LED lamps use drivers (electronic boards installed in the lamp base) different types, including stabilization. The brightness of such lamps does not change when the mains voltage fluctuates over very large limits. Some of the lamps shine equally brightly when the mains voltage drops to 70 V. Unfortunately, manufacturers often do not indicate the actual voltage range: 220 - 240 V or 230 V can be written on the lamp package, but in reality the lamp burns at much lower voltage.

12 V lamps are available with bases E27, E14, GU5.3, and can operate on both direct and alternating current. Most G4 micro lamps and some GU5.3 lamps have very high light pulsation when operating on AC power, which is harmful to the eyes and well-being in general. Ripple can be avoided only by replacing transformers with power supplies direct current.

Color rendering index (CRI, Ra)

The light of an LED lamp differs from the light of an incandescent lamp in its spectrum. Even though the light looks white, there are more of some color components and less of some. The color rendering index indicates how uniform the level of different color components is in light. At low Ra, shades are less visible. Such light is visually unpleasant, and it is very difficult to understand what is wrong in it. Incandescent and solar lamps have Ra above 98, good LED lamps have more than 80, very good ones have more than 90. Unfortunately, some manufacturers overestimate Ra: Ra > 80 is written on the box, but in fact it is only slightly higher than 70. Lamps with Ra are lower 80 in residential areas is better not to use.

Use of lamps with a switch having an indicator

Many LED lamp do not work correctly with switches that have an indicator light or LED. When the switch is turned off, these lamps flash or glow dimly. Only a few manufacturers indicate whether their lamps work with such switches.

Using dimmer lamps

Most LED lamps cannot be dimmed, but special dimmable LED lamps are available that support dimming. These lamps work with most conventional incandescent dimmers, but the minimum dimming level can be quite high (about 20%). Therefore, it is necessary to use special dimmers for LED lamps - with them the brightness can be set up to 0.

Ripple of light

The pulsation of light leads to eye fatigue and a general deterioration in well-being, so it is very important to use only those lamps that do not have visible pulsation. According to SNIP for various types rooms, the pulsation of light is normalized in the range of 5 - 20%, in fact, a pulsation of up to 35% is imperceptible to a person.

Only a few manufacturers write "no pulsation" on the packaging of the lamps. Other lamps may have a low ripple level, but this is not indicated in the lamp parameters. The presence of pulsation can be checked using the “pencil test” or by looking at the light of the lamp through the smartphone’s camera (if there is pulsation, stripes will be visible on the screen).

Illumination Angle

Conventional incandescent lamps shine in all directions, halogen spots give a narrow beam of light. With LED lamps, things are a little more complicated.

Many LED lamps that replace conventional incandescent lamps have a hemispherical cap the same diameter as the body. Such lamps practically do not shine back, and if they are directed downwards, the ceiling will remain dark, which can be perceived uncomfortable. Fortunately, in recent times many lamps appeared, the transparent cap of which is larger than the body, and therefore the lamp shines a little backwards.

LED filament lamps have the same wide angle of illumination as conventional incandescent lamps.

Most LED spots (lamps for suspended ceilings with GU10 and GU5.3 bases) shine with diffused light with an angle of about 100 degrees and dazzle due to a too wide angle (halogen spots give a narrow beam of light with an illumination angle of about 30 degrees). Only some LED spots have the same narrow angle of illumination as halogen lamps. Such lamps are easily recognizable by the presence of lenses in front of the light source.

Lamp type

In a conventional LED lamp, several LEDs are covered with a cap (usually frosted). Sometimes there are outdated "corn lamps", the surface of which is covered with many small LEDs, reminiscent of corn on the cob.

The new filament lamps (or LED filament lamps) are similar in appearance to incandescent lamps - they have a glass bulb and a wide angle of illumination. Inside the lamp there are LED filaments - ceramic or metal plates, on which many small LEDs are placed in a row. Such lamps are more efficient than conventional ones (they give more than 100 lm / W), and their light is as close as possible to the light of incandescent lamps. Most filament lamps are transparent, but there are also frosted ones. The disadvantage of such lamps is a shorter service life compared to conventional LED lamps.

Life time

Manufacturers indicate lamp life from 10,000 to 50,000 hours. In fact, no one knows how long a lamp will last in reality, because technologies are improving very quickly, and all service lives are calculated theoretically. I recommend paying attention not to the specified service life, but to the warranty period, during which you can exchange a failed lamp.

Guarantee

All LED bulbs come with a 1 to 5 year warranty. Stores are required to replace lamps under warranty within this period if they fail. In addition, under consumer protection law, you can return the lamps to the store within 14 days of purchase if you do not like them, provided that the packaging is intact and, if possible, a receipt.

How to choose good lamps

The choice of LED lamps is not an easy task. Even the most famous manufacturers have models with unacceptably high ripple. Some manufacturers have some good products and some not so good. In order to know exactly which lamps are good and which are not, I created a project to independently test LED lamps. I test the lamps and publish the results of measuring all the main parameters. More than 1000 models of lamps from 75 brands have already been tested, and work continues. Therefore, the easiest choice is to find the lamp you are interested in on lamptest and look at its measured parameters:

The ripple factor should not exceed 35% (and it is better that it be less than 10%);

The color rendering index must be at least 80 (for utility rooms it is possible from 70);

The luminous flux must be no less than that of the incandescent lamp that you want to replace with LED;

If you have a switch with an indicator, make sure the lamp can work with it correctly.

If you have a dimmer installed, make sure the lamp is dimmable;

If you choose spot lamps, pay attention to the angle of illumination. Lamps with an angle greater than 50° will dazzle when installed in the ceiling of a large room.

If the packaging says “no ripple”, it is highly likely that the lamp light ripple will be less than 5%. If this is not indicated and it is possible to turn on the lamp, look at its light through the cell phone camera - there should not be stripes across the screen. Try swirling a pencil or other long object in front of the lamp. If the contours of the pencil are blurred, there are no ripples, if you see "several pencils", you should not buy such a lamp.

