We are steadily replacing old incadescent, CFL and halogen bulbs in our house with LED bulbs. They tend to be the 2700k for the warm colour. We tried the daylight colour ones but they were too bright.

From my standard grade physics I know that LEDs are low powered devices that need direct current so does an LED bulb contain a transformer? Even at 5 volts an LED needs a resistor inline, so do they all contain resistors as well? Could these components wear out in an unsafe way? I only buy the bulbs from supermarkets like Tesco, Morrison's or Sainsbury's. They're CE marked and seem to be well made. I don't buy them from eBay or Amazon. In the bedrooms we are currently using Philips Genie 40W CFL bulbs but when they wear out we might replace them with LED. All circuits are MCB and dual RCD protected.

First of all we fitted a 5.5W (40W equivalent) one at the top of the landing for instant light. It was hard to access because the stair case is curved so we wanted something that would last a long time. It has been running for 2 years fine. We also fitted one in the bathroom and that works well. That replaced an old torroidial transformer track light that we couldn't get a replacement transformer for. Scottish Gas homecare had to qualms about installing them. The bathroom one has a strange shaped holder for protection I think.

From a health point of view we tried LED spotlights at work but we could work under them for a full day because they were too bright. One colleague who suffers from migraine also complained about them triggering headaches. We ended up using standing lamps with halogen bulbs. I don't want to install anything that could be electrically unsafe or harmful to the health of my family's eye sight.
 
We've just had an LED light fail. A Sainsbury's 5.9W 2700k SES candle shaped lamp bulb in the kitchen. It was flashing a bit yesterday and flashing faster today. I replaced the bulb and binned it. I think it was installed at the start of June 2016, so it was 2.5 years old. It sometimes runs through the night and on average 4 hours a day during the winter. It didn't last the 10-15 years service as indicated on the box.
 
When we were renting and moving house every couple of years, I had a big box of lightbulbs, and on moving day I'd take out all my CFLs and LED bulbs and put back all the tungsten and halogen ones that were there when we arrived on my way out, then walk into the new place and put them in, putting the existing bulbs in the box ready for storage. Now we're staying put for the foreseeable the box is in the loft...

But what I meant to say was: if you're after decent LEDs at sensible prices, CPC are often a good bet, and they'll also sell you 110° beam GU10s rather than the 40° ones most places have, which makes a massive difference to the amount of useful light you get.
 
Just by the way....hobbling about with a crutch at present and I'm getting a bit sick of folks asking me where my parrot is...and telling them to shut it before I poke their eye out with my crutch.:rolleyes:
Why not just get an eye patch and a stuffed parrot easier to have ammunition to throw at people you don’t like instead of falling over trying to poke eyes out with your crutch.
 
and put back all the tungsten and halogen ones that were there when we arrived on my way out,
Oh my those are very fancy and modern. I still haven't switched from carbon to tungsten yet, though I have mostly upgraded from paraffin.
bulb.jpg

This one was probably made sometime around the 1920s, I wonder how many LED lamps will still be working at 100 years old.
 
My not so smart 6W candle LED bulb ,on a wander lead detects if I've kicked the extension lead ,
with the hoover plugged in- &-running as well.
Using a surge protecting socket now !
( Bright Flash ..then plunged into darkness - Killed not worn out )
 
Oh my those are very fancy and modern. I still haven't switched from carbon to tungsten yet, though I have mostly upgraded from paraffin.
Tungsten was definitely a step backwards in terms of reliability.
Halogen more so.
CFL was a stopgap solution.
I have every expectation some of my LED lights will last well over 20 years.
Also my three bed semi with every light on including the floods in the garden uses under 300W. I'm willing to accept the occasional replacement.
 

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Are LED Light Bulbs Safe?
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mlynn,
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