Team-BHP > Shifting gears > Gadgets, Computers & Software


Reply
  Search this Thread
2,751,496 views
Old 14th March 2015, 14:39   #5041
BHPian
 
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: Bangalore
Posts: 55
Thanked: 44 Times

Quote:
Originally Posted by Sebring View Post
I was an early adopter to LED, both philips and Osram, and am moving back to good old tubes. what's happening is that these LEDs are more 'focus' lights and do not spread light out evenly. Reading under one is a problem. Even CFLs were better in this regard.

LEDs are great for the bath mirror, corridors etc. is my deduction.
My electrician warned me that LED fixtures spread light narrowly, and are thus more effective in ceiling fixtures. The wall fixtures usually don't point a large point of light downwards.
I have had a good experience with the 15W / 22W Decorlite fixtures in the kids and reading room areas. Unfortunately these are not yet available on Amazon / FK. The Philips 9W wall fixtures on Amazon India are really only for ambient lighting.
Juggy is offline  
Old 14th March 2015, 16:15   #5042
Distinguished - BHPian
 
Thad E Ginathom's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: Chennai
Posts: 10,956
Thanked: 26,108 Times
Re: The Home Appliance thread

Quote:
Originally Posted by Sebring View Post
I was an early adopter to LED, both philips and Osram, and am moving back to good old tubes. what's happening is that these LEDs are more 'focus' lights and do not spread light out evenly. Reading under one is a problem. Even CFLs were better in this regard.
... ... ...
I have LED reading lamps. Very low wattage. They focus the light exactly where it is wanted: on the book!

I also use one one as an emergency light in the main hall. Yes, it's spread is dismal, but it is not designed to spread. As an emergency light, it simply allows us to walk around the room (or, of course, read under it) with almost insignificant drain on the inverter battery.

Quote:
Originally Posted by hellmet View Post
I completely agree with you. Nothing compares with tubelights - even the CFLs are useless if you got to read.

For low-use areas such as the balcony we use traditional bulbs since they're not switched on for more than 3-5minutes. Buying a Rs.150 CFL isn't value for money.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Juggy View Post
My electrician warned me that LED fixtures spread light narrowly, and are thus more effective in ceiling fixtures. The wall fixtures usually don't point a large point of light downwards.
I suppose that, if spread is wanted, it has to be given by the light fitting, and not by the point-source LED.

I have three LED floodlights. Two, 30w and 20w, really do flood the garden with light. The third is a mere 10-watter, and has replaced the higher-wattage CFL light outside the front door. I have pointed it at the ceiling of the sit-out area. Of course it would have been brighter direct, but also more focussed. The reflected light beats the old CFL fitting hands down for brightness and coverage and avoids the eye-hurting glare of a direct floodlight.

The 30w floodlight replaced a very-high wattage (something like 1kw?) floodlight!

It maybe that LED lights are not necessarily a good direct swap for tubes, CFL or incandescent. We need to think more about their implementation and fittings. They may also mean that it is not economical to replace a fitting just to use LEDs.

My next two LED projects:

1. An LED "tube" light in the car port, over the car. There is no light there at present, so no wasted-fitting expense. This should be done this month: I'll report back

2. Another floodlight to light the terrace. This will replace two CFL fittings, both of which are broken and would require replacement anyway.

3. 10-inch worktop-illumination LED "tubes" for the kitchen. The existing fluorescent tubes are not bright enough for work anyway. We use one or two as emergency/night-time illumination.

2 and 3 will be DIY projects, so the usual when-I-get-around-to-it applies, but will report back. I expect to do within the next couple of months. Honest.

Last edited by Thad E Ginathom : 14th March 2015 at 16:16.
Thad E Ginathom is online now  
Old 14th March 2015, 20:20   #5043
BHPian
 
hellmet's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: GTA | GHMC
Posts: 886
Thanked: 1,025 Times
Re: The Home Appliance thread

Quote:
Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom View Post

It maybe that LED lights are not necessarily a good direct swap for tubes, CFL or incandescent. We need to think more about their implementation and fittings. They may also mean that it is not economical to replace a fitting just to use LEDs.
I agree. It makes sense to go with made-for-LED light fittings when installing in a new home or renovating it. But they may not necessarily be great as a direct replacement.

I'm also slightly disappointed with them dimming over as few as 6 months. Is it only me that has noticed this?
hellmet is offline  
Old 15th March 2015, 10:19   #5044
BANNED
 
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Gurugram
Posts: 7,969
Thanked: 4,786 Times
Re: The Home Appliance thread

@hellmet; A word of caution. i know somebody who has moved to a new flat with 100% LED. Great, but he had a problem with one of them. They came and replaced the fitting, and now there is serious damage to the false ceiling into which it was fixed. So the warranty covered the light, but the cost of redoing the ceiling was far more.

Last edited by sgiitk : 15th March 2015 at 10:20.
sgiitk is offline  
Old 16th March 2015, 00:30   #5045
Senior - BHPian
 
khoj's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: Dilli
Posts: 2,718
Thanked: 1,287 Times
Re: The Home Appliance thread

I fail to understand why do people want to give their homes a bar/lounge/commercial space look.

Quote:
Originally Posted by sgiitk View Post
i know somebody who has moved to a new flat with 100% LED. Great, but he had a problem with one of them. They came and replaced the fitting, and now there is serious damage to the false ceiling into which it was fixed. So the warranty covered the light, but the cost of redoing the ceiling was far more.
khoj is offline   (1) Thanks
Old 16th March 2015, 10:55   #5046
Team-BHP Support
 
Eddy's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Delhi
Posts: 9,381
Thanked: 13,247 Times
Re: The Home Appliance thread

Quote:
Originally Posted by Eddy View Post
A cousin of mine has bought an air fryer. Going over to his place on the weekend with some sausages, seekh kababs, chicken and fish to see if the damn thing is actually worth all the hype.
Mini-update.