See how the skin of the hand looks under the light of the lamp. If the color is grayish, the lamp has a low color rendering index, and it is better not to buy it.

Compare the brightness of the lamp to that of an incandescent or other lamp whose brightness you know. A rough comparison can be made using a smartphone and a light meter application installed on it, such as Sensors Multitool. The sensors of all smartphones are not calibrated, so the absolute values ​​for all smartphones will be completely different, but in our case it does not matter. Take at home a matte lamp of the same shape that you want to buy, launch the application and lean your smartphone with a sensor (it is located above the screen) against the top of a regular lamp or against the center of the side of a candle lamp. Write down the resulting value. At the store, turn on the lamp you are about to buy, wait about a minute, launch the app, and place the sensor against the lamp. Compare the value with the one measured at home. Now you will know almost exactly whether the measured lamp is brighter than the one measured at home, or dimmer.

Pay attention to the date of manufacture of the lamp (for most lamps, it is indicated on the body). If the lamp was released more than a year ago, it is better not to buy it - progress is very fast, and modern lamps are better than those that were produced before.

Pay attention to the warranty period. If the warranty is long (3 - 5 years), the probability of lamp failure is much lower.

Take a photo of the receipt after purchase. If the bulb fails, this photo will help you get it replaced under warranty if the original receipt gets lost or faded.

Reference article based on the expert opinion of the author.

How to choose LED lamps for the home: from characteristics to manufacturers

Light emitting diode (LED), or light emitting diodes, are widely used as indicator lights, they can be seen on dashboards and billboards, and in the last few years, LED lamps for the home have gained popularity.

The modern consumer is attentive to the ratio of price and quality, especially when it comes to technical innovations. Let's find out if LED lamps will help to save money and what are the advantages of using LED lamps.

Characteristics of LED lamps for home

Traditional incandescent lamps, including halogen lamps, are characterized by high energy losses in the form of heat. In LED alternating current converts to constant with little or no heating, which makes LED luminaires economical and safe. The resource of the LED lamp can be 30,000-100,000 hours, depending on the technology and operating conditions.

One of the important advantages of LED lamps is the wide choice of light temperatures. For indoors, lamps of 2600–3200 K (warm white) and 3700–4200 K (natural white) are optimal. Deviations up or down are perceived as uncomfortable and even oppressive. For an apartment, it is recommended to use warm white, but a table lamp for a workplace can be with a natural white LED lamp - a cold shade of lighting will help you quickly tune into a working mood.

LED lamps are stronger than conventional ones, they can be shaken and dropped without risk, they will not burst in the hands from too much pressure, they do not burn out from frequent switching on / off of the light.

High-quality LED lamps are devoid of pulsation effect luminous flux. This unpleasant phenomenon, sometimes imperceptible to the human eye, leads to rapid fatigue. You can check the presence of pulsations using the camera of a mobile phone. When aiming the lens at the pulsing lamp, the image on the screen will flash.

What LED lamps are better to choose for the house

The choice of lighting for the home has its own specifics, because most often we spend the dark time of the day right here, doing everyday things, and the lamps should provide maximum comfort for long hours.

Power. If you decide to replace conventional lamps with LED ones and do not know how to choose the power, a simple formula will help you: divide the power of the replaced incandescent foot by 8.

Voltage. LED lamps run on normal voltage 220 V, can also be rated for 110 V.

The number of LEDs in the lamp. While LEDs do not burn out like conventional incandescent bulbs, they do age. The more LEDs provide the necessary brightness of the lamp, the longer it will last.

Product design and shape. LED lamps can be made both in the traditional version with one or another flask (ball, pear, globe, candle), and in the form of "corn" with LEDs located similarly to grains on the cob.

Body materials. In the manufacture of the housing of the LED lamp, frosted and transparent glass, aluminum, plastic, ceramics can be used. When choosing between glass and plastic lamps, give preference to glass ones - they have higher light transmission rates.

The degree of protection of the product. This indicator is indicated by the letters IP and numbers. IP40 is enough for a normal room, IP50 for a dusty one.

Plinth. LED lamps have screw and pin bases. Screws are indicated by the letter E and numbers indicating the diameter in millimeters. Pins are designated by the letter G and numbers indicating the distance in millimeters between the pins.

• E27 - classic threaded plinth. Suitable for chandeliers and fixtures designed for the use of energy-saving lamps and incandescent lamps.
• E14 - a variation of the E27 base with a smaller diameter. Suitable for many modern fixtures. Such a base is usually found in “minion” and “candle” lamps.
• GU5.3, G9 - LED lamps with such a base can completely replace halogen ones.
• GU10 - most often such a base is used to install lamps in kitchen hoods and built-in lights to illuminate the work surface.
• G4 - base with two "wires" at the end. Usually used in small lamps to illuminate paintings.

Price . quality lamps can't be cheap. Of course, even 500 rubles for a light bulb can be psychologically difficult to give away, not to mention larger sums. However, if you remember the energy efficiency and service life of LED lamps, this problem will disappear by itself.

Manufacturer . In the emission of LEDs, the intensity of the blue spectrum is high, and this factor can negatively affect vision and psychological comfort. Top Producers they make sure that the LED lamps are safe for health, while the small nameless ones are not interested in this issue at all. If you want new lamps to work for a long time and help your eyesight, give preference to quality certified products. The manufacturer must be indicated on the packaging.

The search for high-quality LED lamps should begin with the choice of the manufacturer, since for unknown companies the characteristics declared on the packaging may not always correspond to reality.

Rating of manufacturers of LED lamps

The market for LED lighting technology in Russia is still being formed. The demand for energy-saving lighting devices in our country was formed much later than in other countries. Therefore, the share of domestic LED products on the market is small, mainly imported LED lamps go on sale. Almost all manufacturers listed below have official websites in Russian.

