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Phillips Complaint - LED christmas Lights Save Money? - Phillips LED outdoor Christmas Lights

Phillips LED outdoor Christmas Lights - Complaint
Review by LED'd out on 2010-11-26
We've had Santa's Sleigh and 4 Reindeer on our roof during Christmas Season for over 25 Years. And after 2-3 seasons of use the lights are just done in. The restringing is horribly time consuming, but they have been a staple in our neighborhood so we do it. We decided to restring last year with LED's as they were touted to last many thousands of hours and save electricity. Bull----. One reindeer failed one string in 3 weeks. We said, ok we must have gotten a bad set, mounted the roof, pulled the deer down and partially restrung it. By the end of the season all but part of one reindeer were out. The sockets/bulbs rusted, the LED 'caps' laying on the roof or just missing with a rusted cavity left behind. Did anyone at UL Labs that tested these products and labled them ok really test them for the use they were intended? Did anyone consider using copper wire(or some other non rusting metal) in the construction of the LED? Not only the lost time, more than double the cost, and utter disapointment,( the kid's faces used to glow as much as the reindeer did. We feel we were ripped off. The only way we saved electricity was because they weren't lit at all. We strongly advise anyone that is considering these lights for outdoor purposes to do your homework. No, we didn't contact Phillips. We're not the confrontational type, but I did tell the owner of the local hardware store, and everyone who asks.
Comments:
Posted by Anonymous on 2010-11-26:
Maybe a silly question, but were the lights approved for outdoor use? Stringing up lights out in the elements when they were intended to be used inside (e.g. on a Christmas tree) may lead to corrosion and short life of the lights.
Posted by Starlord on 2010-11-27:
Good question, jabooty. I converted the turn signals, tail and brake lights on our truck to LED bulbs over a year ago, and the only problem I have had is with the resistors needed for the LEDs to work properly. As an experiment, I wired one side of the truck with the LEDs and tested them. The LEDs lit up noticeably faster than the incandescents. I have no way to prove it, but don't doubt what I saw when the LED vehicle lighting first became available. They replaced all the light on an 18-wheeler with LEDs, and the power consumption was less than one single 11567 bulb, plus the brake lights come on over 6 feet before incandescents at highway speed. I am sold on them, but you have to be sure they are rated for outdoor use.

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