LED Bulbs-One Year Review

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Last January I purchased 89 LED bulbs to replace almost every standard bulb in our home. The breakdown was as follows:

38 standard Cree bulbs.
6 TW series Cree bulbs.
6 Utilitech Pro bulbs.
4 Ecosmart 3 way bulbs.
34 LightingEver GU10 bulbs.
7 Feit BPA15 bulbs.

A total of 95 bulbs to retrofit nearly the entire house and attached garage, both inside and outside. I did not replace any of the fixtures or bulbs in my shop-that would have been cost prohibitive and I don't think I'd see the payback since the shop lighting isn't used that often.

Most of the bulbs were in the 2700K-3000K color temperature, a few were in the 5000K color temperature range.

After a year I can honestly say that the results are rather boring. I have had zero issues or problems any of the bulbs. No failures, no flickering, and best of all I haven't had to drag my 10' ladder out and replace any of the bulbs in our vaulted ceiling-something that happened once or twice a year with standard bulbs. All of the bulbs that were advertised as dimmable work perfectly in the standard, existing dimmable circuits.

We are seeing savings on our electric bill. It has dropped an average of 90 cents/day over the last 11 months, or about $28/month. Summer months have less savings because the daylight hours are longer, in winter the savings were more dramatic since we use much more lighting, and we tend to entertain more in the winter months and run all the lighting in the common areas. At the current rate the bulbs will have paid for themselves in about 3 years.

The LED bulbs have light that is every bit as good as the conventional bulbs they replaced (mostly GE Reveal). Both my wife and I noticed that colors seem to stand out a bit more with the LED lighting.

I am most certainly pleased with the performance and cost savings of the LED bulbs so far, and would not hesitate to recommend any of the bulbs used.
 
Thanks for the review! I am always looking to save a buck.....I have been debating replacing all of the bulbs in my house and just haven't pulled the trigger yet. My wife and daughter HATE the Fluoro bulbs that I put in a few rooms, but I like the lower cost on them
smile.gif
 
Yeah I picked up a bunch of crees last january as they were subsidized by the state PUC and I figured they'd run out of money. They did!
wink.gif


I particularly like using them on my screened in porch as they light up instantly in cold weather and I can leave them on, guilt free, sipping 4 watts.

Even the gooey rubber dip they coat the bulbs with isn't nasty with dust and spider webs like I feared.
 
Hmmm, maybe time to replace a bunch. Anyone seen a better deal than this?http://www.amazon.com/Philips-433227-10-5-watt-Style-Dimmable/dp/B00I134ORI/ref=sr_1_14?ie=UTF8&qid=1420292388&sr=8-14&keywords=cree+led
 
Originally Posted By: eljefino

I particularly like using them on my screened in porch as they light up instantly in cold weather and I can leave them on, guilt free, sipping 4 watts.

Even the gooey rubber dip they coat the bulbs with isn't nasty with dust and spider webs like I feared.


One of the things I noticed about the bulbs that we used for our outdoor lighting is that they don't attract insects like conventional bulbs did. It's much more pleasant to sit under the pergola on a summers night with the cafe lights on and not be inundated by insects.

I also noticed that the coating on the Cree bulbs doesn't seem to attract or retain dust, which I found surprising.
 
Pop, thanks for this analysis. I've been thinking about when to make the jump, and your experience gives some good context for the financial side of it.
Where did you purchase your bulbs, if you don't mind me asking?
 
I have a strange one for you. I have a Cree with the rubber coating in a outdoor fixture that has a motion sensor. Bulb is "hanging" (threads up). Over the past couple months I have found the bulb loose, partially unscrewed, not making contact. Security system shows no abnormal incidents like somebody doing that on purpose. I don't know if it is the weight with the heat sink or maybe the heat/cool cycles. The fixture is mounted by a door so probably vibrates a bit with the door open/close.

Thoughts or ideas to keep in place?
 
I've always been told to replace them as conventional bulbs fail to keep the up front costs low and minimize wasting perfectly good bulbs. After reading your review and seeing that they'll pay for themselves in about 3 years isn't bad at all. They are worth at least for the ladder-free convenience too.

What kind of lifespan does these things have?
 
Originally Posted By: dlundblad
I've always been told to replace them as conventional bulbs fail to keep the up front costs low and minimize wasting perfectly good bulbs.


I agree...it's a waste of perfectly good bulbs. Also I could see replacing the bulbs in the rooms that you spend the most time in but not all of them.
 
In the cold months, conventional bulbs contribute to heating the house. If you have electric heat, it's a zero sum game. In the summer, the LED bulbs help in just the opposite way.
 
OP, thanks for the review.

I have been using CFL's for the past decade plus and they don't seem to last as long as they should and I can hear a buzz in a few. As they age, the warm-up time increases too.

Couple years ago I bought a 2-pack of LG 40w equivalent LED's and currently have them in outside fixtures. I can leave them on all night sipping 7.5W each and not see it on my bill. I will buy more LED bulbs as needed and the price is reasonable.

I'm using incandescent bulbs inside this winter because I have them and they say that 90% of energy consumed is turned into heat. Free heat! Their life is horrible compared to CFL and LED bulbs as I usually have to replace one a month or so.
 
I saw this "new" type of LED bulb and ordered a couple of different brightness levels to see how I liked them. They come in flame tip style as well. I think if they work well they might win over someone who would miss the look of a filament bulb.

LED Bulb
 
Personally I really like the "Daylight" (5000K ) ones. Its a white light and not dingy. They taka a minute or two to reach full intensity. Goes with the territory.

Their life in not remotely as long as advertised.
 
Bang for the buck, it's tough to beat a CFL. The LED's definitely have a nicer, brighter light. For a closet that just gets turned on occasionally, I'll stick with the el cheapo incandescent.
 
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.
 
THANKS Pop !!! We have been wanting to do something like this for awhile but other things came up and $$$ went else where.


CHeers
Bo
 
I started using CFL's in locations in which lights were on for long periods back in 1993. They had their drawbacks, but if the light was on for hours at a time the bulbs lasted for years. The first one I bought in 1993 lasted seven years. LED's were very expensive until the incandescent "ban" loomed on the horizon.

I personally like the fact that we have options now. I have all three types in various locations in my house; incandescents in locations that are on only for minutes (or seconds) at a time, CFL's in locations in which the light quality is not critical, and LED's in locations that are turned on and off frequently and often left on for hours. (CFL lifespan is shortened by rapid cycling).

I do use CFL's in my recessed kitchen lights. The 5000K bulbs have good color rendering and have lasted nine years thus far. I originally had four foot tube fixtures (2-T12's in each) in the recesses, but I replaced them with two bare bulb sockets in each recess with 25W CFL's in the sockets. That's supposed to be the equivalent of four 100W filament bulbs. I honestly can't believe how long they have lasted.
 
I've been migrating to LED for a little wile now and mostly use the 40w equivalent in LED, I have been picking them up cheap at the local goodwill store brand new for $2, GE brand.
 
I'm waiting for LED prices to drop down before I convert from CFL. my entire house uses CFL. Last month electric bill was 74 dollars. I turned off my in ground lights, about 20 of them, which use the old incandescent bulbs. I'm waiting for LED to become affordable to convert them.
 
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