I’ve been thinking about swapping my halogen bulbs with LED versions and so after a bit of research I found two bulbs that were reasonably priced and highly recommended. Since I couldn’t find the specific bulbs I wanted locally I decided to order them from Amazon UK.
I got the bulbs, I tried them out and I’m disappointed.
The major benefit of LED bulbs is energy saving. Halogens are usually 35w or 50w while the LED replacements are either 3w or 6w. The 3w is supposed to be comparable in output to the 35 and the 6 to the 50. The bulbs I ordered were 6w and compared to the 35w halogens they replaced the 6w were considerably brighter.
As you can see in the picture above I ordered two different style of bulbs. The one on the left contains 3 LEDs with each one being 2w in strength. The one on the right is made up of 80 lower powered LEDs. The two bulbs turned out to be very different, the one on the left for example takes a second to light up once you turn the switch on and the beam of light it gives out is concentrated like a spot light. The one on the right on the other hand comes on instantly with a light beam that’s much wider. Both bulbs can not be dimmed.
Now what I hate about both bulbs is the color of the light. Halogens are pretty warm and even though I ordered these two bulbs as warm they turned out to be much cooler in color. By cooler I mean when compared to regular halogens, both these LED bulbs were more bluish than yellowish. They really don’t light up the room nicely which is why I found them very disappointing.
Who should buy LED bulbs? They’re for people who want to make the world a better place by consuming less electricity. Personally I wanted to try them out for my apartment in Lebanon. We don’t have 24/7 electricity in Lebanon so when the power goes off the backup generators come on and with the generators you have a limit to how much power you can consume. For the power of one 50w light bulb I could power eight LED bulbs of similar strength and still save electricity. That’s a big difference.
Here are the prices and models if you’re interested
Left: EDISON 6W LED GU10 – KD6.200
Right: 6W 80LED GU10 – KD6.000
15 replies on “LED Bulbs”
Hey Mark,
well thats a good idea of switching but I guess u would need more than what you might have ordered to brighten up the rooms ( I have warm Light OSRAM LEDs Locally purchased from shuwaikh zeina street)
anyways I was thinking of ordering some LEDs off Amazon too but wasnt sure if it would get stuck in customs or there would be a need of special permission since its electrical goods.
If you have to get some special letter (Aramex had to do it for you? or if they charged u an extra apart from shipping on that.
would be really great to know more info.
About the Power saving OSRAM Bulbs I can give you more information if your interested.
Thanks
Vik
Vik of course you need more than 2 bulbs to lighten up the room. I ordered 2 just to try them out and see which I prefer before I ordered a larger quantity.
You don’t need any paper to import electric goods.
Thankyou mark for the info I shall place my order sometime soon then 🙂
because I had ordered some electrical good last year from eBay and the shipping carrier not Aramex but an other one ( I used TNT worldshop services) and they turned out to be a big mess with most of my shipments taking items for ministry approvals and or losing them or not following shipping frequency.
So I thought its better I confirm with some experienced users before taking a step forward!
(This is my personal experience, not to be taken as feedback/review by the company. since e-mails have been sent to that company regarding issues)
Thankyou
https://vigilantcitizen.com/latestnews/eco-friendly-light-bulbs-containtoxic-chemicals/ check this first before thinking of going LED
great thanks for the Info Abdul
Mark, I saw a Chinese made LED light the other day while buying some supplies from my neighborhood hardware store. At first it looked like a shower-head and from what I saw on the packaging it also has a built-in battery so it works during a power outage. I’ll check it out again later and let you know the details.
Mark..try GeoBulb 3 from C Crane..good stuff..
Hey mark,
please call Mr.Khalid Ahmed from OSRAM he has good collection of LED lamps and other interesting stuff also–contact no 97219866
whilst i was in Egypt, i happened across a contraption similar to what u are talking about – they took it a step further by adding a remote control to the light bulb, and for some reason its called rechargeable.
it cost LE35, which is roughly 1.750KD
i think the whole remote thing and charger thing was made to entice those in areas where the power cuts frequently.
@Mark try Shuwaikh, the electrical shops.. There is one shop is the dealer of Osram lighting bulbs. The shop name is “Al Sabah” it’s very famous there and it have almost all the kinds of bulbs you’re thinking about.
I have received once these e-mail from a company at Hong Kong showing their range of LED lights.
That was there site, it seems like a nice collection.
https://www.eplight.cn/en/
yo mark u can find the LED Bulbs in shwaik in sun city thats behind Mcdonalds the one on 3rd ring road aka canada dry i dont remember there shops name ill be there soon ill get u the name i saw them yesterday the man told me they’re made in either the uk or germany i cant remember (which i felt not true), i was surprised when you posted about those bulbs since a day or two i was there and found out that LED bulbs exist
Just to be clear everyone, there seems to be a misunderstanding here. I didn’t say you can’t find LED bulbs in Kuwait. I was looking for a very specific LED bulb which I could not find in Kuwait.
Not all LED’s are the same, it’s not like regular light bulbs.
90 % saving in power and 50 times longer life compared to tungsten lamps it a step forward just wait for some time and you will see much improvement in the new LED lamps.
Hi Mark,
It’s been an year since this article.
Are you still for LED’s ? Or is there something new in the lighting category?
Which brand and models would you recommend for both Indoors and Outdoors?
Have you tried out the Philips LED Bulbs ?
Thanks to advice and share your experience