TIL. I just thought the "100,000 hour" lifecycle ratings were completely unlikely puffery to start with, but it's useful to know that LED bulbs usually lose efficiency and color accuracy, rather...
TIL. I just thought the "100,000 hour" lifecycle ratings were completely unlikely puffery to start with, but it's useful to know that LED bulbs usually lose efficiency and color accuracy, rather than dying outright.
I've noticed they most definitely do not like cold temperatures, despite the packages claiming otherwise. I finally found some decent LED floodlights for outside that can take the punishment -...
I've noticed they most definitely do not like cold temperatures, despite the packages claiming otherwise. I finally found some decent LED floodlights for outside that can take the punishment - kinda insane using <100w of power for what used to take 1200w to run. Lights up like daylight out there.
I'll stick to CF for indoors, though. The LEDs are just too annoyingly blue, it's like office lighting. Maybe in my den/office area, not in my living room thanks. I like the more yellow glow from the CFs.
You clearly haven't used a modern warm white indoor LED bulb. They are identical color temperature to an incandescent bulb when they're made by a decent manufacturer. I pay about $6 each for...
I'll stick to CF for indoors, though. The LEDs are just too annoyingly blue,
You clearly haven't used a modern warm white indoor LED bulb. They are identical color temperature to an incandescent bulb when they're made by a decent manufacturer. I pay about $6 each for Philips 75W-equivalent A19 LEDs, and they're perfect all over my house. Even my extremely difficult to convince mother uses them all over her house now, and that took years. The tech has caught up and they're really, really convincing. I even have Philips Hue bulbs in my bedroom that can be set to any color temperature you want, and others that can be set to any color you want, using a smart phone. CFLs do not come close. In fact, I'm surprised you can even find them. My Home Depot doesn't even have them displayed anymore.
As for cold temps, I replaced a standard fluorescent shop light at my shop with an LED fixture. I come in some winter mornings to find that shop at ~20F, sometimes even lower. Light has never once showed any signs of even noticing. No buzzing, no flickering, no color change. LED tech is really maturing right now.
Next time I'm in the market for bulbs I'll give those a try. At this point I've replaced everything in the entire house with LED for outdoor/garage/workshop/office and CF for everything else. I...
Next time I'm in the market for bulbs I'll give those a try. At this point I've replaced everything in the entire house with LED for outdoor/garage/workshop/office and CF for everything else. I did this a couple years ago and at the time I was rather unimpressed with the LED color choices.
Now I find myself wondering if they'll ever make replacement LED lamps for DLP televisions. The lamp in my Mits just went out again today. The lamps do make it to about 10k hours before dying but at 180w of power. I'd love to pop an LED in there that could last longer and generate a lot less heat.
That time frame makes sense, because the point where I realized they had reached a maturity level that made them suitable for everyday indoor use was about three two to three years ago. Before...
That time frame makes sense, because the point where I realized they had reached a maturity level that made them suitable for everyday indoor use was about three two to three years ago. Before that, there were good Cree soft white A19 bulbs, but they weren't cheap. Everything else was the bluish "daylight" to "cool white" bulbs, Soft whites were either terribly yellow, or just as blue as the others. Now, they're great. You can even set a camera's white balance to Incandescent and get a good balance.
This seems like a strange conclusion to me. LED bulbs are not becoming cheaper because technology is advancing so much as a greater economy of scale. Even then, one could get the full lifespan of...
The lifetime of even 7,500-hour bulbs is long compared to the rapid pace of advance in lighting technology. Does it makes sense to buy expensive long-lived bulbs today, when better, cheaper, more efficient ones may be available in the near future?
This seems like a strange conclusion to me. LED bulbs are not becoming cheaper because technology is advancing so much as a greater economy of scale. Even then, one could get the full lifespan of the LED simply by investing in LED fixtures with separate drivers. Those drivers tend to last much longer since they are further insulated from the heat generated by the LED modules.
Would be easier to replace the driver itself as well if it fails. It sucks how tightly bundled modern electronics are so when one part fails the rest gets thrown out.
Would be easier to replace the driver itself as well if it fails. It sucks how tightly bundled modern electronics are so when one part fails the rest gets thrown out.
One of the delightful things about living in South Florida is that our household power quality is terrible. Aside from the frequent lightning strikes, brownouts are a daily occurrence. We're not...
One of the delightful things about living in South Florida is that our household power quality is terrible. Aside from the frequent lightning strikes, brownouts are a daily occurrence.
We're not getting anywhere near rated lifetimes for LED bulbs. Also, the light they cast is very directional - it's hard to illuminate a room with LED bulbs as effectively as with CFs.
