Mastodawn

Everything has LEDs now and they drive me nuts

https://lemmy.ml/post/1927999

Everything has LEDs now and they drive me nuts - Lemmy

Why does every small appliance or useful home electronics item have the BRIGHTEST LEDs in them? I bought a new fan for our bedroom Sunday. It has 4 speed settings, and LEDs to display which setting you’re on. Just like every other electrical device in our bedroom, I had to cover the LEDs with electrical tape because they are TOO DAMM BRIGHT. That one light was more than bright enough for me to see in the room with all the lights off. I can’t sleep well if there’s a lot of light like that, especially blue light, and it’s like every fucking electronics manufacturer used the same extra bright blue LEDs. All of our power strips have them. Same brightness. The fans have them. Don’t even get me started on digital clocks and the plague of bright LEDs that they bring about Many charging plugs have them built into the plug itself. Even some fucking light switches have them now! I have about 6 different things in our bedroom that have electrical tape over their completely unnecessary LEDs. Why has this become such a common thing? Is this really something most people want? To have a room that is never actually dark even with the lights turned off?

JJROKCZ Jul 11, 2023

Because they’re cheap and look “modern/futuristic” so shit manufacturers love them. I have also used electrical tape on power strips, chargers, smoke detectors, etc

Dnn Jul 11, 2023

That and your average electrical engineer will consider an LED useful that signals the device has power.

Most probably then don’t consider where the device is actually used. In a well-lit office space that LED doesn’t annoy anyone.

haroldfinch Jul 11, 2023

I was actually complaining about the exact same thing yesterday! I had to use a putty-like adhesive to cover a lot of those bright af LEDs. It’s indeed infuriating.

godless Jul 11, 2023

Agree. When my DVD player back in 2000 came with a bright blue power-on LED, that crap started to bother me. Sitting right under the TV, so watching anything in a darkened room means I had that fucker blinding me all the time. Nothing a little duct tape can't fix, but that's not exactly helping.

Ever since I've been actively avoiding devices where I can't dim & disable the LEDs.

aeharding Jul 11, 2023

Car headlight are too fucking bright nowadays

breno Jul 11, 2023

People driving around like they’re trying to spot kangaroos in the suburbs

thatgirlwasfire Jul 11, 2023

Depending where you are, the bright bulbs help spot deer. Though if you are in the suburbs that might not be really much of a problem

I'm Hiding 🇦🇺Jul 11, 2023

Especially when they’re in one of those God-ugly American Pickup Trucks with headlights that are right at eye level for anyone in a normal car. Even being followed by a forty year old Mack semi isn’t nearly as bad, because they’ve at least got sealed beams headlights.

Silviecat44 Jul 11, 2023

Even the auto dimming ones are too much

VenomsCarnage22 Jul 11, 2023

Agreed. I can’t tell when people are driving with their high beams on anymore.

valek879 Jul 11, 2023

This is why I always have the high beans on when driving my 90’s car. I’ve got to fit in with the cool kids (oh and be able to see the road despite the bonding lights coming at me.)

Rakn Jul 11, 2023

Not sure if you are joking or lot. But at times that’s actually what I think about and sometimes even do. If there is a car with too bright lights coming down the road I’ll turn on the high beams because it reduces my ability to see the road otherwise.

I_Fart_Glitter Jul 11, 2023

My pet peeve is not just the brightness, but the blueness. These things are fucking blue raspberry slurpee blue. Paired with a very reddish orange turn signal they come up behind me and indicate and I think I’m getting pulled over for a sec.

railsdev Jul 11, 2023

On a similar note I’ve thought I was being followed by police with the bright spotlight thing they sometimes have on their cars several times just due to the crazy headlights.

Gestrid Jul 11, 2023

Thank you! I’m not the only one!

Ghostalmedia Jul 11, 2023

Electrical type can be used to black them out.

Reamen Jul 11, 2023

lmao

Paradox Jul 11, 2023

Might be some solace in the near future. Pixel Light is becoming a thing, where the car will selectively black out part of the headlight beam for oncoming traffic.

Lukecis Jul 11, 2023

Seriously, I swear I get temporarily blinded at night sometimes.

Reamen Jul 11, 2023

They installed LEDs in the road lights near me and they had a faulty film cover that turned purple 😆 now they whole highway is light up purple at night!

can Jul 11, 2023

I miss the days of red LEDs. I understand blue were new and novel at one point but that’s passed.

itsAsin Jul 11, 2023

new AND novel?

also fresh and different!

nekat_emanresu Jul 11, 2023

Our fresh state of the art new innovation, novaBlue© coloured LEDs, using neoBright technology(patent pending) to freshen your days and lead to a different and exciting future filled with the latest luxuries.

Hogger85b Jul 11, 2023

I'm old.enough to remember when this was literally a news item... For a long time LEDs where red orange and green but the wavelength for blue was tricky. The. In early 90s they finally cracked being able to make them with cheap materials and manufacturing processes for mass consumption. It would change the world as having r g and b enabled LEDs to be displayed. So blue LEDs were the ones that won a Nobel prize and was in all the journals and on pop sci TV shows like beyond 2000.

So some of the copy was identical to your post

jeanofthedead Jul 11, 2023

It’s different to the eye! See how it’s something you might recognize, but you don’t?

henfredemars Jul 11, 2023

I seem to be fortunate that both my last cable modem and my router have built-in options to turn off all LEDs, even the power LED, for aesthetics.

oleorun Jul 11, 2023

I have opened up devices to physically remove the led. SMD LEDs stand no chance against a steady hand and a precision flathead screwdriver.