European countries

LED products made in Europe are of high quality, harmless to health, meeting all modern requirements for lighting devices. Of course, this also affects the price.

• Philips . A global brand based in the Netherlands with three core businesses: healthcare, lighting and consumer products. LED lamps from this manufacturer can cost 500-1800 rubles, they can be purchased at almost any reputable outlet where there is a department of electric lighting devices.
• Osram . A German company known worldwide for more than 100 years as a supporter of "intelligent light". Lamps can be bought at a price of 400-1600 rubles in specialized lighting stores.
• Foton Lighting . A manufacturing and trading lighting company headquartered in London. Foton Lighting LED lamps cost 400-700 rubles. They are easy to find in online electrical stores.

Japan

Japanese engineers have a reputation for being pioneers in many areas of technology, and Japanese attention to detail can compete with German. That is why the products of the country rising sun so popular all over the world, and LED lamps are no exception.

• Nichia . High-brightness LEDs produced by this company have long been used in dozens of areas of modern industry, and have recently found their consumers in everyday life. A feature of Nichia LED lamps is the use of special optical lenses, thanks to which the light is distributed evenly. Prices for lamps from this manufacturer start at 300 rubles.

Russia

Domestic LED products are currently not inferior in quality to European ones, but with the same characteristics, they can cost less due to the fact that production facilities are located in Russia.

• Gauss . A wide range of LED products that undergo strict quality control in independent laboratories in Europe, China and Russia. LED lamps cost 400–2000 rubles, you can buy them at the Gauss brand store and other retail outlets.
• "Optogan" . The Optogan group of companies is one of the few in the world and the only one in Russia that has the technology and the full cycle of production of LEDs and LED technology. In Russian retail chains, Optogan LED lamps for household lighting presented since 2011. The lineup constantly updated. The average cost of the Optogan lamp is 500–700 rubles.
• ASD . Today the company sells over 1,000,000 LED lamps per month. The quality of products has been awarded at international exhibitions, while prices start from 100 rubles. You can buy LED lamps from this company in online stores, supermarkets, construction markets, and lighting equipment stores.

China

First of all, it should be noted that the practice of buying nameless LED lamps in Chinese online stores is currently not justified. Previously, the mass consumer did just that, and if a cheap lamp failed, he simply bought a new one. Now it is unprofitable, besides, no one is responsible for the quality of such lamps. For example, 0.15 W and 0.09 W LEDs can be produced in the same cases as 0.5 W, put in the lamp in the same quantity, only the lamp will give, for example, 400 lm instead of 1700 lm. However, in Russia you can buy certified products of well-known Chinese brands, the quality of which is beyond doubt.

• camelion . High quality lamps, lighting engineering, power supplies and lanterns, produced for more than twenty years. The Russian-language website of the company provides complete information about the products, including certificates of conformity. The warranty for LED lamps is 3 years from the date of purchase, the resource is 30,000–40,000 hours. You can buy them in large Russian retail chains, online stores and specialized lighting stores. The cost is 100-450 rubles.
• selecta . In assortment - light sources, fixtures and accessories to them. Products are widely represented in online stores of lighting equipment. For the home, you can recommend ultra-thin built-in LED lights at a price of about 700 rubles, as well as various LED ceiling lights worth 1200-1300 rubles.
• Estares . Trademark of the famous Chinese company MaySun. You can buy LED lamps, ASTRELLA LED controllable luminaires, interior and functional luminaires for home, office and retail space in stores selling lighting equipment and LED products. Lamps can be bought at a price of 200–500 rubles, recessed thin LED lamps cost 1200–2500 rubles.

Russia-China

Products of Russian-Chinese production are distinguished by a combination of innovative technologies with reliability and ease of use.

• Ecola . GX53 LED lamps manufactured by Ecola are energy-saving, flat, used for stretch and suspended ceilings in offices and at home. They cost 150-500 rubles, they can be purchased both on the company's website and in multi-brand online and offline outlets.
• Newera . The company's brand is SVeto-Led, under which LED lamps have been produced at Chinese production facilities for 9 years. You can buy them through the SVeto-Led website at a price of 170–500 rubles.

When choosing LED lamps, it is useful to read customer reviews and expert reviews. The most correct reviews are those compiled after a few months of operation, as well as data from independent tests. The more reputable the manufacturer of LED lamps, the smaller the discrepancies between the declared and actual characteristics.

Where can I buy LED lamps for the home?

Currently, LED lamps are a popular product that can be purchased at many retail outlets, from radio markets to hypermarkets and online stores. LED lamps, lamps and tapes from well-known manufacturers suitable for your home can be selected, for example, in a store, in the electronic catalog of which, perhaps, the lowest prices in Runet. All goods are certified. Payment for individuals possible by bank cards, bank transfer or electronic money. Delivery works in Moscow and regions of Russia. Discounts are available for large orders.

If you decide to make lighting in the house using LED light bulbs, you need to correctly approach their choice. This is primarily due to the fact that products have many parameters that affect electricity savings, lighting comfort, product costs, etc. Among these parameters, the main ones are the luminous flux of products, the angle of dispersion, the manufacturer, the power and the type of base. Next, we will try to consider each of the criteria in as much detail as possible so that you learn how to choose LED lamps for your home and apartment.

Power

The first and probably the most important characteristic for buyers is the power of LED bulbs. How many watts the product consumes will determine the efficiency of lighting.

A very important nuance that you must remember is that when replacing with LEDs, the power of the modern version must be reduced by at least 7.5 times. In simple words- if a 75 W light bulb was screwed in, the LED should be selected with a power of no more than 10 W.