CFs are cheap, even for dimmables. They cast illumination as widely as incandescents used to, but they're less efficient, don't last, and the color spectrum just isn't right.
So it's a question of choosing the right bulb for the right application, and hoping you don't live in South Florida.
There are environmental lifecycle questions about both LEDs and CFs - there are toxic metals in both. CFs contain small amounts of mercury, and LEDs may contain traces of lead and arsenic. So it's great that we're being energy efficient on lighting, but I have questions about whether there will be technology changes that do away with the toxic waste risks.
You can look for LEDs that have RoHS compliance. About the directional light, there are these new filament LED lights out, I bough one a week ago and it has pretty much >180° angle of light, and...
You can look for LEDs that have RoHS compliance.
About the directional light, there are these new filament LED lights out, I bough one a week ago and it has pretty much >180° angle of light, and it's quite uniform.
TIL. I just thought the "100,000 hour" lifecycle ratings were completely unlikely puffery to start with, but it's useful to know that LED bulbs usually lose efficiency and color accuracy, rather than dying outright.
I've noticed they most definitely do not like cold temperatures, despite the packages claiming otherwise. I finally found some decent LED floodlights for outside that can take the punishment - kinda insane using <100w of power for what used to take 1200w to run. Lights up like daylight out there.
I'll stick to CF for indoors, though. The LEDs are just too annoyingly blue, it's like office lighting. Maybe in my den/office area, not in my living room thanks. I like the more yellow glow from the CFs.
You clearly haven't used a modern warm white indoor LED bulb. They are identical color temperature to an incandescent bulb when they're made by a decent manufacturer. I pay about $6 each for Philips 75W-equivalent A19 LEDs, and they're perfect all over my house. Even my extremely difficult to convince mother uses them all over her house now, and that took years. The tech has caught up and they're really, really convincing. I even have Philips Hue bulbs in my bedroom that can be set to any color temperature you want, and others that can be set to any color you want, using a smart phone. CFLs do not come close. In fact, I'm surprised you can even find them. My Home Depot doesn't even have them displayed anymore.
As for cold temps, I replaced a standard fluorescent shop light at my shop with an LED fixture. I come in some winter mornings to find that shop at ~20F, sometimes even lower. Light has never once showed any signs of even noticing. No buzzing, no flickering, no color change. LED tech is really maturing right now.
Next time I'm in the market for bulbs I'll give those a try. At this point I've replaced everything in the entire house with LED for outdoor/garage/workshop/office and CF for everything else. I did this a couple years ago and at the time I was rather unimpressed with the LED color choices.
Now I find myself wondering if they'll ever make replacement LED lamps for DLP televisions. The lamp in my Mits just went out again today. The lamps do make it to about 10k hours before dying but at 180w of power. I'd love to pop an LED in there that could last longer and generate a lot less heat.
That time frame makes sense, because the point where I realized they had reached a maturity level that made them suitable for everyday indoor use was about three two to three years ago. Before that, there were good Cree soft white A19 bulbs, but they weren't cheap. Everything else was the bluish "daylight" to "cool white" bulbs, Soft whites were either terribly yellow, or just as blue as the others. Now, they're great. You can even set a camera's white balance to Incandescent and get a good balance.
This seems like a strange conclusion to me. LED bulbs are not becoming cheaper because technology is advancing so much as a greater economy of scale. Even then, one could get the full lifespan of the LED simply by investing in LED fixtures with separate drivers. Those drivers tend to last much longer since they are further insulated from the heat generated by the LED modules.
Would be easier to replace the driver itself as well if it fails. It sucks how tightly bundled modern electronics are so when one part fails the rest gets thrown out.
One of the delightful things about living in South Florida is that our household power quality is terrible. Aside from the frequent lightning strikes, brownouts are a daily occurrence.
We're not getting anywhere near rated lifetimes for LED bulbs. Also, the light they cast is very directional - it's hard to illuminate a room with LED bulbs as effectively as with CFs.
CFs are cheap, even for dimmables. They cast illumination as widely as incandescents used to, but they're less efficient, don't last, and the color spectrum just isn't right.
So it's a question of choosing the right bulb for the right application, and hoping you don't live in South Florida.
There are environmental lifecycle questions about both LEDs and CFs - there are toxic metals in both. CFs contain small amounts of mercury, and LEDs may contain traces of lead and arsenic. So it's great that we're being energy efficient on lighting, but I have questions about whether there will be technology changes that do away with the toxic waste risks.
You can look for LEDs that have RoHS compliance.
About the directional light, there are these new filament LED lights out, I bough one a week ago and it has pretty much >180° angle of light, and it's quite uniform.