Did you know that when you drop an LED bulb from a height onto a tile floor, that not only does it not shatter, but that when you pick it up off the floor, and finally screw it in, it works?
Do not ask me how I know this
— Rand Simberg (@Rand_Simberg) July 11, 2018
12 thoughts on “Another Benefit Of LED Bulbs”
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ROFL!!!!!!!!!!
You’re lucky it wasn’t a CFL. Those break easy, and you get mercury contamination as a free fringe benefit.
Well I won’t go with 100% it works guessing you find ones the mechanical shock will damage internal boards or something, though certainly significant better than the 0% for traditional bulbs and CFLS.
Now a Candle you can drop and 100% chance it will work when you light it
About three years ago, in a fit of mania, I replaced every fluorescent and incandescent with an LED. The savings on my electric bill were remarkable. I am now regretting my decision. In the kitchen where they burn the most, the bulbs are now burning noticeably fainter. The quality of the light is iffy for most uses except closets and bedrooms. I am now slowly retrofitting with incandescents for reading and other uses where the quality of the light is important.
I have replaced most of my incandescent bulbs with LEDs. For me the trick was making sure that I bought the “dimmable” kind as I replaced all my 3-way lamp switches with dimmers. Because way back when, when I bought my LED bulbs they didn’t make 3-ways. Now they do, but its too late for me.
What I find most interesting is the way you dim an LED is a whole lot like the way you used to dim a kerosene lamp! You can’t just slowly crank up the juice and expect the LED to follow. You first have to get it to “fire” and THEN bring it down. Just like the way the wick worked on a kerosene lamp that had built up a little carbon black on it. It is not a smooth continuous up-curve like with the old incandescent bulbs. I dunno. I like retro and steam-punk so I’m okay with it… 😉
Rand:
I have known that since Tuesday. Four and a half feet. Ceramic tiles. Highest heart rate of the week.
Only four and a hal? Pfffft. Eight.
I think the meta takeaway here ought to be that on a moon base this would really be no big deal. 🙂
I’ve replaced most of my incandescent bulbs with LEDs and so far my biggest issue is color matching. From one brand to another, maybe even one box to another I get noticeably different color temp. This is especially distracting in a room with multiple matched fixtures. In my family room I have to change out all four bulbs when one fails, just to keep the color temps matched. That’s expensive.
I also have trouble with premature death of the LED bulbs due to use in enclosed fixtures. My home was built in the 70s and has a lot of recessed fixtures with coverglass. I’ve thought about punching some small holes in the back of the fixtures to let hot air escape into the attic.
” I’ve thought about punching some small holes in the back of the fixtures to let hot air escape into the attic.”
Nooooooooooohhhhh!
Actually, anything you can do – caulking, sealing — to prevent air from the living space to escape into the attic is a Good Thing ™. It keeps your house cooler in summer, warmer in winter and it keeps moisture out of your attic insulation and ceiling rafter.
It’s been a while since I was up close and personal with an incandescent. I got a garage sale desk lamp with two 60W incandescents in it and the damn things cooked me! Hot as hell!
I can’t believe I’m hearing about problems with LED bulbs!!!
I replaced every light fixture in my house about 10 years ago, and I have had a single bulb fail. Previous to that, the longest I had a CFL last was a week or two, and incandescents didn’t last long either.
I think the power in my condo is just really spiky – we are just below all the equipment that keeps the building running.
When I first moved into my home 5 1/2 years ago, I replaced the external incandescent lights with CFLs. LEDs were too expensive at the time. These lights are on a photocell – they automatically come on a dusk and go off at dawn – so they are on for about 4000 hours each year. One by one, the CFLs failed except for one of them that’s hanging on somehow. All of the rest of my lights are now LEDs. As I’m getting older, my desire to climb ladders to replace lights in high ceilings has diminished. I bought LEDs in the hope they’ll last longer than I do and I’ll never have to replace any of them. Time will tell if that happens.