You can see the difference in the comparison table:

As you can see, even with the example of replacing one light source, the savings are huge. But what if you replace the entire apartment? For houses and apartments, it is better to choose LED lamps with a power of 6 to 8 W, which illuminate the room with better quality than 60-watt incandescent lamps.

Immediately I would like to say a few words about another important parameter - voltage. There are light bulbs operating from 12 and 220 V. The first option is used in rooms with high humidity, for example, during installation. You should not buy 12-volt products with the expectation that they will consume less electricity, because. this is not true.

Video comparison of LED and fluorescent lamps

The next option to choose wisely is . As you can see in the picture, the higher the temperature (in Kelvin), the colder the glow will be.

For a comfortable time in the room, you do not need to choose LED lamps with bright daylight which are most often used in offices and industrial premises. It is better to give preference to the range from 2700 to 3000 K, because. this temperature gap is a yellowish glow of the usual sunlight. The packaging may indicate the color in word form. Buy those models that are signed as "warm white" or "soft white".

Plinth type

We have already talked with you in detail about where the most popular product designs were provided. When choosing LED lamps according to the type of base, it is better to dwell on the option that was previously. For example, if a standard E27 threaded base was screwed into the chandelier, look on the market for an LED with the same thread.

If you decide, you need to choose a LED lamp with a GU 5.3 base. Sconces and nightlights use E27 and E14 (Mignon) threads. The shape of the light sources can be very diverse: pear-shaped, elongated, round. Here already give preference to your taste and design of the lamp.

The presence of a radiator

The heat sink removes the temperature from the LED block. If the design does not provide for a cooling system in the form of an aluminum finned surface, bypass such a model.

Sometimes manufacturers of cheap products install a radiator in the form of a plastic outlet. We do not recommend you to choose this option, because. plastic has many drawbacks and, compared to aluminum, it does not have such a high cooling efficiency. On this occasion, you can see a lot of negative feedback on the forums from those people who took advantage of this option.

It should also be noted here that frosted flasks do not allow you to see whether a radiator is installed or not, so when choosing LED lamps for your home and apartment, think about whether you need opaque bulbs.

By the way, you can understand whether there is a radiator in the LED lamp by weight. If the light bulb is heavy (it differs in weight from analogues), most likely it has a high-quality aluminum radiator. This design option can be chosen without a doubt for an apartment or a house.

Also, when choosing an LED lamp, pay attention to such a characteristic as a working life. To date, this figure may exceed the bar of 50 thousand hours, which is about 15 years of work. At the same time, we do not recommend too much relying on the reliability of information. The fact is that over time it happens and the quality of their glow noticeably decreases.

It will be better to start not from the working resource, but from the warranty period of operation. This time can be from 3 to 5 years, which means the following - if the light bulb fails during this period of time, it will be changed to a new one for free. Actually a useful thing, but the problem is that domestic and not very high-quality firms allow a warranty period of up to 3 years (foreign ones from 5). As a rule, during these 3 years, breakdowns are extremely rare.

This parameter must also be taken into account when choosing LED bulbs for the home. The nature of the illumination will depend on whether a diverging lens is installed and whether it is coated on the inside with a phosphor.

Also pay attention to how the LEDs are positioned. If they are all in the same plane, the light will be narrowly focused. At the same time, the multi-level placement of diodes will create diffused lighting.

Color Ratio

Few people pay attention to this when choosing them, but, nevertheless, it is also important. For bright lighting, the color transfer coefficient must be at least 80. A value of 95 is considered a high indicator, but such a model will be much more expensive at a price. The color rendition is indicated on the package, but it is not always possible to find it on the front side.

Here I would like to tell you a little trick. You can check how high-quality the manufacturer of the light bulb you have chosen is by this coefficient. If the lamp is cheap and the value on the package is high, then it is a fake.

Dimmer compatible

When we examined, we paid attention to the fact that not all models of dimmers can be used with ice lamps. The LEDs for connecting to the dimmer must be specially designed, this must be indicated on the packaging.

If you choose an LED lamp that does not work with a dimmer, both the dimmer and the bulbs will quickly fail. You can learn more about it in our related article!

Appearance of the package

The packaging itself says a lot about the quality of the light bulb.

As a rule, the following elements are displayed on the packaging of the popular ones:

• information about the manufacturer;
• power;
• warranty period of work;
• plinth type;
• luminous flux (indicated in Lumens);
• color rendering coefficient;
• color temperature (both in verbal form and in Kelvin);
• barcode.

If many of these parameters are not specified, the product is unlikely to be of high quality. Also, when choosing LED lamps for home and apartment, we advise you to pay attention to the build quality itself. For good manufacturers, all fastening elements are made without gaps, irregularities and roughness.

A visual lesson on packaging review is discussed in detail in this video:

How to determine the quality of an LED lamp

Manufacturers

As you understand, much of the above depends on the manufacturer. As for countries, both domestic and foreign companies produce fairly reliable products. Consider how to choose the right LED lamps by manufacturer.

The leaders of the rating are such giants as Osram, Philips, Nichia, CREE and GAUSS. There are a lot of positive reviews about the Chinese company MAXUS, whose products have the highest warranty period at a relatively low price. Among domestic manufacturers, such Russian campaigns as "Svetlana-Optoelectronics" and Optogan (Optogan).

Extra options

In 2017, they are gaining more and more popularity, which have such functionality:

1. Protection from thieves. The light bulb remembers the time of turning on and off by the owners for a week and in their absence turns on and off on its own, simulating the effect of presence.
2. Has an on and off timer. The settings are set manually.
3. Control from the remote control. In addition to turning the light on and off, you can choose the brightness or color of the glow.
4. Smoke and motion sensors.
5. The presence of a battery. When the light is turned off, the lamp can still work for several hours, which provides.
6. Strengthening the Wi-Fi signal. Smart LED lamps can expand the coverage of a Wi-Fi network through built-in antennas. This will strengthen the wireless signal in places where it is very weak.
7. The presence of speakers. Yes, the bulbs can even play your favorite music from your smartphone. To do this, you just need to synchronize the lamp and phone via Bluetooth.

