Let's shine some light on LED light bulbs

Another thread here was discussing lighting for a bathroom. LED bulbs were mentioned and now I'm seriously considering upgrading my light bulbs throughout my home to LED. But I want to hear from people that are currently using them in their home. Or are at least really knowledgeable about them.

I know they are really expensive and are somewhat still in their infancy as far as home lighting goes. (right? I mean I don't know anyone that uses them).

If I can get over the initial investment what am I looking at in terms of brightness and power consumption and overall satisfaction?

1. Will I see a significant reduction in my electric bill just from the new bulbs?
2. How do I purchase them? Let's say I have a 60W regular ole bulb now - What compares in the LED? What wattage is equivalent
3. I know LED is really bright - most my ceiling lights use two bulbs - would one LED be enough?

Just in general what do I need to know when I'm out in the store buying LED lights?

Thanks all!

Me too. I will follow this closely.

There a lots of online stores in the UK that sell LED bulbs, they show you the equivalent wattage so you can choose the most suitable bulb, I guess you would have the same over there? I just swapped one of our normal 60w bulbs for a 10w LED, it has instantly dropped about 50%-60% of the bulb wattage/cost on our electricity monitor. Also doesn't get hot like the old bulb.
You also get different colour temperatures as well, so again best to look online.
Have a look here just to get an idea http://www.lightbulbs-direct.com/led/gls-bulb/c602/

WarrenB said:

There a lots of online stores in the UK that sell LED bulbs, they show you the equivalent wattage so you can choose the most suitable bulb, I guess you would have the same over there? I just swapped one of our normal 60w bulbs for a 10w LED, it has instantly dropped about 50%-60% of the bulb wattage/cost on our electricity monitor. Also doesn't get hot like the old bulb.
You also get different colour temperatures as well, so again best to look online.
Have a look here just to get an idea http://www.lightbulbs-direct.com/led/gls-bulb/c602/

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ok that's good to know. I know when the CFL was all the rage they had equivalent wattage on the bulbs. Looks like LED is the same.

I have noticed that the "equivalent wattage" rating that they give isn't really accurate. Besides, a 60W regular bulb can be replaced by a fairly inexpensive well tested 13W CFL bulb. They last for years and once you put them in a fixture with some frosted glass, they look great.

Or you can get an LED at 9.5W. for double the price or more of a CFL. I personally don't feel that they are as bright, and the light doesn't go in all directions, each LED sorta makes a beam that's hard to look at. I also personally don't like the color that LED seems to come in.

If you have a lot of lights in your house and you leave them on a lot. You will notice some difference in your bill by switching to an efficient bulb. You would save the price of the bulbs in about a year. If you go with the LED, you most likely won't notice a difference compared to the CFL and it could take 2 years or more to pay off the bulb.

One other question.

Will any of them fit in a normal light socket? or do I need to find one specific?

That was another thing I was wondering. If a LED costs $30-40....how long till I've saved enough in electric to pay for it?

Just doesn't seem like it adds up yet.

CFL and LED bulbs are both available for standard sockets.

Here are some of the big considerations when you think about LED light bulbs...

1) Color temperature - make sure you get the warmth you are after. Incandescent bulbs are warmer than fluorescents and many of the LEDs...


2) Most of the LED bulbs I've seen cannot be placed inside a closed container. They need circulating air to keep the base cool.


3) The shape of the light emitting part of the bulb needs to fit the area you are trying to light.


I've got two 60 Watt equivalent LEDs in my bathroom fixtures above the mirror. They are great. They are soft white, 2700K, in color. They take 6 Watts of energy or 1/10 of a standard 60W incandescent bulb. Cree made these bulbs and I bought them at Home Depot for $10 USD each.

We are using Philips 5000K daylight bulbs in the kitchen. This is a much bluer light, think sunshine at noon. These bulbs produce a very sharp, edge defining light. My wife loves them. Way too intense for my morning shave.

I'm going to slightly derail this for a second in hopes that come one can help me with something I've been mulling over.

