Model Railway Forum

I have read on here that a lot of you have tried out LED bulbs to replace indoor lighting. My question is can you use them outside in porch lanterns. I wondered if they worked well in winter cold as well as in doors in the warm.

You would think that an LED bulb would be fine in a lantern wouldn’t you?
I tried them in a lantern fitting that was activated by a dusk sensor ie switchess on when it gets dark, but as the unit tried to switch on it would flash like a demented lighthouse. Went back to a normal energy saving bulb and the problem went away.
Never did work out why they reacted like that.

The answer to your question John is yes. Works just like a bulb.


Don’t forget many cars have LED bulbs and they work fine.

YES, All my outside lamps are LEDs and work well.

Some older PIR operated outside lights are not suitable for use with LED lamps due to the LED low current draw. A similar thing can happen where a standard dimmer switch is used with a LED lamp. A Leading Edge dimmer is often needed for LED lighting.
Modern fittings tend to be produced for LED lamps and are fine.

I replaced our hall and upstairs landing Halogen G9 ceiling light fitting lamps with LEDs and both fittings glowed when off. Options were to install a ballast unit to provide a load on each light or replace one LED G9 with a single Halogen in each fitting (5 lamps per fitting) So I now have four LEDs and one Halogen per fitting. Cause of illumination when Off is due to induced current in the two way switch wiring to each lamp. LEDs only need a tiny amount of induced voltage to start to glow the Halogen lamp simply removes the induced current and stop the glow of the LEDs

Thanks Brian, that explains my experience using them outside. Just need to update the fittings.

I have replaced all bulbs with LED's both indoors and out, and they all work well. I still need to replace the garage strips.

Thank you very much gentlemen. I only have three out back and two in front of house and they at the moment have ordinary old type bulbs in them. Have ordered some LEDs upon your advice. All of them are on off by switches inside house.
Thank you everybody...................John

The only thing in our house without LEDs is an old torch.

We are still bit old fashioned Brian. We even still have 1950s Glass lamp shades around the house except in kitchen and bathroom which are LED lights.
I searched the country to find those Glass lamp shades. One came from Ireland.