The most popular models of LED smart bulbs are Philips Hue, Xiaomi Yeelight LED and Luminous BT Smart Bulb. Do you want to choose a smart LED light bulb for your apartment or house? Take a look at the listed models.

In addition, when choosing LED lamps, pay attention to the operating temperature range. For the street, you need to choose a light bulb that can function at a minimum temperature mark of about -40 ° C. For baths and saunas, on the contrary, the operating temperature of the LEDs should be around +90°C.

Well, the last thing I would like to talk about is the ripple coefficient. If the lamp pulsates, this indicates a low quality rectifier in the power supply. The stronger the pulsation, the faster the person gets tired, and his nervous system is also more excited. Unfortunately, it is impossible to estimate the ripple coefficient with the naked eye. This will require a special device or at least a mobile phone camera. Ask to turn on the light bulb, point the camera at it, if the image starts flashing, then the LED lamp is pulsing, we do not recommend choosing it.

That's all I wanted to tell you about how to choose LED lamps for the home and which models are best for domestic use. We hope that this information was new and useful for you! If you have any questions, our experts will answer them in the comments or category "

The number of varieties of light bulbs for the home is much higher than it was with conventional light sources. Now bulbs with E14 and E27 socles at 220 volts are electronic lighting fixture. I will help you find the answer to the question, LED lamps for the home, how to choose reliable and inexpensive. Functionality and filling:

1. miniature pulse drivers (power supplies) on microcircuits;
2. can shine with all the colors of the rainbow due to the use of RGB LEDs (red, green, blue);
3. be controlled from the remote control via infrared or radio channel;
4. have a built-in battery for autonomous operation;
5. have a control interface via Wi-Fi, which is used to build smart home systems.

Which one is more reliable and durable?

Choose a manufacturer. The world-famous brands Philips and Osram, of course, produce good household lamps, but the price for the average citizen is high, and for this price you can choose products from other manufacturers with almost the same technical characteristics.

1. "Feron", Feron;
2. "Camelion", Camelion;
3. Jazzway, Jazzway;
4. "Gauss", Gauss;
5. "Navigator", Navigator;
6. "Era", Era.

There are many other little-known manufacturers, such as Elektrostandard, Housekeeper, Ecola, Odeon, Cosmos, Uniel, ASD, Start. But I cannot recommend them, reviews about them are not always good, I also evaluated the product range and their websites, they are very different from the leading manufacturers for the worse.

When buying from overseas stores, be vigilant, because Europe and America have different specifications and standards. Philips and CREE are produced under the E26 base and can be rated for 110 volts, not 220 V like ours.

How to buy cheap in an online store

Due to fluctuations in the exchange rate of the ruble and the dollar, prices change many times in different directions, in different stores the cost for the same model can differ by 1.5 - 2 times. How to choose an LED lamp for your home if you like a certain model? First you need to search through Yandex in different places and it is very likely that you will find it more accessible. The cheapest are light bulbs from old batches, in some places they are still sold. I bought excellent ones for 10W 850 Lumens at a local discounter for 160 rubles, I informed my relatives about such cheapness and they sold out this model in one day.

Federal Internet brands come to many regions of Russia, and before going to a regular electrical store, I advise you to visit the federal one, there is often a good product with an interesting price tag. And if it is not available, then it will be quickly brought to order from the neighboring region.

Design choice

Classic with flask and corn

The most popular LED lamps in use with an E27 and E14 base for a voltage of 220 Volts are structurally divided into 2 types, with a bulb and in the form of corn. Each type has its own advantages and disadvantages. The model range of corn is very small, because certified producers have practically ceased to produce due to fire safety requirements. In corn, the contacts of the LEDs on the outside are energized, and therefore they are unsafe. The fire inspector will require the installation of corn in a protective cover.

Other types of socles, for example G13, G4, G9, GU5.3 are used for spot ceiling lights, and are mainly designed for a voltage of 12 volts. Be careful not to confuse with 220 volts.

Among the features of E14 LED lamps, I want to note that they are not produced with a power of more than 6 watts and the luminous flux does not exceed 600 Lm. This factor should be considered when buying a lamp. When I encountered such a feature, in order not to change, I had to buy powerful E14 9W in a Chinese online store.

Light flow

Compliance with incandescent power and energy-saving

To choose the right one, then use the power correspondence table, which will help you find an analogue.

When buying products from a well-known brand, you can use a simple formula to calculate. Now the luminous flux of modern LEDs is 90-100 Lumens per watt of power. To determine the approximate brightness, you need to multiply the power by the efficiency in lumens. For an 11W LED, the approximate luminous flux will be 11*(90 to 100) = 900 to 1100 Lumens.

Power matching table or how to choose a light bulb for the home.
If you will be assured of other characteristics, then you should not believe it. It is not rational to produce home led bulbs for the home with an efficiency of more than 130 Lumens per Watt, they turn out to be too expensive.

When choosing with a frosted bulb, it should be taken into account that the bulb significantly reduces the luminous flux, usually by 15-30%. I think it's better to buy with a transparent flask. But if operating conditions allow, for example, a pantry, a closet or an attic, then you can simply remove the translucent matte flask, most often it is attached to the sealant and removed with a little effort.

Which color temperature is best

Colorful temperature

Over the years of using incandescent lamps, we have become accustomed to warm light, and when buying LED sources, we are guided by our habits. But in my experience, if you put diode neutral white lights, then after using them for 2-3 days, you won't settle back to warm white. Neutral white, this is natural daylight, and it can be very unusual to see it in the evening.

