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Old 09-29-14, 03:48 PM   #1
natethebrown
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Default IKEA LED Bulbs

This past weekend my wife and I went shopping at the IKEA in Atlanta. In their lighting section I noticed LED bulbs (10W, 600 lum, 2700K) for $4.50 a bulb. Since I still have a couple more Incandescent bulbs I still need to swap out in my new house, I went ahead and got 10 of these LED bulbs.


Here is a picture of what the LED bulbs look like:


Here is a single LED bulb in a lamp next to a CFL (LED is on the right)


Overall, I couldn't notice much, if any, difference in light output. The color seems about the same as well. I went ahead and tested the LED's actual power usage compared to a couple of different brands of CFLs I had. I let each bulb warm up a couple of minutes before getting the Kill-a-watt reading.

Brand Name Rated Power Actual usage
Great Value 13W 11.5W
Great Value 13W 11.3W
Ecosmart 14W 13W
Bright Effects 13W 10.9W
IKEA LEDARE LED 10W 10W

I do like the instantaneous light output of the LED. After having CFLs for years, it is nice not to have that noticeable warmup period. The 10-20 year life span of the LED bulb is also a nice feature.

Unfortunately, when comparing simply actual power usage versus CLFs, it is really hard to justify the extra cost of an LED bulb, even when factoring in the life span. For the cost of one LED bulb, I can nearly buy 4 Great Value CFLs that use negligibly more power.

If LED bulbs come down more in the future I will probably invest in them, but for now I will keep buying CFLs and use the extra money saved for more cost affective efficiency improvements like insulation and/or air infiltration sealing.

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Old 09-30-14, 08:27 AM   #2
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Thats pretty much how I've felt for a while. The LEDs are great, but just not quite there yet mostly due to cost. However, if I was installing new lights / fixtures, as I am in my office. I will only consider LED due to the life issue. I should never have to replace them.
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Old 10-14-14, 09:56 AM   #3
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And I just had one go out.....Wow, what a waste.
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Old 10-14-14, 10:06 AM   #4
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Thanks for the update. Again, a major problem with cheap lights (CFLs and LEDs) from my experience.
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Old 10-14-14, 12:38 PM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by natethebrown View Post
And I just had one go out.....Wow, what a waste.
If you live close to the store that sold you the LED, it is no waste at all...

In my experience, if you take the bulb back, they'll swap another bulb to you.

That's is a problem with China bulbs. However, ebay now has a Seller-Pays-Return-Shipping policy!!!

It is a pain, but we as consumers can, by consistently returning defective goods, improve products in the long run.

Receipts help.

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Old 10-14-14, 02:55 PM   #6
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Some 20 years ago, I was buying CFLs for my new house. I bought a lot of the same size and configuration. Wrote the install date on the base of each. And I kept one of the packages and the purchase slip.

As these failed - and some did - I would return the bulb and the package that said "lasts 7 years" or such.

They got tired of me returning bulbs, but I persisted. Eventually, they were known for the store with the bad bulbs. Finally a regional supervisor actually called me. I explained that the bulbs should last "x" hours as described on the package. He agreed and Home Depot dropped that line of bulbs, got a better supplier/manufacturer and exchanged all my bulbs.

I agree with AC. They do get the point, but you must be persistent (or a PITA) depending on perspective.

But at a minimum, I would label any bulb with the start of service date.


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Old 06-05-15, 02:05 PM   #7
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IKEA's definitely hit or miss in the lighting department. I've had different sizes that either burn out or last with high frequency, leading me to suspect there's significant variance in the manufacturing process for different models and sizes. As Steve suggested, take them back if they don't do what they claim to.
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Old 12-12-15, 04:55 PM   #8
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All Led light is very cute. I like that all design.
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Old 12-12-15, 10:14 PM   #9
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Same experience here on the CFL bulbs when they came out. Burning out after only a few months. However, I called the mfg directly. They took down the serial numbers of all the bad CFL bulbs and sent me new replacements, Free. The new replacements lasted until I replaced with LED.
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Old 02-28-16, 08:50 AM   #10
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Swapped all of the bulbs out in my house (mixture of CFL and 1-2 stray incandescent) to Ikea LEDs around 19 months ago now. I haven't had a single one go bad on me.

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