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Potentially moving to LED light bulbs

tzhu07

tzhu07

macrumors regular
Original poster
Nov 12, 2008
197
27
Two of my bulbs in a critical living space are out, and I have no replacements in storage.

Who here has transitioned into LED? Are they overall advantageous compared to all other technologies for residential use? Are you willing to share some quick thoughts?
 
In my experience they work well in fixtures designed for LED luminaries. I bought two and put them into fixtures designed for incandescent and neither lasted more than six weeks. YMMV.
 
We haven't had any problems with LED bulbs in older fixtures. I like them a lot better than CFL, too.

Try Home Depot for deals on Philips bulbs.
 
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I find them just as good as indandecent bulbs, better in that they use less energy while providing the same quality of light.

I recently switched all the switches over in my home to CFL/LED compatible dimmers. I bought fancy Lutron Maestro dimmers which are rather expensive, but you can do it for much cheaper if you desire.

My parents did the switch a few years back in their house, which was substantially more expensive back then. Now it's rather inexpensive. The reason they did it was primarily the frequent and painful replacing of recessed incandescent lighting in 20ft ceilings in the family and living rooms.

I never liked CFL bulbs. The color was never right (either too yellow or too blue) and I'm sensitive to the refresh rate/flickering of fluorescent lights. Plus CFL bulbs take forever to achieve full brightness (especially in the cold) and don't last nearly as long as they advertise when switched on/off frequently.

As someone who values/is sensitive to the quality of lighting in my environement, I have no complaints about LED bulbs. I just picked up a 2 pack of GE brand 60w compatible bulbs at Home Depot for $1.96 (less than incandescent?). So they're really not very expensive. If you have dimmers to swap out, that's really the only cost you'll incur.
 
Love LED, I've been moving over since before incandescents started disappearing from retail. Significantly less (if any?) bulb changes, lots of brightness/color options, and I love that they run cool (also allowing for safer, plastic housings). We have quite a few small lamps, decorative type lighting pieces that would get way too hot with incandescent bulbs.
 
In our home we have recently converted to LED. We got a 10 pack from Costco labeled 'daylight which we love because it get dark early this time of year. The cost savings is pretty substantial as a yearly breakdown. Not sure of the life of the bulb, but we will never go back.
 
Over the past few years I've replaced most of my incandescent and CFL bulbs with LED. The only problem I've had is that the cheap, no-name brands really don't last; pay a little more for a quality (not necessarily name-brand) bulb and you'll be fine. Plus, with an incandescent bulb, the dimming vs. energy savings isn't linear, that is, a 60 W bulb dimmed by 1/3 (to a 40 W level) will use more than a 40 W bulb, and the colour of the light will change. With LEDs the energy use is linear to the dimming level, i.e. an 8 W bulb at 10% brightness will use 0.8 Watts--and the colour won't change.

I love LEDs for these two properties--I've found that because the colour doesn't turn yellow, I can keep my lights at 50% and less, but turn them up if needed.
 
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I've switched my whole house over to LED over a few years now. Had a porch light and mantle lights that would only last 1-3 months with regular bulbs no matter how often they were used. The mantle lights added up to a lot of money because they were smaller candelabra type bulbs. I have now had the same LED bulbs in them for going on 4-5 years now. I believe they're better for older houses that might not have the best electrical wiring. Also been switching to the Lutron casseta HomeKit switches and love them.
 
OK, I'm basically convinced.

As far as brands go, all I hear is Philips. What are brands to buy, and brands to avoid?
 
tzhu07 said:
OK, I'm basically convinced.

As far as brands go, all I hear is Philips. What are brands to buy, and brands to avoid?
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Basically if you have never heard of the brand before stay away. I do wonder about using LED's in fully enclosed fixtures. LED's still need proper venting.
 
tzhu07 said:
OK, I'm basically convinced.

As far as brands go, all I hear is Philips. What are brands to buy, and brands to avoid?
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I have all Philips, except for a chandelier where I have GE candelabra base LED bulbs. No problems with either.
 
tzhu07 said:
OK, I'm basically convinced.

