Lamptest.ru: 557 lamps tested

In the summer I launched a project to test lamptest.ru LED lamps. I planned to test 10-15 lamps a month, but it turned out very differently. Already 557 lamps have been tested (of which 17 are fluorescent, 59 are incandescent, all the rest are LED). We managed to test such a large number of lamps thanks to the successful national fundraising (crowdfunding), which continues today.



Today I will tell you why I started this project, what will happen to it next and ask you to answer questions, the answers to which will help determine how the project will develop.


When I first encountered household LED lamps, I realized that not all of them are good. I, like many, thought then that in Chinese online stores light bulbs are the same as those sold in Russia, only cheaper. After several orders, I began to realize that something was wrong. The Chinese bulbs flickered unpleasantly, gave a nasty greenish light and shone much dimmer than promised. Then, I did not know yet that the ripple of the light of LED lamps depends on the electronic driver board hidden in the lamp base, the quality of light is largely determined by the color rendering index (CRI) which is very low for most lamps from Chinese online stores, but with real power and brightness, Chinese sellers can lie in two or three times.

I started looking for information about the real parameters of LED lamps, but on the Internet there was very little of it: in order to measure the light parameters, you need professional and very expensive equipment that is available only in certified laboratories, and they do not have the right to share the results of their tests.

Fortunately, in early 2014, fate brought me to a company that had a device for testing the parameters of Viso LightSpion lamps. They bought the device at a lighting exhibition in Singapore and in Russia it seems to be only one. We discussed with the owners of the device how it would be great to start testing all the lamps that are sold and publish these honest results. They offered to come to them once a month and test the bulbs, which I began to do in February 2014. At first, all the data was simply written to an Excel spreadsheet. Then we began to think that it would be great to make a site with convenient filters for viewing results.

The wonderful programmer from Nizhny Novgorod Sergey Andreev responded to my cry for help, he created the fast, beautiful and convenient site LampTest.ru, which was launched on June 24, 2015.

The device measured all the parameters of the lamp except one - the pulsation of light. Fortunately, the developers of the domestic Lupine device provided our project with their device.

More recently, Andrei Karasev joined the project team, which helps to process the results and add them to the database.

So, today 557 lamps are tested. I wanted to make a jubilee post after five hundred bulbs, but it didn’t work out. :) I tested the LED lamps of 56 brands, and lamps of 30 brands were tested at least 5 types. These brands are: artpole, ASD, Camelion, Diall, Ecola, Gauss, IEK, IKEA, Jazzway, Kreonix, Lexman, Madix, Navigator, OSRAM, Philips, REV, Robiton, Smartbuy, Supra, Thomson, Uniel, Wolta, X- Flash, Space, Lisma, Nanosvet, Onlayt, Start, Housekeeper, Era.

What next?

Alas, it may happen that soon I will not be able to use Viso LightSpion, so I'm trying now to test as many lamps as possible of the maximum number of brands. I do not want to wonder what will happen when I lose access to the device, I hope there is a way out.

I created project groups on Facebook www.facebook.com/lamptest.ru and Vkontakte vk.com/lamptest . In groups I will talk about all the news of the project - that I am testing, what changes are taking place on the site, what interesting things have been discovered, and many more interesting little things that go beyond the scope of large blog articles. Add to the social network where it is more convenient for you.

I tried to test mainly lamps with a "warm" light 2700-3000K, because I think that such a light is more suitable for home. I think that it makes no sense to test low-power lamps. It seems to me it makes sense to test ordinary pear lamps for an E27 base with an equivalent of at least 60 watts, “candles” and “balls” with an equivalent of at least 40 watts, spotlights with an equivalent of at least 35 watts.

Today I want to ask you which lamps you are interested in, in order to understand which lamps to buy for testing in the first place. Please respond to the polls at the end of this post.

My second question is about brands. In my immediate plans Komteh, Housekeeper and Tomich Bulb. What other brands of lamps does it make sense to test?

And of course I accept all the wishes on the site. I must say right away that in the near future the overall rating system for lamps will change, the power equivalent will be more accurately considered and three new parameters will be added - R9, Power Factor and the warranty period of the lamp.

It seems that I did not answer the main question: why am I doing all this. It's simple: I realized that with this project I can benefit a large number of people, and bring people benefits is perhaps the main goal of my life. Yes, I do not earn anything on this, well, I’m such a crazy enthusiast. Money can not buy happiness. :)

ps By the way, if there are still enthusiasts who want to help the project, write. There is work for everyone.