OK, on to LED house lighting.
First off, I'm not a big fan of CFLs. Although they have improved
dramatically in the last few years, they still have some
significant drawbacks for me. Let's see why:
-- They don't do well at low temperatures
-- Take a while to come to full brightness. And yes I've tested
the "instant-on" versions. They start up with more
brightness than normal CFLs, but still take time to
full brightness.
-- They are fragile. The glass breaks and exposes you
to nasty stuff
-- They don't like being turned on and off
I have two little girls at home, so I can't put CFL's within
their reach. And my youngest likes to flick lights on and off,
causing CFLs out of her reach to have short lives. Both of
these are concerns for incandescent bulbs as well to
some extent.
Then this morning, I went to switch on a light, there was a snap
and smoke with that lovely burnt ballast smell. A Feit Electric
CFL bites the dust. I'm going to shop for an LED replacement today.
On to the LED story. Originally, I got some noname bulbs off of
Ebay. Multiple LEDs, no UL marking. I tried them and they didn't
put out much light and were distinctly blue in color. Absolute junk.
So I instituted a new rule. I won't buy anything unless I can find out
the lumen output and the color temperature. That's helped
quite a bit.
The first halfway decent bulb I found was a Lights of America
PAR38 bulb at Sam's Club. Oddly, this bulb isn't on either Sams
or LofA's website.
It's a 11w 429 lumen bulb with a 4100K color temperature.
Not bad, still it's a bit white for general applications, but works
well in kitchen recessed lights. I've attached some pictures of
this bulb. Ordinary incandescents have a 2700K color temperature.
Recently, some mainstream companies have put bulbs on the market,
namely GE, Philips, and Feit Electric. These are still quite expensive, but I've tried
a few and will give you my impressions.
The best light I've found so far is the Feit PAR38/HP/LED:
http://www.amazon.com/Feit-Electric-PAR38-HP-LED/dp/B002Q8H99YIt's 16w, 710 lumens, with a 3000K color temperature. Unfortunately it's $60.
I have one (and only one) and love it. Color looks very incandescent like.
Also unfortunately, it's not dimmable (most LED bulbs are not).
Next bulb I got was a Philips 5w bulb (photo attached) that was about 230 lumens
and 5 watts. 3100K color temp. It's still expensive at $25. I put it in
a desk lamp my daughters use. Quite cool to the touch and the glass part is
thick. So far, no one has broken it.
Then out of nowhere, Home Depot introduced a light that dramatically undercuts
the existing players:
http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1vZ1xhc/R-202188260/h_d2/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10053It's 429 lumens, 8.6w at a 3000K color temperature for $19.95. And it's DIMMABLE!
I have several of these and they are indeed a decent 40w bulb replacement.
They aren't as directional as most bulbs (good!). I've heard Philips is coming out with
a 60w bulb, but I assume it will have a premium price. Hope this bulb
will pressure the other guys to reduce their prices, and if a 60w version of the bulb
comes out, I'm there!
Still on the list to tackle, the flame shaped candelabra bulbs and bathroom fixture lighting.
The quest continues. Anyone else found decent (or great) LED bulbs?
Scott