Hacker News
points by lakeviewterrace 3 days ago | 0 comments
What lies.

I bought LED "bug lights" — those yellow bulbs that are supposed to be invisible to bugs.

Every bulb in the pack electrically failed within 10 minutes.

I gave up and went back to an incandescent. Still works perfectly.

So sick of the zero-quality LED bulbs that have entirely flooded the market. Of course they had their hand forced by government mandates, people needed mass quantities of cheap bulbs that could match a 75¢ incandescent. They didn't have this problem when LED bulbs were $20 each (and weighed about as much, due to the heat sink).

[–] AmazingEveryDay 3 days ago
It was always a scam because LED bulbs need power supply and that creates heat, switching hundreds of volts ac to low volt dc. They don't last any longer than incandescent in fact they have much shorter lifetimes.
[–] fransje26 3 days ago
> They don't last any longer than incandescent in fact they have much shorter lifetimes.

The leds do, but the "low-quality" electronic drivers do not and die first. Often well before the advertised lifespan.

[–] mikestew 3 days ago
They don't last any longer than incandescent in fact they have much shorter lifetimes.

Tell that to my 10 year old Philipps Hue lights. I wonder if there is some other quality at work that would explain the difference...

[–] lakeviewterrace 3 days ago
Average lifetime of my Philips bulbs is ~ 8 months before they develop the 'flicker of death'... at roughly $7/bulb I might as well go back to black market incandescents.
[–] dylan604 3 days ago
A cheaply made bulb doesn't really support your theory though. Before LEDs, the anti-bug yellow incandescent bulb was available. It puts of a horrendous light and most people didn't like them. It's in the top 3 of lights that I do not like: 1) anything CFL, 2) any cool white (>3600K) light at night, 3) ugly yellow anti-bug light, 4) whatever the ugly greenish light 7-11 uses at some gas stations, 5) 4300K fluoro tubes.
[–] lakeviewterrace 3 days ago
It's in a garden shed, so...