Should I buy LED lamps for my home? No one "> change all ordinary lamps to LED at home, can only visit the heads of very far-sighted people who know how to count money, and do not chase short-term benefits. In this article I will try to analyze how justified the use of LED lamps instead of ordinary ones. The conclusions turned out to be unexpected even for me! After the calculations, I immediately bought myself a whole bag of such lamps, which, as they say, I wish you too :)

Let's start with the fact that earlier LEDs were dim, weak in terms of glow, and were used mainly instead of conventional light bulbs for various indicators. For example, in instrument panels, electronic displays, and other places where small incandescent bulbs were used before. Why did they start using LEDs? The reason is the same for which they are now used in homes, cars. They, LEDs, consume almost no energy compared to light bulbs. Plus, they don't get hot at all.

If, for example, we take a miniature incandescent lamp and an LED with a comparable brightness, connect them each to an ordinary battery, then the system with the lamp will "die" much faster than the "battery - LED" pair.

What is the cost savings? I would not like to go into technical details, this is still not an article for a scientific journal. If everything is very simplified, then in an incandescent lamp the main part of the energy is spent precisely on this very incandescence, that is, heating. It is easy to verify this by trying to pick up a light bulb that has been burning for a while. Even a very small lamp, which is powered by a 1.5-volt finger-type battery, can significantly burn the hand of a careless experimenter. A burning LED can be easily taken by hand without fear. It practically does not heat up.

It is estimated that in an incandescent lamp, approximately 75-85% of the energy goes to heat, and only 15-25 percent of the remaining - to the light itself. But after all, we turn on the light bulbs not for the sake of heat, but for the sake of light. Consequently, an ordinary incandescent lamp, which faithfully served humanity from time immemorial, is a device, to put it mildly, not quite perfect. That is, of course, it does its job, but its efficiency (efficiency factor - I apologize for the decoding, suddenly someone does not know) is about 20%.

Now, if this energy, which is used for heating, would also be directed "in the right direction", used "for peaceful purposes", that is, to glow!

At different times, such attempts have already been made. For example, who does not know these long neon lamps, which are used mainly for lighting institutions and very rarely for home use. Gas glows there, such lamps do consume less energy, but because of their deathly white-blue flickering light and sometimes monotonous buzz, they are not widely used in our homes.

There are also energy-saving lamps. Such glass curlicues, which, although they are expensive, really consume less energy. For example, I have such an energy-saving lamp with a power of 85W hanging in my hall. And although it spends about the same amount of energy as the usual familiar 100-watt incandescent light bulb, it burns so brightly that you just "shoot yourself" :). When I go home by car, I see my window on the 15th floor from afar (for three kilometers). And not because I just know where it is. It's just that no one in the house has such a bright lamp. About energy saving lamps I will write separately sometime.

In this article, I would like to deal specifically with LED light bulbs. They appeared on the market quite recently, about a year or two ago (2013-2014). At first, their cost did not leave hope for a mere mortal to save money for at least one. However, times do not always change for the worse. The technology is being perfected, the cost is decreasing, the price of LED lamps has gradually approached the threshold beyond which they began to be bought.

LED, or as they are also called, led lamps(led - translated from English is just "light-emitting diode"), while buying carefully. For a test. Moreover, people often place much more hope on them than they deserve.

For example, a customer comes to the store and decides to buy one LED lamp. There are different options at the booth, but the person decides to buy the cheapest one, because "it also shines well."

And store managers - they're not stupid either. They put several weak light bulbs on the stand next to it. If you turn them all together, it really turns out pretty bright. Indeed, you might think that such a light bulb will quite cope with the task of lighting, for example, the kitchen. Plus ... other light sources work in the trading floor. This is how rash decisions are made. I accepted the same, looking at how cheerfully the LED light bulb shines in the company of my own kind :)

As a result, when the buyer comes home, he experiences bitter disappointment. Why did the lamp in the store shine so brightly and illuminate everything well, but at home it suddenly became dim, dull and completely inappropriate?

Let's see what LED lamps are, understand their parameters, and then decide how many and what kind of lamps to buy in order to adequately illuminate our home.

What are LED lamps

In general, there are a lot of them. They are very different. There are even those that can be disassembled: for example, remove the flask. Would you like to try this with an incandescent lamp! And here everything is easy. After all, LEDs do not need a special gaseous medium to work. They can easily work outdoors and "nothing will happen to them."

Not pretending to do fundamental full review market of LED lamps, I will allow myself to mention only those that I myself bought, held in my hands, well, and those that I would like to buy, but did not find on sale.

So, let's start with the fact that LED lamps have different bases. plinth- this is the same piece of iron with a spiral, with which the light bulb is screwed into the cartridge :). For example, many table lamps and decorative lamps use so-called "minions", that is, lamps with a reduced base size. This allows the lamps themselves to be more compact, and therefore the luminaires more delicate.

I bought these two bulbs to show you their variety, and then use them in a table lamp.

By the way! Important! If your desk lamp or some other lamp has not just a switch, but a dimmer, then LED lamps will not work for you! When turned on, they will burn normally, and if the lamp is turned off, the lamps will constantly flicker until you remove the plug from the outlet. I myself stepped on this rake and now I warn you.

Speaking of normal E27 LED Bulb Base(such a marking for a normal normal base), then the choice of lamps will be much wider. I only bought two bulbs. But before we show them to you, let's learn how to read their parameters so that we can talk more in detail and choose the right lamp for you.

How to choose the right LED bulb

Let's look at the packaging of this lamp.

Pay attention to the bottom right corner of the package. Everything we need is there.

Let's start with the designation 2700 kelvin.

This is the so-called "light temperature". The easiest way to explain the meaning of this parameter is with the help of the following figure:

Our option is the leftmost one - 2700K. This is the so-called "warm light", to which ordinary incandescent lamps have accustomed us. For us at home, it is more natural, so when buying lamps (not only LEDs), it is better to choose just such a light temperature.

