

A while back screwies quoted some massive lifespan, BUT if you looked,at the small,print it was something like

3.56798 hours per,day

4.99564 days per week

switched on and off once per day

constant ambient temp of 20.5674°C

never to be used when there is a 'Y' in the day

total.bollox really