Philips LED 60W Equivalent $2.50 bulb Cut Open

[EdwardC]

One of my bulbs in the fridge went out, which used a 60W incandescent A15 bulb. I wanted to go with an LED product, but didn't want to spend $10-15 on a 40W equivalent A15 LED bulb for this application.

Bitog deal link: http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php/topics/3709830/1

The cheap $4.97 two pack of A19 bulbs barely didn't fit inside the housing, so I decided to cut off the housing. I thought I'd post some pictures of the inside. Not much to see, and I don't plan on cutting it apart any more to see the driving circuit.

From what I can see, there 11 LED packages mounted on a metal core PCB that's screwed to a metal housing/heatsink. There's also some silicone thermal adhesive used between the PCB and housing.

I'll probably put some kind of diffuser on the inside of the bulb above the LEDs so I don't blind myself every time the fridge is opened (the position of the bulb is dead center on top of the fridge pointing at the user).

Btw, I measured it to draw 8.40W, .633PF.

 

[440Magnum]

That's pretty typical of the mid-to low-end bulbs I've seen. The highest-end LED bulbs have more elaborate cooling (circulating oil-filled as well as an external metal heat sink in the case of the now out of business Switch Lighting bulbs) and glass envelopes (polymer-coated to prevent shattering in the case of Cree).

Cree seems to have about the best tech per dollar, as their 40-watt equivalent glass envelope / aluminum heat sink bulbs are around $10, 100 equivalent around $20. They now have an even cheaper plastic envelope line. Switch was simply too exotic to be profitable even at rather high prices, but darn they were amazing bulbs.

 

[dishdude]

Thanks! UPS just dropped off a bunch of these at my house, I am replacing what incandescents I have left with these.

 

[javacontour]

I got the e-mail from Home Depot my bulbs are in. Picking them up this afternoon.

 

[EdwardC]

Yeah, I definitely wasn't expecting much in there at $2.50 each. The light output is decent, but they can hardly compare with the $5-10 bulbs. It kind of does end up as a wash since they're only rated for 10,000h compared to 25,000h for the higher end bulbs.

I figure this would be perfect for a fridge application though - instant full brightness, low power, short on time, no dimming, no heat issues.

 

[Johnny2Bad]

Note that the spec for the life of LED's is how many hours to 50% of as-new light output.

 

[friendly_jacek]

strong work. i briefly thought about opening one to see what's inside. now i don't need to. you need to cover it up somehow, depending on the power supply type, there could live wires there on the PCB surface.

 

[friendly_jacek]

Originally Posted By: Johnny2Bad
Note that the spec for the life of LED's is how many hours to 50% of as-new light output.


true, but that doesn't include the chances of catastrophic power supply or light emitting element failure. unfortunately, those are all too common in the cheap bulbs (either CFL or LED).

 

[EdwardC]

Yeah, I assumed that all the LED ratings were to some standardized lumen maintenance level.

And yes, all the bulbs are going in the fridge's built in plastic bulb enclosure, nothing will be accessible.

 

[Oregoonian]

How often do you open the refridge? How many hours a month is it on.

Use the required incandescent....it won't make any difference in your electric bill each month....if saving $$$ is the goal.
Using LED bulbs only make sense if they are on for many hours a day. In a refridge.....IMO..... its stupid.

 

[GiveMeAVowel]

Originally Posted By: friendly_jacek
strong work. i briefly thought about opening one to see what's inside. now i don't need to. you need to cover it up somehow, depending on the power supply type, there could live wires there on the PCB surface.


He's got to be careful that he doesn't place anything too close to the LEDs as it could overheat or melt that plastic. If anything I would leave it alone and just note on the bulb

 

[friendly_jacek]

Originally Posted By: Oregoonian
How often do you open the refridge? How many hours a month is it on.

Use the required incandescent....it won't make any difference in your electric bill each month....if saving $$$ is the goal.
Using LED bulbs only make sense if they are on for many hours a day. In a refridge.....IMO..... its stupid.


i installed led lights in fridge and freezer over a year ago (the ebay $2 3-4W ones). i used cool white light color and it's a great lightning effect. feels like a brand new fridge. Agree about the minimal energy saving part. this philips light is very warm white, it would not be my 1st choice in a fridge for the esthetic reasons. it's OK in a bedroom so far.

 

[Oregoonian]

Originally Posted By: friendly_jacek
Originally Posted By: Oregoonian
How often do you open the refridge? How many hours a month is it on.

