[ctviggen]

I see LED bulbs have come down quite a bit in price.  For my canned lighting, they're down to about $15/light, from $100 not that long ago.  Is anyone using these?  If so, what are your results?

My problem is compact fluorescents.  They've ruined me.  These things are garbage.  For one thing, they produce nowhere near the light equivalent of a regular bulb.  We took out a 100W incandescent and put in a supposedly 100w CFL, and the CFL is nowhere close to the original output.  For every light requiring 60W incandescent, I've put in 100W "equivalent" CFL.  Also, CFLs aren't dimmable, which I absolutely must have.  Further, their turn on times are horrible.  I have three different CFLs in my two hall lights, with three different turn on times.  Finally, they don't last anywhere near what they're rated.  My hallway lights are on only a fraction of my kitchen lights (canned lights, low voltage halogen), and I've replaced all four hallway lights at least once, while in the same time, I've replaced at most 2 of the kitchen lights.

So, if the LEDs correct all the CFL problems, I'd consider buying LED for select locations (like the kitchen, where the lights are on a lot -- the family room, with 12 canned lights, I'd leave alone).

[Stu Pitt]

I'd like some opinions too, as I despise CFLs.  I haven't had any reliability issues, except in a dining room chandelier, which I think was the chandelier and not the bulbs.

My biggest concern with CFLs is I can see things on my 16 month old daughter like I can with traditional bulbs - there were times when she had a little redness, be it a rash or diaper rash, that when we took her to a place like the doctor's office, it was so much worse that what we'd seen at home.  We replaced the bulb in her room in the mean time.   And pictures come out not as good either.

The second worst place is in the bathroom.  By the time you're done with no. 1, the lights finally come to where they should be.   

[django11]

LEDs I have seen are blue in tone.  Very bright.  No idea how long they will last...

[trackball02]

I have a dinning room chandelier that uses 5 small base bulbs. I was using 7 w CFLs, and not a lot of light was produced by each bulb. I replaced with 4w LEDs and the difference was dramatic. Much more light per bulb, instant on, and a whiter light using less watts.  Strongly recommend them. Can't tell you if they will last. I got them at Costco at a reasonable price.

[Ericus Rex]

Just redid our dining room lighting with LED's in four recessed cans.  We got the dimmable Sylvanias at Lowe's and got an LED dimmer ($30 for the dimmer alone!!!!) to go with it.  The light is very bright and room filling, and a little bit blue as mentioned.  But we're not at all happy with the dimming.  The bulbs say 10-100% dimmable and the dimmer says 20-100% dimmable (I may have those figures backwards) but the total dimming feels more like 80-100%.  I don't know if the bulbs and/or the dimmer are the fault.  We basically are running our dimmer at the lowest setting all the time.  Not what we wanted.  If you aren't using any dimmers I think you'll be happy with LED.  If they actually last 30,000 hours they are well worth the added expense.

[Elizabeth]

I have to agree the compact fluorescent suck.
I use them for several lights, and they need to be like twice the rated output to even come close to the amount of light of a standard bulb
I get used to it being dimmer and dimmer as time passes.
I should go look at the LED bulbs.
For dimming situations, nothing beats standard bulbs. With the light usually being only partially on.. they last nearly forever with the right dimmer.
(on the other hand, with the wrong dimmer, they burn out in a few weeks! I kept the good dimmers I found with me when i moved last time. As it is a crapshoot getting a great dimmer control.)
I guess I should also stock up on incandescent bulbs...(for those dimmers)

[Wayner]

Menards had Par 30 long neck 10.5 watt LED floods for $11, so I bought 3 of them for my studio, replacing the 75 watt incandescent lamps in the recessed cans. They are 2700° Kelvin (color temperature) so they are a very close match to incandescent. They are also dimmable. Made by Toshiba.

They produce almost the same amount of light, so I have no quibbles about that, but when in the dimming mode, especially if they are only slightly dimmed, they can flicker, which is very annoying. dimming them more seems to stop the flickering. I suspect I do not have the exact dimmer to mate with the LEDs, but it does work fairly well. The LEDs will also only dim about half as much as the incandescent lamps and go into "glow" mode, which is almost zero light output. Lamp life for the LEDs is rated at 40,000 hours, hopefully more in dimming mode.

The plus side to it all is 2 fold, being lower operating costs and no filament rattle from being dimmed. The minus side is the initial cost. However, at $11 each, they should be a good value if they last as long as stated.





Wayner

[Trader7878]

I am using led bulbs which I bought at Lowes.  So far, they are working well.  One thing I did notice is that some of my led bulbs, even though they are marked as dimmable, placing 4 of them on one circuit doesn't dim. I actually needed to put in one halogen and then all the bulbs became dimmable.  I guess it needs a certain amount of wattage on the circuit?

Menards had Par 30 long neck 10.5 watt LED floods for $11, so I bought 3 of them for my studio, replacing the 75 watt incandescent lamps in the recessed cans. They are 2700° Kelvin (color temperature) so they are a very close match to incandescent. They are also dimmable. Made by Toshiba.

They produce almost the same amount of light, so I have no quibbles about that, but when in the dimming mode, especially if they are only slightly dimmed, they can flicker, which is very annoying. dimming them more seems to stop the flickering. I suspect I do not have the exact dimmer to mate with the LEDs, but it does work fairly well. The LEDs will also only dim about half as much as the incandescent lamps and go into "glow" mode, which is almost zero light output. Lamp life for the LEDs is rated at 40,000 hours, hopefully more in dimming mode.

The plus side to it all is 2 fold, being lower operating costs and no filament rattle from being dimmed. The minus side is the initial cost. However, at $11 each, they should be a good value if they last as long as stated.





Wayner

[djdube525]

I replaced several can lights with the EcoSmart 65W equivalent led lights. The lights are made by CREE - fantastic color, and can be easily dimmed. They run about $40 if you buy singles... We bought a 12 pack around the holidays, and that brought them down to roughly $32 a piece. Quality wise, I think you'll be hard pressed to find better.

Lots of good reviews...

http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1v/R-202240932/h_d2/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10053&langId=-1&keyword=Eco+smart+led&storeId=10051

[JerryM]

I bought a life-time supply of normal 100W and 75W filament light bulbs. Bought master cartons like a kid buys Girl Scout cookies through the back fence of a Weight Watchers camp. The light color and level is perfect, they are long lasting, and ridiculously cheap.

Sorry to go OT. 

Have fun,

Jerry

[Passive Chappy]

This is a real nice LED I've found.  What's nice about this one is that it's a soft white and very similar to regular blub light.  Nice price as LEDs go too.

http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-25ecodZ5yc1v/R-202530170/h_d2/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10053&langId=-1&keyword=led+light+blubs&storeId=10051

If you need something less that 60 watts here's one, but it costs more.

http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-25ecodZ5yc1v/R-203082724/h_d2/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10053&langId=-1&keyword=led+light+blubs&storeId=10051

Keep an eye on them because the price does come down from time to time.

I hope this helps.