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Daniel33

Advantages And Disadvantages Of Plc Vs Led Downlights

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Just like to start this thread to share my personal opinion on why I will be choosing LED lightings/downlights for my home when its TOP next year.

Do note that I also have business interest in LED lightings.

Advantages of PLC

  • low energy consumption
  • relatively easy to replace when bulbs blows

Disadvantages of PLC

  • contains hazardous mercury
  • have to replace blown bulbs every 6 months to 2 years. Mean being 9 months.

Advantages of LED

  • Clean and green lighting
  • Even lower energy consumption
  • Don't really need to replace as most LEDs last 35,000 to 50,000 hrs

Disadvantages of LED

  • higher initial costs

Weighing the above, I will say LED looks like the winner(in my own opinion). At this moment, the price difference between LED downlights and PLC downlights is actually not huge. Considering 9W LED downlight and a 2 x 13W PLC downlight(with similar brightness), LED cost $56 while PLC cost $35. With savings of $14 per downlight if you switch on your lights for 8 hours daily, your breakeven is within 2 years.

And yes, you reduce your carbon footprint too.

 

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That is IF u on for 8hrs EVERYDAY from 6pm-2am. If u go holiday etc, urban ROI will b longer.

Btw, I m going for LED :) Cos I found a good source..

Edited by Batman
 

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Hi Batman,

Can pm me your good source? I am contemplating between LED and PLC down light. Prefer LED myself but may go for PLC due to my tight budget.

That is IF u on for 8hrs EVERYDAY from 6pm-2am. If u go holiday etc, urban ROI will b longer.

Btw, I m going for LED :) Cos I found a good source..

 

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Hi Batman,

Can pm me your good source? I am contemplating between LED and PLC down light. Prefer LED myself but may go for PLC due to my tight budget.

I also doing renovation right now. Got some LED downlights from taobao, and some from local shop (when they were on sale). But most likely will go for majority the PLC downlight because of cost and ease of changing. For PLC, you probably only need to change the bulb, which is easy and anyone can do it. For LED, if it breaks down, you have to change the whole thing (if it is an integrated set like the Philips type) or the driver/LED light. Not sure if you want to do it yourself or have to get an electrician to do it.

 

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That is IF u on for 8hrs EVERYDAY from 6pm-2am. If u go holiday etc, urban ROI will b longer.

Btw, I m going for LED :) Cos I found a good source..

Hi Batman, can share your good lobang for the LED lights. Am also doing up my house now. Thanks. in advance.

 

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Just like to start this thread to share my personal opinion on why I will be choosing LED lightings/downlights for my home when its TOP next year.

Do note that I also have business interest in LED lightings.

Advantages of PLC

  • low energy consumption
  • relatively easy to replace when bulbs blows

Disadvantages of PLC

  • contains hazardous mercury
  • have to replace blown bulbs every 6 months to 2 years. Mean being 9 months.

Advantages of LED

  • Clean and green lighting
  • Even lower energy consumption
  • Don't really need to replace as most LEDs last 35,000 to 50,000 hrs

Disadvantages of LED

  • higher initial costs

Weighing the above, I will say LED looks like the winner(in my own opinion). At this moment, the price difference between LED downlights and PLC downlights is actually not huge. Considering 9W LED downlight and a 2 x 13W PLC downlight(with similar brightness), LED cost $56 while PLC cost $35. With savings of $14 per downlight if you switch on your lights for 8 hours daily, your breakeven is within 2 years.

And yes, you reduce your carbon footprint too.

Hi Daniel33, you may want to include an additional point to the disadvantage list - The majority cases of failed LED lights are due to the LED driver. So the quality of the driver is an important factor also.

 

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Batman: Yes, some families do not switch on their lights for 8 hours daily.... I am simply using a figure which i believe to be average. Some families do switch on their lights more than 8 hours a day. e.g. early in the morning while preparing breakfast or preparing for work, when going to bathroom, when preparing food in kitchen during late afternoon etc etc etc.... Thus end of day, how much you save depends how much u use ur lights... But the fact is you do save on your electricity bills when u use LEDs instead of other forms of lightings. :)

eaglef18: Oh yes, when LED downlights etc fails, 99.9% of the times its because of the LED driver. So its very important to get a good quality driver. The next assurance is to get longer warranty.

 

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My concern when I looked into LED lightings is the failure of the driver (not the actually LED) will substantially reduce the advantages of LED lights at current price points.

I don't have statistics on driver failure rate (to model the costs) but are there manufacturers/sellers who will provide warranty on the LED lights beyond 1 year?

My experiences with CFL so far also shows the lights need replacement much earlier than the supposedly longer lifespan.

Advantages of LED

  • .
  • .
  • Don't really need to replace as most LEDs last 35,000 to 50,000 hrs

Edited by RenoLockSG
 

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