Are we already ready to transition from CFL to LED lightbulbs?

via nytimes:

LED bulbs last decades, save electricity, don’t shatter, don’t burn you, save hundreds of dollars, and now offer plummeting prices and blossoming features. What’s not to like? You’d have to be a pretty dim bulb not to realize that LED light is the future…

LEDs last about 25 times as long as incandescents and three times as long as CFLs; we’re talking maybe 25,000 hours of light. Install one today, and you may not own your house, or even live, long enough to see it burn out. (Actually, LED bulbs generally don’t burn out at all; they just get dimmer.)

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7 Comments

  1. I have used some LED replacements for night-light bulbs. In that application, I am most interested in longevity, not light output or color (they are a spooky white/blue color). All of my other lamps are CFL. I am not spending $30 for a 60W equivalent bulb. I might consider $10 for certain locations. What I really need is an LED replacement for 8 ft flourescent tubes in my garage. They don’t last long and won’t light when it gets cold.

  2. Although I like LED over incandescent, I don’t see the improvement over CFL. The heat generation due to the AC->DC transformer in the base causes a loss that makes the efficiency little if any better than CFLs, especially at higher lumens.

    Now, if we started installing a DC distribution system in our houses, that may be a different matter!

  3. Sad that the article leaves out the Phillips L-Prize lamp. Its not as fancy as the rest, but its slightly brighter than most 60W replacements and also more effecient.
    9.7 Watts
    910 Lumens
    http://www.homedepot.com/p/Philips-10-Watt-60W-LED-A19-Soft-White-2700K-Light-Bulb-E-L-Prize-Award-Winner-423244/203285540#.UVBaCBzqn-A

    To the comment above, have you tried the 75W phillips A21?
    1100 Lummens
    17 Watts
    http://www.homedepot.com/p/Philips-17-Watt-75W-A21-Soft-White-2700K-LED-Light-Bulb-1-Pack-418400/202920469#.UVBXyhzqn-A

    Note: Both of these are usualy *much* cheaper purchased locally due to local utility rebates and such.

  4. The problem with LEDs is loss of lumens as they age. Quality LEDs have been found to hold up much better than the cheap white LEDs used in bargain bulbs.

    There is some good reading at http://www.electrobob.com/led-logger/

  5. Love the led bulbs. They don’t have the dim startup that cfl bulbs have. However, many of the 110v led bulbs put out RF hash that interferes with radio up to the 70 cm band.

    A 48vdc line in the house isn’t such a bad idea. That level is what many power-over-Ethernet system use so it’s a reasonable standard, similar to some wall sockets that include 5vdc USB power.

  6. Its the lack of 360degree illumination that has stopped me putting them in the remander of my fittings.

    That and there being no replacement for 45W CFL’s for the work space.

    Oh, and that most places are only selling them in warm white and daylight, nothing in between like neutral 4000k or cool 5000k white, so it either looks like an orange mess, or a blue mess. No white.

  7. Ditto to what Keith said, the Philips bulbs are excellent IMHO, they’re also consumer reports’s #1 LED lightbulb recommendation.

    I thought this article was pretty bad, it ignored some great bulbs and covered pricey gimmicks like the Philips Hue instead. Makes LED bulbs seem a lot less practical than they are.

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