Author Topic: What’s the worst LED street light ever made?  (Read 402 times)
Lightingeye60
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What’s the worst LED street light ever made? « on: August 20, 2026, 09:53:18 AM » Author: Lightingeye60
In my opinion, it’s the earlier Autobahn models. The phosphor delaminates and they just become a monochromatic purple. The AEL post tops which use the same LED phosphors as the autobahns also have the issue. The latest Autobahn models don’t seem to have this issue though. I’ve never seen a light manufactured later than 2022 that turned purple.

The second worst would probably be Leoteks.

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« Last Edit: August 20, 2026, 09:22:18 PM by Lightingeye60 » Logged
LightsoftheWest
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Re: What’s the worst LED street light ever made? « Reply #1 on: August 20, 2026, 05:53:21 PM » Author: LightsoftheWest
My vote would be either the Leotek E-Cobra or the Howard Lighting L400 series. Both suffered from serious diode failure (charring, discoloring, complete failure, etc.). Driver failure on the L400 was not uncommon either. The AEL AutoConnect and Cree Guideway are proving to be somewhat reliable, but the build quality is horrendous.

My vote for the best would either be the LED Roadway NXT series or the Evluma RoadMax.
« Last Edit: August 20, 2026, 05:56:54 PM by LightsoftheWest » Logged

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Re: What’s the worst LED street light ever made? « Reply #2 on: August 21, 2026, 08:54:52 AM » Author: Econolite03
Still the Leotek E-Cobra series.
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Molly
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Re: What’s the worst LED street light ever made? « Reply #3 on: August 21, 2026, 03:57:15 PM » Author: Molly
Leotek GreenCobra and E-Cobra. Both very cheaply made and I despise them both.
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Re: What’s the worst LED street light ever made? « Reply #4 on: August 25, 2026, 11:59:25 PM » Author: BT25
All of them... :poof: :lol:
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Maxim
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Re: What’s the worst LED street light ever made? « Reply #5 on: August 31, 2026, 04:15:16 PM » Author: Maxim
Leotek E-Cobra, followed by the AEL AutoConnect, followed by the Lumec RoadFocus Plus

The Leotek E-Cobra, you all know why...

The AEL AutoConnect, though, is simply an abomination on all fronts [as they are installed en masse in Philadelphia]... can't drive a mile without seeing one with:
a) an open door
b) an open door + charred internals [evidence of a fire of some kind]
c) an open door + failing driver [erratic flashing]
d) failing driver [erratic flashing]

The RoadFocus Plus has a ridiculous design, with the driver housing and LED diode array being essentially on top of each other... typically, 1/2 gets cooked and the light dies with just 2-3 diodes illuminating dimly...

Conversely, I'd say the best LED street lights made are:
- Cooper Archeon Contemporary
- Philips/Lumec RoadFocus Small/Medium/Large'
- Evluma RoadMax
- Cree XSP2s [ones installed in 2012 are still just as bright as new, though they look somewhat dated in 6500K]
- AEL 247L [at least the 1st gen in LED from 2015-2017...]
- Any Hubbell/KIM Lighting product w/ the PicoPrism optical assembly
« Last Edit: August 31, 2026, 04:23:02 PM by Maxim » Logged

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Re: What’s the worst LED street light ever made? « Reply #6 on: Today at 01:45:56 AM » Author: SussexEuroSOX
Probably the Indo Air? Or maybe the Holophane S-Line…but I do really hate the Indo Sicura and IonRoad!  :sick:
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