LED Night Lights-Short lifespan

[zespectre]

Well I'm seriously disappointed in TWO brands of LED based night lights that the wife and I purchased when we moved.

The first two were no-name ones that looked like this model http://tinyurl.com/38sc3b
(Note, not this model, just shown for example)
One dimmed down to a bare glow within a week and on the other one the sensor stopped working (light just stayed on) and THEN it dimmed down to a bare glow within about two weeks.

Since this was unacceptable, we scrapped them and then (based on a recommendation) we bought two sets of this model (4 lights) http://tinyurl.com/2t5k9x

In 30 days of use THREE of the four have dimmed down dramatically, one of them actually dropping all the way to a useless glow. Number four seems to be retaining the same brightness it had from day one.

Has anyone found any RELIABLE nightlights based on LED technology or do we need to go back to incandescents for the hall, stairs, and bathroom?

 

[Gunner12]

I think if you are willing to take the light apart, it might be able to put in a high power LED and a small heat-sink that will handle the current better the the LED they have in there, probably a/a few overdriven 5mm LED.

 

[BytorJr]

I've got a few of those things I bought at Target, and I thought maybe it was me, but they definitely have dimmed. However, I bought some of those screw in replacements from EliteLED and the red one hasn't dimmed a bit; perfect for that 3AM trip to the bathroom.

I'd be hesitant to make any mods myself due to fire potential. But that's me. If you are confident that you won't hose anything up, go for it.

 

[Melchior]

5mm == Best Nightlights so far.

After trying:

Neon, (flickers and dies after a year or two... cheap! - there are Orange and Blue-ish versions as well)
Standard Incandescent, (also cheap, sucks on power though for the amount of light)
Electroluminescent, (puny green glow, still going 2yr. after I thought they are rated to fail... cheap and efficient)

LED. In terms of efficiency it almost beats Electroluminescent, in terms of output it beats everything but ...no wait it DOES beat everything.

Fluorescent, CCFL or Hot-Cathode night lights are pretty uncommon for some reason...never seen any...might be good(?)

Most night lights are made poorly and cheaply, its a bit of a hit and miss to find one thats any good.

 

[Stormdrane]

I bought a several of these LED nightlights last year at Target and they're still working just fine, off during the day and on all night. Made by First Alert. Although the tint is bluish, they do a good job in the bathrooms and hallways.

 

[billw]

Well I'm seriously disappointed in TWO brands of LED based night lights that the wife and I purchased when we moved.

I had similar disappointments with some lights from costco that looked like your second set. I replaced the LEDs with colored ultrabrights (5mm), and they've held up much better since then (and the house is more colorful at night.)

 

[3rd_shift]

Interesting idea to use colored leds for nightlights.

Colored leds have no phosphor to degrade.

 

[asdalton]

There appears to be a recurring theme on CPF for plug-in LED products: they die much sooner than people expect. The cause is likely a combination of poor current regulation, overdriving, overheating, and the less-than-stellar lifetimes of 5mm white LEDs even under ideal conditions.

 

[lctorana]

Horses for courses.

Neon is the appropriate technology for night lights, IMHO.

 

[Melchior]

Electroluminescent is the best choice.

Uses AC directly, long life, low chance of sudden failure (more of a slow decline in light output), as cheap as Neon but with far more color choices. Also more shapes, and very low power usage.

Although I have not seen many Neon or Electroluminescent dimable Nightlights.

 

[3rd_shift]

I think the main problem is this;
Nightlights have never been considered as high end lighting, and as such, are rarely expensive, or well made no matter what's in them.

 

[JAS]

I just bought a four pack of LED Night lights from Wal-Mart, so after reading this I am wondering how long these will last for me.

On a related topic, are there any good, reliable, reasonably priced LED table lamps?

 

[WildChild]

I bought two 1 1/2 year ago and I don't think they dimmed much, or at least, I haven't noticed.

The 1st one starts only at night and is still bright enough to go to the bathroom without killing myself .

The 2nd one is always on. After 1 1/2 year, it was still bright enough but I decided to replace the LED with the one found in a Fauxton I received with a SureFire order. It's now much brighter but I cannot compare to the nightlight when it was new.

They both have been bought at a Canadian Tire store in Canada.

 

[Scott Packard]

Last week I tossed the one white LED I bought last year from WalMart and replaced it with my incandescent. The LED had started out very bright for a night light but at the end only had light around its immediate area. The incandescent is easier on the eyes at night and has a combination 3 outlet adapter.

 

[snakebite]

like most cheap china stuff its likely a combination of poor quality parts and overdriving.
some of the ones i have seen are scary inside!
the cap used as a ballast is a critical safety item but most of these units not only use a cheap cap not rated for the job they dont have a fuse or use a resistor that is not a flameproof type and not in a fiberglass sleeve.can you say flameout if something fails?

 

[Martin]

I have this one from Osram running for 3 years, now. I can't say it has dimmed. It is yellow. Osram is a German company and while they may not manufacture in Germany, they don't sell junk.
Another night light that I use consists of a LED bulb in a socket. The bulbs I used were never branded and I was always disappointed with their lifetime. See this thread. Now the last thing I did is replace the colored LEDs in one with a mixture of red, green, blue LEDs. So far going strong.

 

[James S]

The longest running LED nightlight I have is one I made from the schematic that has been floating around CPF for a while

But after that I've lost a bunch of other ones. Even ones from major manufacturers have died, colored and white seems to make no difference. I have some amber ones that look like the pictures stormdrain posted above that have been running solidly for almost 4 years with no signs of dropping off.

I splurged and bought a pack of 3 battery back up ones at SAMS from Sylvania a year ago and put them around the house and in my daughters room. (she is not yet old enough to truly enjoy the experience of a blackout and would prefer some light to come on) and these have been very good too. No sign yet that they are starting to dim. I realize the battery wont last forever, but I'll learn to live with that.

I also picked up a couple of screw in LED nightlight replacement bulbs. My daughter doesn't like them though because the color is too blue. I've been meaning to try to mod them with warm white LEd's for a while. Perhaps I'll dig them out and see if thats possible. They are not potted, just inside a plastic bubble type cover...