Fosheze Jul 11, 2023

precision flathead screwdriver

Ah yes. Just like my precision printer adjustment mallet.

someguy3 Jul 11, 2023

Electrical tape to black it out.

Painters tape to dim it.

Covfefe95 Jul 11, 2023

Do this and never look back

b00m Jul 11, 2023

May the LED's I tape not light the way

Riskable Jul 11, 2023

With the tape over the LEDs you can look back though. You won’t be blinded. It’ll be OK.

Sisko Urso Jul 11, 2023

Didn’t think about the painters tape for just dimming the light, great idea.

notthebees Jul 11, 2023

Use cut pieces of sticky notes. It’s the correct width and doesnt look as jank

Russianranger Jul 11, 2023

The electrical tape approach is what I did and it did wonders. Went from having a myriad of green and blue LEDs on my fans/portable AC/etc to complete wonderful darkness when I retired for the night. Made a distinct difference in my ability to fall asleep faster at night. I hate having lights when going to bed. Darkness or bust.

Mic_Check_One_Two Jul 11, 2023

You can actually buy tinted tape to dim them without completely blacking them out. So you can take your clock from “bright enough to keep your entire bedroom lit” to “just bright enough to read in the dark.”

Found out while watching Technology Connections. Bright blue monochromatic LEDs are one of his biggest pet peeves, and he mentioned the tinted tape off-hand in one of his videos.

danielton Jul 11, 2023

youtu.be/oHeehYYgl28?t=13m45s

Humidifiers: Simpler is better?

YouTube

Mic_Check_One_Two Jul 11, 2023

Bingo, there it is. Thanks!

GrandMoffFartin Jul 11, 2023

I bought some pre-cut led dimming stickers on a sheet. Any new electronics that come into my house get one. As someone who likes to sleep in near complete darkness it’s a must have.

EeeDawg101 Jul 12, 2023

Yep I have a pack of various shapes and sizes for dimming LEDs. You just stick it over the light. Works great

Sarcastik Jul 11, 2023

I literally travel with a roll of black electric tape for this exact reason.

Sebeck0401 Jul 11, 2023

No officer, I use it to cover the lights on electronics in my hotel room. Honest!

Jon Von Basslake Jul 11, 2023

I mean, just carry a small roll of it, not one that’s like an inch or two wide…

Xeelee Jul 11, 2023

Thanks for reminding me. Gotta pack that for my next holiday.

baru Jul 11, 2023

I have a black pen that can write on plastic. I’ve used that to dim the insanely bright LED on a smoke detector. If you are careful (I wasn’t) then this method looks nicer than putting some tape on a device.

boxvoy Jul 11, 2023

…or one or more layers of nail polish.

Astronomik Jul 11, 2023

Fully agree. One of the worst offenders is the PS5 whose standby lights can’t even be covered with tape properly because they’re complex curves. Even the clocks on my stove and microwave are too bright. I happened to have some black “washi” tape (basically masking tape) and it did a nice job of dimming them without looking out of place.

themachine Jul 11, 2023

There really should be an option to dim it low.

stopthatgirl7 Jul 11, 2023

Blue LEDs can trigger migraines in us poor saps who are photosensitive, so them being all over the place has been a ton of fun, let me tell you.

I got reddish-brown tints for my glasses and it’s been a lifesaver.

Hogger85b Jul 11, 2023

Was going to say why blue also. Very bad for sleep quality red/orange would be better.

Madison_rogue Jul 11, 2023

LED and face mask manufacturers have conspired to improve sales of both appliance lighting, and sleepwear.

Nugget Jul 11, 2023

If you’re ever buying your own LEDs, make sure they’re 2700K or less, it makes a huge difference in the temperature of light. The annoying part is that manufacturers ship appliances with god awful lightbulbs which, thanks to unfortunate advances, mean they will never die. A blessing and a curse.

DontMakeMoreBabies Jul 11, 2023

I had to pop open my daughter's wipe warmer to yank out a bunch of useless LEDs that were keeping her up. Why can't we just have a damned off switch?

expatriado Jul 11, 2023

Alec Watson enters the chat

rosatherad Jul 11, 2023

This kind of low effort comment should have stayed on Reddit.

expatriado Jul 11, 2023

I guess people here is not familiar with Technology Connections and Alec’s despise of blue LEDs.

rosatherad Jul 11, 2023

A better comment would have been like "this reminds me of Technology Connections' Alec Watson, he talks a lot about how much he hates blue LEDs. Here's a video [link]"

It makes the same reference, but provides more context, more content, and a new point of discussion.

lilbirddog Jul 11, 2023

I installed a heated/lighted medicine cabinet in my master bathroom without realizing the blue LED touch controls would be bright enough to light up the bathroom and bedroom. Now I regret spending so much money on it.

rem26_art Jul 11, 2023

agreed. Its really annoying. I actually bought the humidifier I did because they advertised it as having a setting to turn off the power LED.

I remember the Nintendo Wii was terrible about this. Like if they pushed an update, the disk drive would just start glowing the brightest blue ever until you did something about it

thimantha Jul 11, 2023

My fan automatically turns off its LEDs after about 10 seconds. Good design FTW.