Replace custom LED screw-in with off-the-shelf? Help identifying

[kevininspace]

Hello!
I am on the condo board of our 114-unit condo building and the hallway lights are starting to burn out. They were apparently a custom light by a now bankrupt local company, and another company says they can make the same thing for $40 a light, minimum 50 order (that's $2000, and we'd need more than double the amount.)
It's a screw-in with 9x6 rows of LEDs. I've attached a photo.
I feel that $40 is a rip off and I'm certain that I can find something acceptable for replacement, without having to go custom.
There is some text on the casing which says 12V 9W WW (don't know what the second "WW" is for.)

Any guidance would be much appreciated.
THanks,

Kevin

 

[Harold_B]

If you are replacing a large number of bulbs I recommend you do a search for any local or state government funding, or contact your utility company and enquire about programs they offer. You didn't mention in your post where you are located so I am talking from my local perspective. In my area we have programs through the utility company and nonprofits for funding energy saving improvements and new LED bulbs qualify. Don't buy and then look for a program because most (all I am aware of) don't pay for improvements already in place.

 

[N8N]

"WW" = "Warm White" most likely (that is, ~3000K CCT rather than 4500-5000K "daylight"

looks like a standard Edison base, I'd try some of the Cree LED bulbs from Home Depot and see if you're happy with those, ~$13 apiece.

Or, honestly, if you really don't care about light quality, you could try some 13W CFLs, you will only use marginally more energy and save a lot on purchase costs. (It physically hurts me to suggest those things, but...)

Probably the *BEST* retro for your application would be the now-discontinued Philips L-Prize (2700K CCT, ~90 CRI, 10W, and quite bright for a 60W incan replacement) but they're going for about $40 apiece now, which helps you not at all. At one point you could get them in HDs in some areas where they were subsidized for about $15 apiece, too bad this didn't come up at that time!

 

[kevininspace]

Thanks for the guidance.

Yes, my utility (Hydro Quebec, I'm in Montreal, Canada) has some rebates, but nothing for volume like this and only applicable at select stores.

I've measured and it's a standard Edison base (E26) and from my research, there is no specific size that these bulbs were customized to. Some seem to call this a "cob" shape (not to be confused with COB (chip-on-board) but unless there is a specific reason to go with this shape, most LED E26 screw-ins would work I think.

These hallways lights are on 24/7, so they're approaching 35,000 to 40,000 hours of continuous use (building is just over 4 years old). For this reason alone, I'd like to stay away from CFL, as the cost difference will be quickly erased after a year or so since we have to pay our groundskeeper and the time he spends on changing lights could be spent doing other tasks.

Unless anyone can come up with a good reason why a $13 LED bulb bought in bulk wouldn't be appropriate, I think this is my best bet.

Thanks,
Kevin

 

[mds82]

Why not get the 9W cree led lights, which are 60 watt equivalents. They also sell 40 W equivalents for less. Great bulbs and they are about $9 each.

 

[SemiMan]

Just to be very clear, they say 12V or 120V? .... big difference.

If they are truly 12V, then there is a transformer or power supply somewhere. In that case, the Cree's, etc. are not going to work.

It would be worth taking a meter and measuring the voltage.

If it is 12V, your option are limited in that case. If it was done custom, it could be 12V.

Semiman

 

[TooManyGizmos]

~

E-bay has LED bulbs in 12v. with E26/E27 screw base, corn-cob style.

~

 

[LEDninja]

In addition to finding if the bulbs are 12VAC, 12VDC or 120VAC can you let us know the direction the bulbs are pointed at.
With incandescent and CFLs the bulbs are omnidirectional. Equal light in every direction. LEDs are by nature directional. How much light an LED bulb shoots in any direction depends on how the LEDs are arranged. If the bulbs point sideways on the ceiling then you need sideways mounted LED omnidirectional bulbs. If the bulbs point down you need forward pointing LED directional bulbs. The following video explains it very well:
Picking the right 60W LED bulb - YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1DuVDD8Nmc

LED bulbs have increased in brightness a lot over the last few years. I bought my first Philips bulb a few years ago 7W 155 lumens. The last one I bought 4W 320 lumens. I got almost 4X the brightness for every watt of input power. The 9W does not tell me how bright your current bulbs are. Are they replacing 40W or 60W incandescent.

 

[Arilou]

~

E-bay has LED bulbs in 12v. with E26/E27 screw base, corn-cob style.

~

These things are generally awful. Some examples:

http://www.ledbenchmark.com/display.php?id=144&name=Onite+7W+WW+LED+Corn+Light
http://www.ledbenchmark.com/display.php?id=145&name=Generic+8W+WW+Corn+Light

The EagleLight corn-cob is fairly good in terms of energy efficiency, but is a lot more pricey:

http://www.ledbenchmark.com/display.php?id=143&name=EagleLight+8W+WW+Dimmable+Tube+Light

 

[N8N]

I just assumed that the "12V" in the original post was a typo for "120V", but after reading the comments in this thread I did some searching and in fact apparently Edison bases are sometimes used for low voltage bulbs. This seems like a bad idea to me, but what do I know.

Now to the original poster, if it turns out that these are in fact 12V and not 120V, you might want to have a look at the wiring to the fixtures, if the wiring is say 12AWG THHN in conduit, it would be legal to just remove the transformer and hook the sockets up to line voltage and use the Cree bulbs previously suggested. However if the wiring is free-run that would not be legal. you may need a permit and inspection anyway to do the work, and I would strongly suggest doing so for several different reasons.

 

[SemiMan]

Generally you need an electrician to do any rewiring on a commercial property both legally and for insurance