4200K is a neutral white light. It is not very familiar, but sometimes it is very useful. For example, I use such lamps when I photograph something for reports like this. I just don't want all the photos to be "littered" with yellowness.

6400K- cold bluish light. I can’t imagine where in the home environment one could use lamps with such a glow. But, imagine, for example, a decoration in a museum showing some kind of polar scene. There, yellow lamps with warm light will be completely inappropriate, but blue ones will give exactly the right cold arctic light.

CRI- this option can be skipped. This is an abbreviation for Color Rendering Index, which means the accuracy of matching the color of an object illuminated with a natural color with the color of the same object illuminated by a given lamp. This setting is important when, for example, we want to use lamps to illuminate models when taking photos. The higher the value of this parameter, the more accurately the color is rendered. But in ordinary life, this is not so necessary for us. Therefore, a CRI of this bulb over 87 can be considered quite acceptable.

55lm/W is the so-called luminous efficiency of the lamp. That is, how many lumens of the light flux (a lumen is such a special unit of measurement of the brightness of the light flux) is provided with a power of 1 watt. The higher this parameter, the more economical the lamp. This particular light bulb is far from the most successful in terms of luminous efficiency (although it is still much better than an ordinary incandescent lamp, which, when considering this parameter, will seem like an energy monster).

40000 inclusions. That is how long this lamp is guaranteed to withstand. To understand how high this parameter is, let's imagine that every day we turn it on and off 10 times. In this case, the lamp life is enough for about 10 years of operation.

25000 hours this lamp will be able to please us with its light. Again, if you burn it for about 5 hours a day, then its resource will be enough for about 13 years. By the way, if the light bulb is not turned off at all, the resource will last a little less than 3 years. 3 years of continuous burning is a lot.

Next comes the start time. The fact is that the LED bulbs do not turn on immediately, as soon as you flip the switch. This particular lamp will have a delay of less than 1 second. This time will be enough for you to be surprised and think that the lamp is faulty, but over time you will get used to it and stop paying attention to this delay. You do not sound the alarm when you turn on the fluorescent lamps in the office and wait a few seconds until they "flash". And get used to the delay per second, too.

Finally, let's look at the top right corner of the package. Inscription 200lm 3.5W means that this lamp creates a very weak light output - only 200 lumens, but consumes only 3.5 watts per hour. I am not at all embarrassed by such a weak indicator - 200 lumens for a table lamp is more than enough, especially considering that I have two such lamps there. But the power consumption is simply fantastic: only 3.5 watts. An incandescent lamp with a comparable luminous flux would eat up about 40 watts per hour, that is, 13 times more.

How many LED lamps do you need to buy for an apartment

During my practice, I was able to personally get acquainted with different LED lamps. For example, for a table lamp, I use two bulbs with a power of 3.5 watts and a luminous flux of 200 lumens. I have already shown their photo above.

To illuminate a small room or hallway, bathroom or toilet, you need something more powerful. For example, you can use a light bulb with a luminous flux of 400lm and a power of 6.3W:

The situation is greatly simplified if you have a chandelier with several horns hanging on your ceiling. For example, if there are three horns in a chandelier, then you can screw three 6.3W lamps into it and get a total power of just under 19W and a luminous flux of 1200lm. Enough for a room up to 20 square meters. If there are five horns in the chandelier, then the use of five lamps of the above power allows you to feel comfortable in a room with an area of, say, up to 30 meters. Haven't tried it myself, but I'm just guessing it should be enough.

How much do LED bulbs cost

Of course, the price range depends very much on the specific place where you buy the lamp and on the manufacturer. I'm not talking about the fact that the cost directly depends on the power of the lamp, because you have to pay dearly for bright pleasures. I must say right away that the prices given here may lose their relevance over time. Lamps are likely to be cheaper. I used the current prices (December 2014) to make my energy savings calculations so far. If the lamps become cheaper, then the savings will increase accordingly.

For example, a minion lamp for a 3.5W table lamp, which I described a little higher, costs 199 rubles in the IKEA store. Of course, when you look at the price tag, you want to immediately send the LEDs away and buy an ordinary good old light bulb at a price of about 10 rubles. But let's not do that for now, because a little later I will give calculations showing that LED lamps are actually cheaper than conventional ones, no matter how strange it sounds.

A lamp with a large base with a power of 6.3W, oddly enough, is cheaper - 129 rubles. (About a year later - in March 2016 - such light bulbs cost 89 rubles!)

A 13W lamp costs about 600 rubles. Again, this may seem very expensive, but be patient. Interesting numbers coming soon.

The light of LED lamps saves you money. Truth and myths

In all the brochures on LED lamps, it is constantly stated that their use is very profitable, despite the fact that the lamps themselves are still expensive.

There is no doubt that they consume less energy compared to incandescent lamps. Suffice it to say that if you decide to take an LED lamp with your hands that has been working for a long time, you will be surprised to find that its bulb has a normal room temperature. You can safely take it with your hands and you will not burn yourself. True, there is still heat dissipation, touch the base of a lamp that has just been turned out and you will see that it still cannot do without heat.

However, this heat is not comparable to that produced by an incandescent lamp. It is generally impossible to pick it up immediately after turning it off. Thus, the efficiency of LED lamps is much higher. This is an indisputable fact.

To calculate energy savings, I will assume that we have only one 6.3W LED lamp, which is screwed into the chandelier instead of a 60-watt incandescent lamp.

I will also proceed from the average cost of electricity 2.88 rubles per kilowatt. It would be possible, of course, to take into account two-tariff plans, but this will greatly complicate the calculations.

So. A typical 60 watt light bulb costs about 10-15 rubles. Same brightness LED lamp costs 129 rubles(Over time, this value will decrease). That is, for the cost of one led lamp, we can buy about 8-10 light bulbs and provide ourselves for about ten years ahead. True, the LED lamp also works approximately 10-15 years old. At least that's what it says in the description. So we can assume that we did not win in the cost of light bulbs. But even if we do not believe advertising (you never know what they will write there to fit into our pockets), then the following calculations show that LEDs are definitely worth dealing with.

