Got my third set of LED filament bulbs. Origin brand. Regular old roundy B22 form and mount. A bit expensive at Rs 190 a pop. MRP on box is a ridiculous Rs 375. We will be testing these today: power consumption, light output...are they worth it? #KolaBeagle is not impressed.

First, are they really 9W? No BIS/ISI endorsements, so let's test it out. Like most LED filaments, very pretty when lit (first pic underexposed -3 stops to catch the 6 filaments). And it's bright. And yep, steady 0.37A after 3 min at 232Vac so that's a stable 8.6W. All good! 2/n

Oops: 0.037A, or 37mA. Not 0.37A!

Now, light output: on the left is a 11W Philips CFL, drawing a steady 51mA at 232V (11.8W) vs (right) the LED-filament at 37mA (8.6W). First pic (at -3 stops) shows that the 9W LED-f is brighter than an 11W CFL. No surprises. 3/n.

So no surprises that 9W LED-filament has better light output than a 11W CFL.

Now, a regular 9W LED warm white bulb (left) vs LED-f (right). Both draw 8.6W (37mA after 3 min at 232V). Light output identical when measured with SLR though reflector LED looks dimmer here). 4/n

So: LED-filament v pretty, but only worth it if it's visible and not all covered up by frosted glass. Regular LED warm white is half the price. Can't tell about life (claim: 25k hours. Nonsense). For largely decorative use, there are prettier shapes (e.g 4W E27: pic4). 5/n