LED Bulbs-One Year Review

[xfactor9]

I'd like to know how anyone is spending $28/month on just lighting. Are you using football stadium floodlights or growing something in the house? At $0.12 per kw/hr, that's 7.5kw per day which is a lot. So unless you're paying significantly more than that rate, something doesn't make sense.

As for LED vs CFL. I've stocked up on 23w CFL's for as little as $0.25 each. At this price they are far more economical than LEDs even if they only last 1 year.

 

[sciphi]

Most of my house is LED lighting. Aside from a few 5000k bulbs used in large areas, most of the bulbs are 2700k 60w equivalent Cree bulbs. I can't tell the 2700k Cree bulbs from the few 60w incandescent bulbs still in relatively unused fixtures.

I still haven't found a good LED replacement for two 100w incandescents.

 

[DBMaster]

Originally Posted By: chiefsfan1
Good info all!! I too am thinking of going LED. I have a lamp post that has a CFL outdoor bulb that stays on all night. Does heat affect LEDS?


I dealt with this issue recently. Almost all the LED's I looked at in Home Depot stated "not for use in enclosed fixtures" on the boxes. My research indicated this is because LED bulbs produce a fair amount of heat and not having a way to vent it will shorten the bulb's life. I mounted an enclosed outdoor fixture several months ago. I found a Feit 40W equivalent (around 400 lumens) bulb that did not have the enclosed fixture statement so we'll see.

Check out those filament bulb look-a-likes I mentioned. The one I bought seems to have no heat to dissipate. It sure does look cool - like a modern twist on an old Edison bulb.

 

[Mamala Bay]

I picked up 10 Costco Freit 13.5 watts LED $3.99 on sale couldn't resist the price. None has KO'd that's been 6 months. They have a compact weighted feeling has some weight on it. http://led-light-bulbs-review.toptenreviews.com/feit-led-light-bulbs-review.html

What I notice on the LED is the direction the light produces. The light is much broader it spreads out. The CFL light is more direct so a lighted room seems darker versus LED. Also the LED light is much whiter you notice that right off the bat when switching.

 

[datech]

Originally Posted By: JTK
Not really consumer grade LED related but, I've made an interesting observation on my long boring work commute over the past year or two. Over a few mile stretch, the city or state replaced all the old and mostly faulty high pressure sodium street lamps with new LED heads. The light output, dispersion and color/temp is awesome, but over the past year or so, I bet 25% of them are inop already. Not good. I know the quality of pretty much all lighting fixtures isn't what it used be. Who knows.

Like I've said in other threads, I purchased a bunch of no-name GU10 LEDs to replace halogen twist-locks. None of them lasted more than a year. Most much shorter. I went back to 30-40watt GU10 halogens.



LED street lamps are a great idea and probably produce much less light pollution because they are naturally directional. All of the light goes down to the street.

But large wattage LEDs like that are still kind of new technology. For home use the 60 watt equivalent are pretty new, superceding the 40s.

All of them rely on the reliability of the voltage conversion circuitry in the base. If this circuitry were built into the fixture and properly heat sinked and the LEDs themselves were mounted in a good reflector they could be made more reliable. Until then I stick with name brands. They will be expensive but I have had about zero failure with the bulbs I have. Phillips and CREE are my favorites but I have some decent FEIT bulbs that are ok, too.

 

[datech]

Originally Posted By: chiefsfan1
Good info all!! I too am thinking of going LED. I have a lamp post that has a CFL outdoor bulb that stays on all night. Does heat affect LEDS? During the summer the sun does hit the lamp post for a few hours. I have not looked but I imagine there are LEDs that are for such a purpose and the local power company has a instant $5 rebate off LED.


Does the lamp in the post mount base up or base down? For this I would get a good brand and see if you can find one with a really decent heat sink.

I put some LED bulbs in some outdoor fixtures and I slightly modified the fixture. It had fiberglass insulation on the back of the fixture so I removed that and also made sure there were at least a couple of holes in the back open. The fixture was mounted under the eave so water is not a problem and while LEDs sometime have heat failures it is not because they generate a lot of heat, it's just that the transistor voltage circuitry in the base sometimes cant' take the heat generated by the light, even though it is not as much heat as a 60 watt bulb. CFLs have always had this problem to some degree and it always seems to me the cheaper bulbs are more likely to fail from bad ballast. For that matter I have had a number of shop light fixtures go bad as they are all the newer transistor type instead of the old heavy metal transformers.

 

[mjoekingz28]

Originally Posted By: Pablo
Thanks Pop!

LED is ABSOLUTELY the way to go. I'm converting, but still have an interesting mix of incandescent, CFL and LED.

CFL has been a huge flop and an even huger waste of resources. I literally have buckets of CFL's that maybe just lasted a year. All that to just be thrown out? CFL never lived up to the long life hype. Disgusting.

