jrs8084 Premium Member join:2002-03-02 Statesville, NC |
jrs8084
Premium Member
2015-Mar-25 9:36 pm
[Lighting] LED NightlightsI purchased some of these last November at a Lowes. They were nice while they lasted, but 2/8 have already failed. I have the receipt, but no packaging.
In your experience, how does Lowes handle this sort of problem? Will they provide any help? I am not wasting my time mailing dead night lights off-I will cut my losses before that. |
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PSWired join:2006-03-26 Annapolis, MD |
[Lighting] Re: LED NightlightsI've had some Philips LED bulbs fail. I took them back to Home Depot and they swapped them out for new ones no questions asked. No proof of purchase or anything.
Not sure if your experience at Lowes will be similar, but HD has been good. |
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to jrs8084
I'd like to know if anyone has any recommendations for decent LED nightlights. The stuff they sell at the home centers is garbage.
My experience mirrors that of jrs8084 |
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jrs8084 Premium Member join:2002-03-02 Statesville, NC |
jrs8084
Premium Member
2015-Mar-25 10:14 pm
Well, that is not encouraging, but at least steers me to not wasting my time with these things. :-( |
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Msradell Premium Member join:2008-12-25 Louisville, KY
2 recommendations |
to jrs8084
The electroluminescent ones last forever and like the LED ones are extremely low wattage. I'm sure you can find them at Home Depot and Lowe's but here's a link to them at Amazon: » www.amazon.com/Leviton-C ··· t+lights |
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JoelC707 Premium Member join:2002-07-09 Lanett, AL |
to Cho Baka
I picked up a few of the daylight dusk to dawn ones from Walmart a couple of months ago. I've got one in the bathroom and one in the kitchen. They work great for my needs. The electroluminescent ones never put out enough light (there's 4 of them in the kitchen alone lol) and even the 4W nightlight bulbs were too bright in the bathroom (the glow into the bedroom was torture and I have to have a light at night) but not the LEDs, they are perfect. Hell the things even dim automatically based on how much light (or lack thereof) hits the photocell. These two reports make me wonder just how long they will last now I mean I didn't pay a lot for them (I got them at Walmart after all) but I'd hope they last longer than a few months. |
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justin..needs sleep Mod join:1999-05-28 2031 Billion BiPAC 7800N Apple AirPort Extreme (2011)
6 recommendations |
to jrs8084
I bought a wall plugin LED night light with sensor that doubles as a torch (you take it out of its holder). It worked great for about a year, maybe less, then suddenly failed. Not a battery issue: the charger did not appear to be over-charging the battery. Nor a heat issue, it was never too warm (common LED product problem).
I'm thinking someone needs to design a site called crapfromchina.com where you upload some pictures of your generic consumer electronic doo-dad and can search past uploads, then we all talk crap about how bad the root item is: often they are from the same factory but white label to a hardware store or shop. Usually they can be found on alibaba for the low low cost of $1/unit FOB (minimum order 1000). |
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TheMG Premium Member join:2007-09-04 Canada MikroTik RB450G Cisco DPC3008 Cisco SPA112
1 recommendation |
to Msradell
said by Msradell:The electroluminescent ones last forever and like the LED ones are extremely low wattage. I used to have a few of those many years ago. They worked for a very long time. Only reason I got rid of them is that I had no use for nightlights anymore. As an added bonus they provided a visual indication of the number of power surges to come down the line. Every surge would permanently burn a tiny little black dot into the surface of the electroluminescent material. |
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2 edits |
to jrs8084
I have lots of different types of LED nightlights. No issues with any of them after 2-3 years now. It all depends on what you want it to do. Single outlet w/sensor » www.homedepot.com/p/Pass ··· 02518519Double outlet (GFCI) w/sensor » www.homedepot.com/p/Pass ··· 02518521Plug-in w/motion & sensor » www.amazon.com/gp/produc ··· 2VF9POY/Wall battery powered w/motion & sensor » www.amazon.com/gp/produc ··· 196WS6S/Ceiling battery powered w/motion & sensor » www.amazon.com/gp/produc ··· 8X099V0/ |