This means that in one day a 60-watt lamp will burn energy for 0.86 rubles(60*2.88/1000*5). In a month, the counter will have the amount: 25.92 RUB.

The appetite of the LED lamp is much more modest: 0.09 rubles(6.3*2.88/1000*5). In a month on the counter you will see the amount 2.7 rub.

Savings on one lamp per month will be 23.22 rubles.

Already through five and a half months (!) an LED lamp worth 129 rubles will fully pay for itself due to the saved energy and will continue to work, giving you, so to speak, a net profit. Here, having these figures in hand, I would like to give an adequate answer to those who say that they are unreliable and will burn out in a year. Even if this happens, you still, oddly enough, will win.

Now we will make a similar calculation for the case with a 100-watt incandescent lamp and a 13-watt LED counterpart.

The cost of the cheapest 100-watt lamp will be the same 10-15 rubles. By the way, now 100-watt lamps are no longer sold. They were replaced by 95-watt ones, but this does not radically change things.

A 13W LED lamp costs much more - 599 rubles. So we obviously won’t win anything on the difference in the cost of the lamps. For one such LED lamp, we can buy a whole box of ordinary incandescent lamps.

Let's calculate, maybe we'll win big on saving electricity?

The same calculations show that a 100-watt light bulb burns for 5 hours of operation per day. 1.44 rubles. We have an expense per month 43.2 rubles.

The 13-watt LED lamp again has more modest needs and spends the same 5 hours 0.19 RUB. and correspondingly, 5.62 rub. per month.

Savings per month is 37.58 rubles.

Such a powerful and expensive lamp will pay for itself in energy savings in 16 months. That is, its payback period is much longer than that of the previous 6.3-watt lamp.

Hence the important conclusion: it is much more profitable to buy two 6.3W lamps and use them in the room at the same time than to buy one 13 watt lamp. It is also more profitable when buying, and such a solution starts saving money much faster than a single more powerful lamp. True, in order to realize this, you may have to buy a new chandelier with two cartridges, but this will also pay off soon.

Now let's expand the boundaries of our experiment and calculate how much money we will save in one year if we change all the lamps in the apartment to LED. Considering the previous calculations, we will not buy expensive powerful lamps, but we will manage with some weak ones - 6.3-watt ones.

Let's calculate how many lamps will be needed, say, to illuminate a three-room apartment. We will not take into account decorative lighting, but we will take only light bulbs on the ceiling.

So, we consider:

• entrance hall - 1 pc. (by the way, two may be required if the hallway has L-shape like mine, for example)
• bathroom - 1 pc.
• toilet - 1 pc.
• kitchen - 2 pcs.
• hall - 5 pcs.
• bedroom - 3 pcs.
• children's - 3 pcs.

In total, we got 16 lamps:

In terms of money, this costs 2064 rubles (16 pcs * 129 rubles), but personally, when I punched such a considerable check at the checkout, and other buyers in line looked at me without blinking as if I was hopelessly crazy, I was not inclined to dramatize events. Having calculations in my head, I knew that in a maximum of a year all this money would return to me. Why in a year, and not 5 months, as mentioned earlier? Well, simply because the lamps, for example, in the bathroom and toilet shine less than 5 hours a day and, therefore, pay off much more slowly.

Now imagine that we unscrewed all the incandescent bulbs in a three-room apartment, screwed in LED ones instead. According to the calculations, all of them should have paid off in six months. But here it is necessary to make an allowance for the fact that the payback for this period is achievable if all lamps in the apartment will work an average of 5 hours a day. In practice, they work less. For example, in the hall, light is needed more often than in the kitchen, and in the bathroom it is generally turned on sporadically. So in order not to idealize the picture, let's agree to divide the savings by 2. So, I think it will be more honest.

So, in a year, our lamps pay off due to the fact that we pay less for electricity. Judge for yourself:

One LED lamp gives 23.28 rubles savings. Multiply this by the 16 available lamps and divide by 2 (as agreed).

In a month, the total savings will be 186.24 rubles(aha! already noticeable!). In 12 months, the savings will be 2234.88 rubles- which is quite enough to cover the cost of the lamps themselves.

And then: for many years you will receive this amount "on hand". This will be your savings due to the successful investment of money in energy-saving technologies for your home ... Oh, what did I start writing like in advertising? :)

Well, the truth is, 2234 rubles with kopecks is no longer a trifle. Where to spend this money, I think, you will decide without me.

Here's what I'm personally going to do:

The perfect gift idea for New Year!

Imagine that you will visit your parents or friends and offer them a huge package of LED light bulbs as new year gift. I know what you're thinking right now: I have no doubt lost my mind. Well, it's true: it's somehow not serious, not romantic, etc.

But let's think together:

The perfect gift for the New Year is one that has the following characteristics:

• this is usually something that a person would not buy for himself, but would not refuse to accept as a gift,
• this is a necessary thing (of course, because without light bulbs a person does not live comfortably a single day of his life),
• it is unexpected (indeed, no one expects such an outburst from you),
• it is bright (the lamps are really bright),
• he is memorable (this is not forgotten),
• it's not cheap (that goes without saying)
• it’s easy to buy (even on New Year’s Eve, when people with bulging eyes buy everything in a row in a panic, LED lamps lie quietly on a store shelf and wait for people who understand gifts).
• it is light and compact (indeed, a whole bag with 16 LED lamps weighs no more than two kilograms),
• it is useful (I think I have already written enough about the benefits of lamps).

It turns out that a set of LED lamps for an apartment is an almost perfect gift.. Just ask in advance, what if a person already has them. Waiting 20 years until the existing ones burn out in order to use your offering is, you know, not everyone can stand it.