As far as brands go, all I hear is Philips. What are brands to buy, and brands to avoid?
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Cree and EcoSmart are two really good, inexpensive brands. Cree is a leader in LED bulbs and has been making them for cars, flashlights, etc. for years before the home market existed (as I recall). I don't know much about EcoSmart, but they're really affordable and I've found them superior to Philips in some ways, like "whine" when dimmed.

I don't know about where you are, but up here both are only available at Home Depot.

Edit:

I'd recommend buying a few brands, but all the same wattage and colour temperature, from places with good return policies. Try out Brand A for a day or two, then Brand B, Brand C, etc. Keep the cheapest one that meets your needs and standards. Also, keep in mind that dimmable bulbs are more expensive than non-dimmable, so check the boxes to make sure you've got an even comparison--and never use a dimmer on a non-dimmable bulb!
 
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My electric provider gave us a great deal on bulbs branded as TCP. I have not had any issues with them.
 
One thing!!! No matter what brand or how much it costs keep your receipt!! I had a $22 three-way bulb that worked great for about a week and stopped working out of nowhere, took it back and ended up buying the Lutron Casetta lamp dimmer and a 100watt bulb instead.
 
We've switched everything over to LED - a lot of our lights are in hard to reach places so having something that will last a long time is important. We got ours a few years ago online - earthled.com I think it was.
When they started doing away with standard incandescent bulbs, we bought up all the 60 watt bulbs we could find. While LEDs are nice, they don't throw heat. We need regular bulbs in the chicken coop in the winter, in the chick cage in the spring, and over the outside cat bed in the winter. Sometimes heat is a good thing!
 
We're transitioning to all LED as our old CFL's die off. I like the light quality of the LED's a lot better than the CFL's. They also don't need to warm up to put out maximum light. I've got GE's and some brand that our electric provider gave us and they all work just fine. No need to spend lots of money on them.
 
I have switched to all LED and have a lot of Philips Hue bulbs, Hue Blooms and Hue Lightstrips. I even went as far to get LED TVs. The Hue system is great I have it programmed to turn lights on and off and we rarely have to touch the app. I even have it set to turn the basement lights on at 5:15 on Fridays that's when me and my friends party and sets a theme for the waking dead on Sunday nights. Outside lights are programmed to turn on and off as well.
 
I've switched over to LEDs throughout our house. We have a couple of incandescents left in fixtures that we hardly ever use. As others have said, the price of LEDs has dropped in recent years. They're also available in a wider range of color temperature than they used to be. I like the fact that they use less energy and last long, which is a plus in areas that are hard to reach, like outdoor floodlights. The only problem has been what to do with the CFLs they're replacing—nobody seems to want to accept them for recycling around here, likely because of the mercury content. Home Depot used to take them, but they don't anymore.
 
Roller said:
I've switched over to LEDs throughout our house. We have a couple of incandescents left in fixtures that we hardly ever use. As others have said, the price of LEDs has dropped in recent years. They're also available in a wider range of color temperature than they used to be. I like the fact that they use less energy and last long, which is a plus in areas that are hard to reach, like outdoor floodlights. The only problem has been what to do with the CFLs they're replacing—nobody seems to want to accept them for recycling around here, likely because of the mercury content. Home Depot used to take them, but they don't anymore.
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Try your local Lowes. Mine has a container for them in the foyer.
 
tzhu07 said:
Two of my bulbs in a critical living space are out, and I have no replacements in storage.

Who here has transitioned into LED? Are they overall advantageous compared to all other technologies for residential use? Are you willing to share some quick thoughts?
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It's a no brainer. They last forever, save energy, and aren't dangerous like incandescents or cfl
 
Check with your local power company. They may offer a "starter pack" or deep discounts. I get credits every so often that I can use for a few free bulbs. Also, there may be a partnership with one of the local home improvement stores that offers subsidized bulbs.

I stayed away from LED in the beginning due to the outrageous cost and poor light output (low lumens). But those are no longer factors and I've been 100% satisfied with all that I've purchased so far which includes standard bulbs a number of Sylvania Lightify bulbs.
 
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