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Integrated LED Pendants vs Traditional Pendants with LED bulbs

7 years ago

I'm planning on installing 3 pendants over my kitchen island as a part of a complete kitchen renovation. I had been planning on buying "traditionally" wired pendants and using LED bulbs for energy efficiency. But I've just been doing some more reading on the advantages of integrated LED fixtures. What is confusing is that I can find very few reviews from those who have installed these types of lights. Can anyone who has used these (or researched them and chosen traditional fixtures) chime in on their experience?

I was thinking of using the Feiss Alcott integrated LED:

[https://www.houzz.com/products/feiss-alcott-led-pendant-aged-brass-prvw-vr~49389634[(https://www.houzz.com/products/feiss-alcott-led-pendant-aged-brass-prvw-vr~49389634)

The advantage of the integrated LED is that it has warm-dimming (mimicking incandescent when dimmed).

My concern is that (as far as I can tell) when the LEDs stop working you cannot replace them in the way that you can replace a standard bulb and so one would have to replace the whole fixture. That is a pricy proposition at $160 to $327 (depending on diameter) per fixture. Granted, the LEDs are expected to last many years but the warrantee from Feiss at least is only 5 years.

Are Integrated LED Fixtures being used widely yet?

Is this technology still at an early enough stage that one should be cautious about adopting?

Any recommendations on brands with good quality integrated LED pendants?

Anyone with specific experience (good or bad) with Feiss integrated LED pendants?

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Comments (3)

constructionnovice
7 years ago
I wish I could answer this for you, but I'm wondering the exact same thing! We found some bathroom sconces we like, but they're integrated LED. I've found nothing online in terms of reviews and worry that these will become "disposable fixtures." Not ideal when you don't have disposable income! Hope someone can chime in here. Thanks for posting!
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Marg Lad
Original Author
7 years ago
I ended up going to a lighting store where the sales associate was both knowledgeable and helpful. She said that integrated LED fixtures were worthwhile if you were taking advantage of how hidden they can be. So something like this photo. For anything that is mimicking a traditional, bulb type fixture, she recommended getting a traditional fixture and using an LED bulb. This is better because you can replace the bulb if it stops working and also means you could change it as LED technology is improving rapidly.
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constructionnovice
7 years ago
This is good to know and exactly what we did. We returned our integrated LED sconces (since they were traditionally styled) and went with sconces that would accommodate LED bulbs. I just didn't want to risk having to change out an entire fixture, because the light goes dead. We've used LED bulbs for some time now and despite the promises that they last 5 years and longer, we've definitely had to change some bulbs out as soon as a year. So just not worth the risk for me right now. I'm thinking in the near future things will be more perfected and integrated LED will be more the norm. But I'll wait for that to happen before I go with it.
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