We've tried all the veggie stuff like fries, smileys, tikkis etc and they have come out very well.


Gotta try out some sausages and seekh kebabs before the Navratras start
Eddy is offline  
Old 16th March 2015, 11:15   #5047
BHPian
 
RavSam's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2014
Location: Somewhere in MH
Posts: 679
Thanked: 2,784 Times
Re: The Home Appliance thread

Just bought and fitted Philips Ace Saver 9W 806 Lumens LED bulb in my kitchen.
The spread and intensity seems just as good as the 20W CFL bulb which was previously fitted.
Cost me Rs.600.
RavSam is offline  
Old 16th March 2015, 11:40   #5048
BANNED
 
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Gurugram
Posts: 7,969
Thanked: 4,786 Times
Re: The Home Appliance thread

Quote:
Originally Posted by khoj View Post
I fail to understand why do people want to give their homes a bar/lounge/commercial space look.
I tend to agree, but people esp with a brand new house/flat may be too enthusiastic.
sgiitk is offline  
Old 16th March 2015, 16:16   #5049
Distinguished - BHPian
 
Thad E Ginathom's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: Chennai
Posts: 10,956
Thanked: 26,108 Times
Re: The Home Appliance thread

My failure to understand is this: designers/builders building in fittings without regard for ease of replacement or maintenance.
Thad E Ginathom is online now  
Old 16th March 2015, 16:23   #5050
BANNED
 
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Gurugram
Posts: 7,969
Thanked: 4,786 Times
Re: The Home Appliance thread

Quote:
Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom View Post
My failure to understand is this: designers/builders building in fittings without regard for ease of replacement or maintenance.
there is an impression going round that LEDs are for life!
sgiitk is offline  
Old 16th March 2015, 17:11   #5051
Distinguished - BHPian
 
Thad E Ginathom's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: Chennai
Posts: 10,956
Thanked: 26,108 Times
Re: The Home Appliance thread

Oh dear... Nothing technical/manufactured is for life.

Haven't we learned the lessons with CFLs? Whatever it continues to say on the boxes, I still do not find them as long-lived as an old-fashioned lightbulb.
Thad E Ginathom is online now  
Old 16th March 2015, 17:12   #5052
BHPian
 
anuragn's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Navi Mumbai
Posts: 192
Thanked: 51 Times
Re: The Home Appliance thread

Quote:
Originally Posted by sgiitk View Post
there is an impression going round that LEDs are for life!
Not exactly for life, but may last for several years. But I have seen the drivers (i.e.SMPS power supply) failing too often.
anuragn is offline  
Old 16th March 2015, 20:09   #5053
Distinguished - BHPian
 
noopster's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: Pune
Posts: 9,236
Thanked: 12,901 Times
Re: The Home Appliance thread

Quote:
Originally Posted by mobike008 View Post
Stabilizers is no longer mandatory for fridges these days as they come with in-built one. Is my assumption correct?
Quote:
Originally Posted by rajeev k View Post
All modern drive motors of domestic appliances are capable of working safely with in the Voltage range a Stabilizer cuts off itself. There is a trip relay which will facilitate switching off of the compressor on low voltage and overload. Hence it is absolutely safe to operate a fridge without a stabilizer. I am operating in this manner for the past two and a half years.
Sorry for replying to 2-year old posts but I thought this was worth sharing. My Samsung 495L 2-door fridge stopped cooling over the weekend and the reason given by their service engineer is that the compressor is blown. It comes with a 5 year warranty so they didn't charge us for replacement but the gas had to be refilled at our expense which came to some 2K expense.

I checked with the SE what the reason could be and he said frequent power outages can blow a compressor. We had a few outages last week so I took his explanation at face value. He suggested a V Guard voltage stabilizer with 2A rating as sufficient to handle the load. Did some research and it seems 2A rated stabilizers are suited only upto 300L capacity. So went ahead and got the V Guard VG100 which is capable of handling upto 600L capacity. Amazon claims they will deliver it overnight so hoping for the best.

Just wanted to caution everyone here that these newfangled fridges actually may NOT come with inbuilt stabilizers- to be on the safe side please get one- it's a small price to pay.
noopster is offline  
Old 16th March 2015, 20:23   #5054
BHPian
 
TheDesertRat's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2015
Location: Ghaziabad
Posts: 116
Thanked: 375 Times
Re: The Home Appliance thread

Quote:
Originally Posted by latentpotential View Post
AO Smith is super resistant to hard water. In one of our houses, where only ground water is available, we change the taps every 2 years as the hard water settles inside. But the AO Smith keeps going on without any issue. Earlier we would need to get the geyser opened and cleaned every year, now its approx 4 years.

AO used to be sold under the Jaguar brand earlier, very expensive when we got it, dont know pricing now.
+1 to AO Smith. We stay in Indirapuram where you get the hardest water in the country. I have been using AO Smith for well over 3 years now and it works like a charm!

On the subject of hard water, has anyone here tried the Kent Autosoft 255 Water Softener? I have been looking for reviews on the Internet. I want to get this installed in at least a couple of my bathrooms in my flat before I get bald or develop some serious skin condition.

Cheers,
Saurabh
TheDesertRat is offline  
Old 16th March 2015, 20:30   #5055
BHPian
 
diyguy's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Chennai
Posts: 517
Thanked: 578 Times

Quote:
Originally Posted by RavSam View Post
Philips Ace Saver 9W 806 Lumens LED ...Cost me Rs.600.
Got it for 495 from Amazon.in
diyguy is offline  
Reply

Most Viewed
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search

Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Team-BHP.com
Proudly powered by E2E Networks