My wife and I were out recently looking at ceiling fans to replace the one in our dining room, which has committed no crimes, other than having the appearance of being very much from the 1980s.
I was taken aback by how few of the fans had replaceable lightbulbs! In the entire store there were maybe three or four options with a replaceable bulb!
Call me crazy, but a nonreplaceable LED is a complete dealbreaker. I go through so many LED bulbs! I don't know if my electricity is like particularly bad or if that's just normal? The first LED bulb I ever bought (Shout out EarthLED) in 2008 for like $30 is still going strong, but every bulb I buy these days lasts like two years tops.
So glad to see this as the top comment and to see this highlighted in the article:
> These fixtures are also revolutionary in that they are extremely cheap in the short run – many of these fans cost under $200 – but expensive in the long rung, as the LEDs usually cannot be replaced, causing the whole apparatus to be thrown away.
A few years ago we had a relatively small pendant lamp (I think there were like 6 or so hanging lights total) over a stairwell that we really liked. It was installed by the previous owners just before we moved in, and about 7-8 years later 2 of the lamps died (not sure if it was the actual LED or just the electronics like another sibling comment mentioned). We were a bit aghast when we got an electrician and he said the only reasonable thing to do would be to replace the entire chandelier.
It's just so ironic how LEDs were supposed to be the "environmental" choice yet they were just another tool for our disposable economy.
donatj · · focus · HN ↗
I was taken aback by how few of the fans had replaceable lightbulbs! In the entire store there were maybe three or four options with a replaceable bulb!
Call me crazy, but a nonreplaceable LED is a complete dealbreaker. I go through so many LED bulbs! I don't know if my electricity is like particularly bad or if that's just normal? The first LED bulb I ever bought (Shout out EarthLED) in 2008 for like $30 is still going strong, but every bulb I buy these days lasts like two years tops.
Anyway, we did not buy a fan.
hn_throwaway_99 · · focus · HN ↗
> These fixtures are also revolutionary in that they are extremely cheap in the short run – many of these fans cost under $200 – but expensive in the long rung, as the LEDs usually cannot be replaced, causing the whole apparatus to be thrown away.
A few years ago we had a relatively small pendant lamp (I think there were like 6 or so hanging lights total) over a stairwell that we really liked. It was installed by the previous owners just before we moved in, and about 7-8 years later 2 of the lamps died (not sure if it was the actual LED or just the electronics like another sibling comment mentioned). We were a bit aghast when we got an electrician and he said the only reasonable thing to do would be to replace the entire chandelier.
It's just so ironic how LEDs were supposed to be the "environmental" choice yet they were just another tool for our disposable economy.