Is it possible to buy a reliable 240v night-light in 2020? One that lasts more than a year?

Hi everyone,

In the past 3yrs, I have bought 3 of these incredibly simple devices for my laundry. Ladies & Gentlemen, I present: a wall light that turns on when it gets dark…

(oooh, ahhhh)…

https://shop.coles.com.au/a/national/product/crest--directional-night-light

Each of mine have died. Each one after 1yr of use.

Not only do they not come on when it gets dark, they simply don’t come on. They silently ignore the power switch, with a confidence that makes me suspicious it was part of their plan all along. Sleeper agents, expertly designed to self-destruct. Like an Inspector Gadget mission instruction.

There is nothing wrong with my wall plug - my laundry is brand new. My expert hypothesis is therefore: these things are disgraceful, cheap, witless junk, manufactured by poor slaves, managed by thieves, in totalitarian China. Made to fail, so you buy another one every year. And peg the old one like a tennis ball, into nearby forest… like a pure environmental vandal…
…where it will decompose over the next 50,000yrs…
…and eventually be discovered in the post-Human Earth, by a race of advanced visiting aliens…
…who won’t be able to get it working either.

“It’s only 10 bucks, just buy another one!!”, say idiots.

When I was a boy, my parents had similar 240v night lights in our house… probably using some simpler, less bright globe or diode. But they had them for longer than they had me. I bet they’re still working now. I bet they’re still more reliable than me. I bet they’ll still work, even after I don’t. And I bet they were made in Australia.

How can something so simple, now be such comedy-quality, in this age of touch screen wonder?
Does anyone know where I can buy a night-light that will last longer than a Winter? And is there a brand left on Earth that is not manufacturing these things in China?

D.

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We have two types…

which are a few years old and still going strong and:

We also have another which is about 5 years old and still going strong. Will check and post the details when I look later.

They use about 50c power each year.

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We use a low power LED globe in the en-suite. 3 watts.

We manually turn it on each afternoon and last one up turns it off. Around 6c of power per week. We could just leave it on. Costs less with solar PV.

You could just leave it on. Depending on where you buy your globes around $3-$5 each. We are on our second globe. The first one lasted four years.

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I have an LED night light with a sensor from Bunnings. Don’t know when I bought it since it was before I started to scan every receipt in 2014. This looks like it may be The One.

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Our other one looks something like this…

https://www.jaycar.com.au/led-night-light-with-sensor/p/ST3181

Due to its age (5years maybe more), can’t find exact one online. This is the one we have (LED and emits orange light):

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Almost. You need these. Not 240 volt but LED, They are the best
https://www.kogan.com/au/buy/kogan-motion-activated-cordless-light-2-pack/ Get them online from Kogan, they’re about AUS10 per light. I have several. Motion sensitive. Use 4 x AA rechargeables.

We have several types in our home, including simple ones similar to the Coles one, and several (bought from Aldi) which are light/movement sensitive night lights and torches that sit in a cradle plugged into the powerpoint. Those have to be at least 4ys old. Only one of the charger cradles have failed, but nothing else, including the 12+ yr old simple ones.

Have you tried using these anywhere else in your home? I understand that your laundry is new, but perhaps there is something up with the electrical circuit your laundry power point is on?

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We also use Arlec, but slightly different style

Have had two of them for a few years and find them good for when the kids are up in the night. We found them quite bright so have covered over the lights with paper.

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LED lights should last a very long time. Usually in the order of 15000 hours or more - a night light used every night should last as a minimum 4-5 years. Good quality ones should last 10+ years.

If it is only lasting a year, there could be a number of factors…

  • quality of the light poor or its components (something failed after a year when it shouldn’t have).
  • it is operating in a high voltage environment. Overvoltage can damage the LED’s or its circuitry.
  • it is operating in a high temperature environment.
  • it is used outdoors when it is designed to be used indoors (water penetration, sun damage etc).

If it is a quality issue, you can take it back to Coles and request a refund or exchange. You will need proof of purchase such as receipt or bank statement.

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We have a LED night light in our ensuite which is on 24/7. It replaced a failed one we bought from Masters in 2015.

We also have 2 x 8W LED fancy globes in our Bosch rangehood which are recessed with a perspex cover under them, and they also run 24/7 as the kitchen night lights.

I have replaced a couple of globes since 2015.

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We bought one by Powertech, probably from Jaycar. It is still going strong after well over 5 years of use. It draws 0.2 of a watt. Serial number ELL-02.

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I think the clue is in the question: “in my laundry”. That would be a highly moist environment. I do not think LED’s like that much.
If you have an unvented tumble drier in there as well it is almost certainly the case.
You would probably have to buy something that is very well sealed for it to keep working for a long time and as you said these things from China are made cheaply, and not for wet environments.

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Assuming this is not a generalisation, our experience with LED globes has been positive. This includes those used outside in humid SE Qld and in our bathroom - shower. Our home has been 95% LED since 2015, with just a few fittings left to replace. In that time I’ve only replaced one that was a low wattage LED we used as a night light. Even the cheap LED strings of lights hanging outside in the sun and rain have survived for several years.

Testing LED lights of any type for end of life is likely a challenge, given how more durable they are. We had several old style with filament globes when we had our children. The globes always seemed to fail in a matter of months, and were unreasonably expensive to replace.

We have a number of LED lights (not all LEDs may be suitable) installed with LED dimmers that work effectively in our living areas. It may be an alternative for a laundry if combined with a sealed low power LED downlight.

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Thanks for your advice everyone. It looks like we all seem to have very similar night-lights…

Their design seems so suspiciously similar, that for all we know they might even be manufactured in the same dedicated night-light-manufacturing-city, in a southern chinese province somewhere. Where the various night-light manufacturing mob-bosses and kingpins get together on Friday nights, for a round of poker. Perhaps chuckling knowingly at one another, having long ago stitched-up the worldwide night-light market…

Fortunately, my tumble dryer has a venthole through the external wall - sending all my fabric fluff directly toward my neighbour’s house. So there’s no problem there (for me). And there’s virtually no moisture build up in the laundry. The window is never foggy, for example.

That leaves the possibility of home circuitry. But as mentioned, it’s a new laundry, and looks about as good as a laundry can. (Which isn’t very good, since laundries are never glamourous, but it’s erm…very clean and white and perfect. There are also no sparking cables dangling from the ceiling).

Let me continue the experiment though.

I will buy another light from one of the examples recommended here (e.g. Arlec - I remember them from my childhood RC car batteries), and report back if it fails. If it does, then expect another chapter in my night-light saga. :slight_smile: As there is nothing I love more than paying $10 for the privilege of stumbling through my dark laundry each winter, and dropping my keys as I leave for work at 5am. This also gives daring spiders a chance to “web” my face - or even leap directly onto it, in the case of springtime Huntsmans looking to impress their mates.

Stay tuned.
D.

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After we bought our current home in 2015, we replaced all the CCFL lights with LED lights and we had the electrician disconnect the dimmers, which would have been there for the original incandescent downlights when the house was built.

He missed the dimmer in our bedroom and my wife would regularly bump the knob, causing the lights to dim.

The globes are standard LED’s, not ones rated as dimmable, but they seemed to work fine with the dimmer.

I subsequently disconnected the dimmer so we have no more accidently dimmed bedroom lights.

Kogan do Battery Powered LED lights. Try are wonderful. Forget mains power, you can put them exactly where you need them. They take 4 x AA’s which last a very long time. And I use 4 x AA rechargeables anyway.

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