LED light bulbs

[RonJ]

As the tungsten bulbs are replaced are they all gonna be replaced by LED or flourescent bulbs? Any cons to LED's other than price?

 

[goldenlight]

The LED light bulbs are still way too expensive. Buy some cheap compact fluorescent lamps for now, and wait for the next 2 - 5 years, for LED light bulbs to come down in price.

When they do, they will be a much better light than they are right now. Many have a very poor color; with too much blue for most people's taste, now.

If it gets cold where you live, buy some incandescents to use outdoors or in garage, until the LED lights get more cost effective.

This is what I have done. All of the lights on the main floor of my house are fluorescents. I have those Phillips IQ incandescent bulbs in the basement, since I rarely spend much time down there, and they shut themselves off after 30 minutes.

Eventually, everybody will be using LED light bulbs that will be very similar in color to the old incandescent bulbs, but that time is down the road a few years, at least.

When compact fluorescent bulbs first came out, they cost $10 - $15 each. Now you can buy them for $1/ea. The same thing will happen with pricing to the LED bulbs.

I'm thinking they will cost a little more than the compact fluorescent bulbs, but they have some real advantages over them (dimmable, turn on to full brightness instantly, work in cold weather) that will make up for this price difference.

 

[Cooter Brown]

They're still pretty costy, but they're getting better. Last fall I did a kitchen cabinet job for some folks and they wanted to address the lighting. They went to a lighting specialty store which had a windowless room set up and 6-8 different LED can light sets. Each had a different color temperature and they picked the one they liked the best.

My electrician, who's been in the biz for 25 years, called me when he got to the job and asked if I was sure they wanted these things because any of the ones he had seen were horrible. I told him to go ahead and install as the homeowners were pretty set so he told his guys to put them in. He called me back and said that his guys had called him amazed at how good they were. After he saw them he said he'd start recommending them.

They were bright and had great color. The cost benefit at this point is really not there, given how expensive they are. Hopefully the cost comes down to a more reasonable point because they are MUCH better than fluorescent as far as the quality of the light. And you can use a dimmer.

 

[rburg]

The CFLs seem to have an advantage in producing warm light you can read or sit in. They're costly and burn out way too fast. The propaganda that they outlast incandescent bulbs is just BS.

I've got a few of the LED bulbs, specifically up in the peak of our main room. Its maybe 25 feet up, give or take, and I have no idea how to replace any thing that burns out. I'll probably be reduced to calling a contractor to replace them. I'm not climbing a ladder that high.

The light they put out is really harsh, but you can see in it. I've also got a 3w in our porch light, and I just leave it burn day and night. Its ugly, but functional. You can see to come up the steps, or if you're inside you can see who's out there. Not much else.

So the state of the art for LEDs isn't up to where they can be recommended for all uses. The CFLs are terrible and not getting any better from my perspective. I note that my wife just replaced the main reading bulb here in the living room. The old one wasn't 3 years old yet and it was doing badly. That's not the life expectancy the advertisers were promising from them.

At a yard sale last spring I did purchase 35 brand new incandescent 60 watt bulbs. They were only about 30 cents each, and they're my fall back position.