LED lighting just keeps improving in my book. Lowest power use, and true long life. My favorite is my spot beam used as a flood light in my covered porch two story entry way. It was not necessarily advertised for this use, but I figured it would make perfect light. The light is perfect for pennies.



You have to leave the cfl bulbs on a while to appreciate them. I had one lasts four years that stayed on for hours at a time. And one lasted a few weeks, or a month or two just usin it for seconds at a time. I now use incandescent bulbs for short use periods and cfl bulbs for all night type of light. Interested in LEDs but not a priority as of now, with the hi initial price and all. They are neat though and I look forward to using them as they become more affordable and kinks get ironed out.

 

[asiancivicmaniac]

When we moved into our home in July, I put LED bulbs in all the high use lamps, CFL in lights that barely get used, and incandescent in fixtures that get turned on/off a lot.

There's a mix of EcoSmart, Ikea, WM Great Value, and 1 Cree. My favorite are the EcoSmarts because they come in 3000K color. 2700K is too warm and 5000K is too cool for me. Ikea bulbs are the cheapest, but their lumens/watt ratio is the lowest and it shows. I'm waiting for the price of candelabra base bulbs to drop so I can replace the halogens in front of the house.

I've never liked CFL bulbs. The light output never seemed quite as bright as they claim on the box. I do have a 100 watt equivalent T4 that has lasted me 7 years though.

 

[Spazdog]

Yikes!

This one was in our garage door opener for at least 7 years.
That's a pretty inhospitable environment for any kind of bulb.

I don't know how this one lasts so long in a high heat/high vibration/on-off environment and I have other CFLs in a much more stable environment that only last a year.

I have a Cree LED with a silicone covered glass globe in it now. Hope I can get at least 14 out of it.

 

[chiefsfan1]

Originally Posted By: datech
Originally Posted By: chiefsfan1
Good info all!! I too am thinking of going LED. I have a lamp post that has a CFL outdoor bulb that stays on all night. Does heat affect LEDS? During the summer the sun does hit the lamp post for a few hours. I have not looked but I imagine there are LEDs that are for such a purpose and the local power company has a instant $5 rebate off LED.


Does the lamp in the post mount base up or base down? For this I would get a good brand and see if you can find one with a really decent heat sink.

I put some LED bulbs in some outdoor fixtures and I slightly modified the fixture. It had fiberglass insulation on the back of the fixture so I removed that and also made sure there were at least a couple of holes in the back open. The fixture was mounted under the eave so water is not a problem and while LEDs sometime have heat failures it is not because they generate a lot of heat, it's just that the transistor voltage circuitry in the base sometimes cant' take the heat generated by the light, even though it is not as much heat as a 60 watt bulb. CFLs have always had this problem to some degree and it always seems to me the cheaper bulbs are more likely to fail from bad ballast. For that matter I have had a number of shop light fixtures go bad as they are all the newer transistor type instead of the old heavy metal transformers.


its base down, and it is enclosed. Also it is exposed to the elements.
This is what is in there now.
http://www.amazon.com/GE-Lighting-85384-Post-Light-Replacement/dp/B002YEPGFY
then the glass panes of the post are over that

 

[Pop_Rivit]

Originally Posted By: xfactor9
I'd like to know how anyone is spending $28/month on just lighting. Are you using football stadium floodlights or growing something in the house? At $0.12 per kw/hr, that's 7.5kw per day which is a lot. So unless you're paying significantly more than that rate, something doesn't make sense.


If you would have both read and comprehended the posts I made, you'd know that we have a very large home. We also entertain guests frequently, during which time we turn on both the main level lighting, lower level lighting and the outdoor lighting. That adds up to about 60+ bulbs running when large crowds are here several times each month. Even when we're home by ourselves we generally have the can lights in the ceiling on, which can be 20 or 30 bulbs. Just the ceiling lights alone went from 50W halogen bulbs to 5W LED bulbs. If you spend a minute doing the math, using a conservative 30 bulbs number takes the energy consumption from 1500 watts to 150 watts. That's not including all of the regular lighting fixtures, the outdoor lighting fixtures (including all the bulbs on the pergola over the outdoor kitchen that went from 40W to 3W).

Originally Posted By: 2010_FX4

I have had just the opposite experience with CFL. I replaced incandescents with CFL in the most used lights in the house and after over 6 years, they are just now beginning to fail. On a recent trip to Colorado, we found 40 and 60 watt equivalent CFLs for 88 cents for a 4 pack and so for less than $10 (the cost of 1 LED)


That assumes that you're willing to settle for the cheap CFL and their long warm up time and poor color rendering. It's also important to note that there are a number of styles in which CFLs are not available, not well suited for, and non-dimmable CFLs should never be used with dimmable switches. Needless to say you won't find either dimmable CFLs, 3 way CFLs, or GU10 CFLs in your 88 cent price range, and converting switches and housings over increases the cost.