I have 30 fixtures that currently all have the 2 of the U-shaped T12 fluorescent lights in them. The current price of a T12s is about half of a U shaped LED tube, and the monthly savings of the upgrade should save me a significant amount each month. What do I need to do to convert the current fixtures to LED? Is it as easy as bypassing the ballast and putting in new pin sockets?

Toothpick said:

That was another thing I was wondering. If a LED costs $30-40....how long till I've saved enough in electric to pay for it?

Just doesn't seem like it adds up yet.

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Really depends on what you get charged for your electricity, could be years. Have a look here, US energy saving website, looks like there is a savings calculator on the right hand side
http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=cfls.pr_cfls_savings

LED supposedly last longer. Like four times as long as CFL bulbs. So over the life of the bulb, you can save about 8 bucks in bulbs. But that extra 3.5 watts per bulb won't really make an appreciable difference in your power bill compared to turning down the heat just 1 degree or making sure the lights are turned off in other rooms. But over the life of the bulb it might add up to a few bucks in the black. Mostly they are expensive because they are new, not because they are so much better.

However, if you drop it, you're out $25-40. Drop a CFL and you can buy a new one with a few days' pocket change.

Toothpick said:

That was another thing I was wondering. If a LED costs $30-40....how long till I've saved enough in electric to pay for it?

Just doesn't seem like it adds up yet.

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There might be some LEDs that cost $30-$40, but why pay that? Home Depot carries the Cree line and a 60 watt daylight balanced costs around $11. I use them wherever I can. I like bright light. They reach full intensity instantly and are cool to the touch; only the ceramic base gets warm.

I really can't tell you if I've saved hundreds in the electric bill category, but I know that it has been a while since I've had to change a bulb. I like them a lot. The only time it has been painful for me is inadvertently dropping one before you can screw it into the socket. That hurts.

Don

For brightness comparisons, check the lumen output for the bulb. The CFLs I use are 13w and say equivalent to 70w incandescent, but are as bright as most 90w regular bulbs. I know you're asking about LED lights, but the lumen output is still the way to compare equivalent brightness

The only places that I use led now are areas where the bulb is constantly on.
Back stairwell, cellar, bathroom.
I'm still concerned about areas where they're turned on and off a lot. Worried about burn out and replacement cost.

I only have 4 LEDs in the house but the color of the light is far superior to any cfl light. They are pricey but as cfl bulbs fail I will replace with led. That may take a while. About the only thing that's still incandescent in my house are candelabra base bulbs. Just because there are so darn many of them and until recently candelabra LEDs were hard to get. Pricey as well. I have no idea how much $$$ the energy savings translates into. I just like knowing I don't have to worry about changing bulbs all the time. Incandescents are a pain once you get used to a bulb that could last for years.

wow this is all great info.

The only light I'm used to is yellow light from the regular ole bulbs. One thing I am concerned about with the LED is that they wont light up an entire room, like my living room. I have one light in the ceiling fan (2 bulbs I think), I'd hate to put a LED in there and have a beam of light on the floor directly below the fixture. Furthermore I'm 99% sure the light bulbs are parallel to the floor rather than vertical. So I'd have an LED beam on my wall.....

is the 2700k and 5000k brightness level?

Try the Phillips or Cree 60W bulbs (2700 degree color temp) from Home Depot. They are about 5 dollars currently. The Phillips are a funny flat shape, but throw a 360 degree light.

They put off a light that is just like an incandescent, if you get that color temp. They seem to be an equivalent brightness too.

2 things I did not like about CFL bulbs ,#1 mercury that ends up in landfills or worse , #2 CFL's caused eye pupil "flutter",they reduced it a bit in later years but could not eliminate it.LED's do not contain mercury (that I know of) but how are they on rapid pupil flutter ???I won't buy them until I know,and I have a large case of incandescent that will last a long time.https://www.1000bulbs.com/category/...ontent=Sitelinks&utm_campaign=Light_Bulb_Only

Klopstick said:

Try the Phillips or Cree 60W bulbs (2700 degree color temp) from Home Depot. They are about 5 dollars currently. The Phillips are a funny flat shape, but throw a 360 degree light.

They put off a light that is just like an incandescent, if you get that color temp. They seem to be an equivalent brightness too.

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I could always buy a couple just to try them