# LED Power Consumption

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/led-power-consumption/1007309>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Tags:** tools-electric-diy\
**Created:** [September 15, 2024, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/led-power-consumption/1007309 "2024-09-15T17:43:38Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 2

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\
**Post date:** [September 17, 2024, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/led-power-consumption/1007309/21 "2024-09-17T12:42:11Z")

</div>

Just a thought that occurred to me. I haven’t verified it…

Do you have a wall-mounted, wired switch to open and close the garage door – probably near the door _between the house and the garage?_

Many/most/ours have three buttons: the big button to open and close the door, a “lock” button to lock out the panel (eg, while you’re servicing the door), and a “light” button to manually turn on/off the light on the door opener.

Any chance the light button is/was pushed? Can you try pushing that button and seeing if it has any effect? Is the wired panel that I’m talking about _still_ working to open/close the door? If not, was the “lock” button pushed?

What I haven’t verified is whether that “light” switch _could_ override the automatic light on/off trigger associated with opening and closing the door.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Al128](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/al128/32/16541_2.png) [@Al128](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Al128)\
**Post date:** [September 22, 2024, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/led-power-consumption/1007309/22 "2024-09-22T17:10:26Z")

</div>

> [@Princhester](#):
>
> Bulb manufacturers could sell bulbs that lasted almost indefinitely at exactly the same price point.
> 
> The reason they don’t is not because of cheaping out on components. It is planned obsolescence, reliant on market failure. People simply don’t know that LED bulbs could last far longer. They are used to the idea that CFL’s and incandescents are consumables. There is too long between purchase and failure for people to notice which bulbs last longer.

I have bought “decent brand” LED bulbs since they became a mainstream thing (2010-15 my guess) … and yet have one of those to crap out on me - so lasting 10-15 years already.

I do this not so much for duration, but I find that the cheap OEM bulbs you can pick up in every supermarket or home improvement store have that extremely undesirable “morgue” light-quality (IOW: a very low CRI).

Having said that, I just moved most of our house over to WIZ smart bulbs (=Philips) - and that is really a game changer for very little money. No more color-temp mismatch and dimming in all rooms without shelling out $$$

[Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/led-power-consumption/1007309.md?page=1)