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to jrs8084
Re: [Lighting] LED NightlightsFWIW... I bought a four pack of these low profile LED nite lights recently. They are exactly the same as the ones I bought from Walmart a few years ago. Walmart no longer carries them in my town... » www.maxximastyle.com/led ··· ack-of-4I added them to a few locations in our house that needed additional night time light... |
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AsiaboundEx-Pat Premium Member join:2002-12-21 Mabinay |
to justin
Re: [Lighting] Re: LED Nightlightssaid by justin:I'm thinking someone needs to design a site called crapfromchina.com More accurately: crapfromchinacontrivedelsewhereforexport.com |
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justin..needs sleep Mod join:1999-05-28 2031 Billion BiPAC 7800N Apple AirPort Extreme (2011)
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justin
Mod
2015-Mar-26 7:48 am
Well. Increasingly it isn't some foreign task master telling them how to make stuff cheap, but instead they're producing things themselves and letting anyone brand the products on the way out the country. Trouble is a lot of them have design flaws and no longevity. Their only saving grace is super cheapness. It is hard to be mad at a $39 blender that is just as effective as an $800 nutri-bullet but breaks after 3 months because the metal in the blade was weak. People just shrug, and another hunk of plastic and metals goes to the landfill. |
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nunyaLXI 483 MVM join:2000-12-23 O Fallon, MO ·Charter
1 recommendation |
to justin
said by justin:I'm thinking someone needs to design a site called crapfromchina.com You'd need one hell of a data warehouse for that site since most of the stuff we buy today is Chinese crap. And it is crap. I have yet to see a quality product product from China. It's all about the price now. The Chinese are really good at stealing ideas. They will reverse engineer a product, replace quality components with crap, and sell it for 1/2 the price. Most of the time, people are too lazy to return these products. They toss it and get another the next time they are at Walmart. |
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justin..needs sleep Mod join:1999-05-28 2031
1 recommendation |
justin
Mod
2015-Mar-26 8:29 am
I agree with everything except 1/2 the price.
They sell it for 1/10th the price. If it gets to be 1/2 the price, then some importer or middle man is having a laugh. |
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·Consolidated Com.. ·Republic Wireless ·Hollis Hosting
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to Msradell
said by Msradell:The electroluminescent ones last forever Another vote for the electroluminescent panels. We have several around the house. They last for years and consume almost no power, plus they give off a nice soft glow, rather then harsh point source. /tom |
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to Msradell
said by Msradell:The electroluminescent ones last forever They lose their glow over time similar to a plasma TV. |
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Onemeg join:2002-04-27 Grimsby, ON |
to jrs8084
Re: [Lighting] LED NightlightsI have three of these and they've been running for about two years without a glitch. If the power goes out, I've got three flashlights rated to run on a full charge for 6 hours. Only had to test them once with a power out and they were great. Night lite is a nice bluish glow that is just right, not too harsh. » homehardware.ca/en/rec/i ··· ts&Num=0 |
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to justin
Re: [Lighting] Re: LED Nightlightssaid by justin:They sell it for 1/10th the price. If it gets to be 1/2 the price, then some importer or middle man is having a laugh. Some time ago I worked for a manufacturing company. They tried to outsource some parts manufacturing to China. They were able to get the finished part too the door for slightly less than the purchasing cost of the raw material in US. It didn't work just because of too long turnaround times and poor quality. |
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1 recommendation |
18189353 (banned)
Member
2015-Mar-26 9:41 am
said by cowboyro:said by justin:They sell it for 1/10th the price. If it gets to be 1/2 the price, then some importer or middle man is having a laugh. Some time ago I worked for a manufacturing company. They tried to outsource some parts manufacturing to China. They were able to get the finished part too the door for slightly less than the purchasing cost of the raw material in US. It didn't work just because of too long turnaround times and poor quality. If the quality was poor that means the specs were poor. I use to work for a company that outsourced about $60 million in products to China annually. They had China manufacture the stuff to the same specs as the US companies used and the quality was the same. There's not much you can do with lead times. If your material management team can't forecast you have bigger issues then lead times. |