 

[Cujet]

I have a fair number of LED bulbs. I love 'em. They are especially nice in the kitchen, were 2700K High CRI bulbs really work well.

I also purchased one Cree 100W equiv conventional 2700K bulb just to try in in my floor standing torch (torchere) light. It's not bright enough for that type of application. The original bulb was a high brightness halogen 150W. The 100W Cree is about half as bright.

 

[MNgopher]

I really want to like the LED bulbs. I really, really do. The slow warmup of CFL bulbs is annoying, waiting for brighter light.

However, the Phillips LED's that I bough have an audible buzzing, the FEIT bulbs I bought had uneven color that was noticeable (5 bulb fixture), and one failed within 6 months, and I've had issues with CREE bulbs flickering in dimmer switched applications.

In straight forward, non-dimmed applications, I love the CREE LED's though...

 

[stockrex]

pop thanks a bunch,
most light fixtures with sensors and dimmers kill CFL bulbs in weeks.
plus for outside in cold temps like MI, CFL bulbs are WORTHless.

LED++, just have to wait for the price point to come down to an affordable level for outside bulbs.

 

[CarbonSteel]

Originally Posted By: Pop_Rivit
That assumes that you're willing to settle for the cheap CFL and their long warm up time and poor color rendering. It's also important to note that there are a number of styles in which CFLs are not available, not well suited for, and non-dimmable CFLs should never be used with dimmable switches. Needless to say you won't find either dimmable CFLs, 3 way CFLs, or GU10 CFLs in your 88 cent price range, and converting switches and housings over increases the cost.

Until LEDs reduce in price--CFLs serve my needs just fine, there is no way I am going to shell out hundreds of dollars on LEDs. I have not experienced LONG warm up times with CFLs (likely due to the fact the temperatures in Houston are above median most of the time) and the lights that have dimmers are not frequently used so incandescent bulbs are still in use there (with spares in the stock). The ROI for LEDs in my case would be close to the 5-7 year mark versus CFLs and a lot will change in that time span--namely the cost of LEDs.

 

[HTSS_TR]

Originally Posted By: Pop_Rivit
Originally Posted By: 2010_FX4

I have had just the opposite experience with CFL. I replaced incandescents with CFL in the most used lights in the house and after over 6 years, they are just now beginning to fail. On a recent trip to Colorado, we found 40 and 60 watt equivalent CFLs for 88 cents for a 4 pack and so for less than $10 (the cost of 1 LED)

That assumes that you're willing to settle for the cheap CFL and their long warm up time and poor color rendering. It's also important to note that there are a number of styles in which CFLs are not available, not well suited for, and non-dimmable CFLs should never be used with dimmable switches. Needless to say you won't find either dimmable CFLs, 3 way CFLs, or GU10 CFLs in your 88 cent price range, and converting switches and housings over increases the cost.

Usually I have 5-8 bulbs on most nights from dust till 10-11 PM, not 30-40 bulbs like yours.

With cheap CFL bulbs I need to turn on the light about 3-5 minutes earlier which is okay with me because those extra few minutes doesn't cost more than 1 penny. The CFL color rendering is okay with our family, nobody complaint about it.

With CFL bulbs in most applications my electricity cost a month is around $45-50. From my point of view LED is a good light source but cost too high to replace 10-20 cents CFL bulbs.

 

[Mykl]

The issue I've realized that I have with LED bulbs is that almost all of our light fixtures are completely enclosed. So I'm stuck with a mix of incandescent and CFL.

When I stop seeing the "do not put in a completely enclosed fixture" warning on the back of LED bulb packaging I'll happily convert.

 

[OVERKILL]

Originally Posted By: Mykl
The issue I've realized that I have with LED bulbs is that almost all of our light fixtures are completely enclosed. So I'm stuck with a mix of incandescent and CFL.

When I stop seeing the "do not put in a completely enclosed fixture" warning on the back of LED bulb packaging I'll happily convert.


I have one (a Cree) in the enclosed light on my porch. Will see how long it holds up

 

[Mykl]

Originally Posted By: OVERKILL
Originally Posted By: Mykl
The issue I've realized that I have with LED bulbs is that almost all of our light fixtures are completely enclosed. So I'm stuck with a mix of incandescent and CFL.

When I stop seeing the "do not put in a completely enclosed fixture" warning on the back of LED bulb packaging I'll happily convert.


I have one (a Cree) in the enclosed light on my porch. Will see how long it holds up

I will keep an eye on this thread.

 

[raytseng]

It depends on your enclosure.
I think as long as your enclosure can dissipate heat, and doesn't get over for example 150 degrees air temp in there, then you're OK.
So if it's like a sconce or a lamp post, it's fine, again, especially if it looks like it dissipates heat well.

If your enclosure is recessed and insulated on every side except for the light, then the LED bulb will burn out prematurely from the higher temps.