Use the required incandescent....it won't make any difference in your electric bill each month....if saving $$$ is the goal.
Using LED bulbs only make sense if they are on for many hours a day. In a refridge.....IMO..... its stupid.


i installed led lights in fridge and freezer over a year ago (the ebay $2 3-4W ones). i used cool white light color and it's a great lightning effect. feels like a brand new fridge. Agree about the minimal energy saving part. this philips light is very warm white, it would not be my 1st choice in a fridge for the esthetic reasons. it's OK in a bedroom so far.


The cost of the LED far outweighs any savings of electricity.

 

[EdwardC]

I obviously didn't do this to save on electricity. I did it because my bulb went out, I like LEDs, and I wasn't about to spend $3.87 on (2) 60W A15 incandescents when I could get the LEDs for about a dollar more.

Just comparing what's available at Home Depot, I had these options:

(2) Incandescent 60W A15 bulbs for $3.87 ($1.94 each)
http://www.homedepot.com/p/GE-60-Watt-In...5C-2L/100493764

(1) A15 LED bulb, 60W Equivalent for $12.97 each
http://www.homedepot.com/p/EcoSmart-60W-...D-ESM/205547292

Or do what I did and chop off the lens on the $4.97 2-pack ($2.49 each).

 

[EdwardC]

Originally Posted By: friendly_jacek
Originally Posted By: Oregoonian
How often do you open the refridge? How many hours a month is it on.

Use the required incandescent....it won't make any difference in your electric bill each month....if saving $$$ is the goal.
Using LED bulbs only make sense if they are on for many hours a day. In a refridge.....IMO..... its stupid.


i installed led lights in fridge and freezer over a year ago (the ebay $2 3-4W ones). i used cool white light color and it's a great lightning effect. feels like a brand new fridge. Agree about the minimal energy saving part. this philips light is very warm white, it would not be my 1st choice in a fridge for the esthetic reasons. it's OK in a bedroom so far.


FJ, are the LED bulbs you got on ebay the "corn" style bulbs? I was on the fence on getting something like that. I put some of those in some EXIT signs and they worked great, but when I was testing them, I noticed a little bit of 120hz flickering as I moved the bulbs. I was afraid that I'd notice flickering in the fridge.

 

[djb]

The mediocre power factor suggests that the power conversion is a simple capacitor, rather than a switching mode supply. If so, the exposed metal is at line voltage.

Some of the small base LEDs (e.g. "candelabra") have horrible power factors, 0.06, because of their sleazy design.

Even so, they are still safer than the electrified metal prongs of a broken incandescent bulb or the scattered mercury of a broken CFL.

 

[friendly_jacek]

Originally Posted By: EdwardC

FJ, are the LED bulbs you got on ebay the "corn" style bulbs? I was on the fence on getting something like that. I put some of those in some EXIT signs and they worked great, but when I was testing them, I noticed a little bit of 120hz flickering as I moved the bulbs. I was afraid that I'd notice flickering in the fridge.


yes, small corn-style with 5050 SMD LEDs, but the ones i used in fridge have a diffuser surrounding the corn (extra safety). i bought a few different ones to experiment (making sure to pay no more than $1-2) and some flicker but most don't. hard to predict from the description, except the 110-220V have regulated power. but, you can only see the flicker when moving them fast, non-issue IMHO.

i just checked the philips ones and they don't flicker, who knows, maybe even 110-220V?

 

[dishdude]

Man these things are brighter than the 60w incandescents I pulled out. Very nice color light output, much nicer than the CFLs I also pulled out in this conversion. At this price point I would say well worth the investment.

 

[mjoekingz28]

Originally Posted By: Johnny2Bad
Note that the spec for the life of LED's is how many hours to 50% of as-new light output.


What do you mean? Can you elaborate?


Also, what about cooling? Arent the LEDs running cooler per lumen than cfl or incandescent?

Why not use one good led instead of many lesser ones?

We used to own a Stanley, yellow, spotlight that was led and it sure could throw a beam?

 

[Pop_Rivit]

I replaced one of the conventional bulbs in our refrigerator that burned out with a 25w equivalent LED bulb. There's no real cost savings because of the limited use, but I had a few extra from our pergola lighting so I used one. The initial cost over a conventional 25W bulb was nominal, and I'll never need to change it again.

As far as the rest of the LED bulbs in the house I've had no failures, no problems, and I'm extremely happy. In the roughly 16 months since I switched almost everything to LED, I haven't had to change anything other than the one conventional bulb in the refrigerator.