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to jrs8084
Re: [Lighting] LED NightlightsIf the outlet isn't a GFCI, get a snappower night light. » www.snappower.comI have them and they work great. |
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BK3 join:2001-04-10 Geneva, IL
1 recommendation |
to jrs8084
When CFLs were just becoming popular, and LED stuff was just being introduced, I bought a package of 4 CFLs, and it came with a free LED nightlight. I have had this LED light in my bathroom ever since I got it. It is a dusk to dawn automatic type. It has worked flawlessly for many years, and is still working. How many years? I am not sure anymore. Must be around a decade or so .... |
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to StephenRC
Ouch $15 each but it's a nice idea. |
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·Consolidated Com.. ·Republic Wireless ·Hollis Hosting
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to StephenRC
That is a pretty clever device, just clips to the terminals of the existing receptacle. Agree with 18189353 a bit pricey but it gets the job done. /tom |
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to 18189353
Re: [Lighting] Re: LED Nightlightssaid by 18189353:If the quality was poor that means the specs were poor. Parts randomly out of specs. said by 18189353:If your material management team can't forecast you have bigger issues then lead times. Exclusively industrial customers, large fluctuations in order quantity and frequency. |
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lutful... of ideas Premium Member join:2005-06-16 Ottawa, ON
1 recommendation |
to 18189353
Re: [Lighting] LED Nightlightssaid by 18189353:Ouch $15 each but it's a nice idea. I am waiting for the inevitable Chinese clones. You could probably buy a dozen for $15. |
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to 18189353
I like it. Interesting though that one pic shows it near a sink where many of us will have a GFCI. I suppse also that many of the outlets you'd want to apply to could have their screws turned all-the-way-out so you'd have to fiddle with it a bit more. But in any case a wonderful idea. Are they only available direct from the mfr? |
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Boooost to BK3
Anon
2015-Mar-26 11:40 am
to BK3
Why bother with a dusk-to-dawn sensor for a 0.5 Watt LED? Running it 24/7 costs less than 5c/month (so you'll save 2.5c/month), and the dusk-to-dawn circuit is just one more point of failure.
A 4 Watt bulb costs less than 50c/month to run, so I wonder where the savings comes from with LED nightlights. I guess in not having to replace the bulb at 50c each. Replace a bulb twice a year and the grand total is $7/year. Eh. I'm not broke over $7/year. |
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to tomupnorth
said by tomupnorth:I suppse also that many of the outlets you'd want to apply to could have their screws turned all-the-way-out so you'd have to fiddle with it a bit more. The contacts on the sides are spring loaded, so having the screws out wouldn't affect it. Snappower has mentioned they are working on a version to go on light switches. |
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StephenRC |
to Boooost
said by Boooost :Running it 24/7 costs less than 5c/month (so you'll save 2.5c/month), and the dusk-to-dawn circuit is just one more point of failure. There are people out there that will want that small savings or don't want the lights on when not needed. |
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BK3 join:2001-04-10 Geneva, IL |
to Boooost
said by Boooost :Why bother with a dusk-to-dawn sensor for a 0.5 Watt LED? Running it 24/7 costs less than 5c/month (so you'll save 2.5c/month), and the dusk-to-dawn circuit is just one more point of failure.
A 4 Watt bulb costs less than 50c/month to run, so I wonder where the savings comes from with LED nightlights. I guess in not having to replace the bulb at 50c each. Replace a bulb twice a year and the grand total is $7/year. Eh. I'm not broke over $7/year. I didn't "bother" with the dusk-to-dawn. That's just the way it came, it was a free-bee, and it has served me well. |
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