16 replies to this topic

[Guardian]

I bought an LED lightbulb today while shopping to test it out. I have to say these things are amazing! The light it emits is almost like it's daylight inside my house in the middle of the night. It's perfect. Only uses 8 watts as well, and the lifespan is 25,000 hours. I think I'm in love with these now. I do have to day the downside is that we paid almost $20 for it, but if it last 25x as long as one of the cheap bulbs, over time it will pay for itself, especially averaging in the cost of electricity.


Sorry if there is already a topic on this, I received no returned search results because 'LED' was too short.

[MakingCents]

So it's bright? I had always heard that the downside of LED bulbs is that they weren't that bright. IF it's that bright and lasts that long it's certainly worth the $20.

[tri-n-b-helpful]

Is it a good brand? The better ones are rated at over 50,000 hours to produce at least 70% of the initial light output (it degrades slowly over time). In real terms, this is the life of the LED itself, which, in theory, should last for eleven years at twelve hours a day. Unfortunately, this is only the LED rating, not how long the arrangement will last. You see, the life of these buggers is determined by how long the control circuitry will last and if your mounting provides adequate cooling of the LED bulb itself. The arrangement is only as good as the weakest link.

Well done on your purchase and I hope it can pay for itself soon.

[Guardian]

Ah, yeah didn't think of all the little intricacies. I picked up the EcoSmart LED bulbs, I think that's the brand. Yes, right now it is very bright, much brighter than the 3 bulbs we had in the fixture combined, it has now replaced all of them. They were 40 Watt bulbs so just in that alone we cut down 96 watts of electricity for one fixture.

[jasserEnv]

You can certainly get LEDs brighter than 40 watts equivalent at this point. It is when you want to get a nice 100W equivalent for some areas that it is still very rare to find a ready solution. However, that is changing very, very fast as companies work to improve the technology and use of the technology.

The only problem I have with so much focus on switching to LED bulbs is that in many situations, replacing the incandescent is not really providing much in the way of savings. It is also leading people to conclude that they are making green choices when they really are not. In any place where heating is required, the waste from a standard bulb is essentially replacing some amount of gas or electrical heating. If the bulb is no longer generating heat and natural gas is replacing the heating load, then we are back to using fossil fuels when we were using electricity instead. However, in areas where heat gain is the real problem, these bulbs certainly make sense.

[zararina]

LED are really less energy consuming as I have a rechargeable LED flashlight and it can be used for several days of being fully charged. And the quality of light is better compared to other kind of bulbs. Might try purchasing LED bulbs for my room if I would replace the light in my room already.

[MakingCents]

jasserEnv, on 21 February 2012 - 09:16 PM, said:

You can certainly get LEDs brighter than 40 watts equivalent at this point. It is when you want to get a nice 100W equivalent for some areas that it is still very rare to find a ready solution. However, that is changing very, very fast as companies work to improve the technology and use of the technology.

The only problem I have with so much focus on switching to LED bulbs is that in many situations, replacing the incandescent is not really providing much in the way of savings. It is also leading people to conclude that they are making green choices when they really are not. In any place where heating is required, the waste from a standard bulb is essentially replacing some amount of gas or electrical heating. If the bulb is no longer generating heat and natural gas is replacing the heating load, then we are back to using fossil fuels when we were using electricity instead. However, in areas where heat gain is the real problem, these bulbs certainly make sense.

That' an interesting way to think about it. Perhaps some study coudl be done about times of year and temperatures and which bulbs are best to use when.

[inTHEsane]

What is the projected life span the bulb claims to have? You have me interested in these bulbs,
because like you said 1OO Watts of electricity over say a year, could very easily pay for the
cost of the bulb depending on where you live. Also how big is the LED? and does it come in it's
own base or do you need some sort of led lamp for it? Currently in my apartment have a ceiling
fan in bedroom and living room, but for some reason the living room has no built in light. If
small and possible I'd love to attach one to the base of that, and cut out the 3 poorly
performaing regular 4O watt bulbs I have in here.

[Guardian]

inTHEsane, on 22 February 2012 - 09:52 PM, said:

What is the projected life span the bulb claims to have? You have me interested in these bulbs,
because like you said 1OO Watts of electricity over say a year, could very easily pay for the
cost of the bulb depending on where you live. Also how big is the LED? and does it come in it's
own base or do you need some sort of led lamp for it? Currently in my apartment have a ceiling
fan in bedroom and living room, but for some reason the living room has no built in light. If
small and possible I'd love to attach one to the base of that, and cut out the 3 poorly
performaing regular 4O watt bulbs I have in here.

The one I have is the size of a normal 40-60 Watt light bulb. There was nothing special needed with it, just unscrew the old one and screw in the new.

My living room doesn't have a light fixture either, I find it strange.

[inTHEsane]

Alright good to know, I think I will be ordering one this week. Any ideas of the best place to try and find them? I imagine easier found online, but as far as price I imagine it varies greatly.

Yeah my tiny bedroom has a fan in it with a four lights on it, yet I got nothing in the living room. At least there is a fan though. ha.

[Shortpoet-GTD]

inTHEsane, on 24 February 2012 - 08:23 PM, said:

Alright good to know, I think I will be ordering one this week. Any ideas of the best place to try and find them? I imagine easier found online, but as far as price I imagine it varies greatly.

Yeah my tiny bedroom has a fan in it with a four lights on it, yet I got nothing in the living room. At least there is a fan though. ha.

The big box home improvement stores will have them too. If possible, buy American made verses "made in China."

[MakingCents]

I think I am going to give these new LED bulbs a shot. I don't like CFLs so maybe this will be a good solution to switch to as my regular bulbs burn out.

[Guardian]

Shortpoet-GTD, on 25 February 2012 - 03:38 AM, said:

The big box home improvement stores will have them too. If possible, buy American made verses "made in China."

I picked mine up at Lowe's while shopping for something else. The ones I got were made in Mexico. I prefer Mexican products over Chinese. As long as the money stays on this continent I'm fine with it. ;)

[inTHEsane]

Shortpoet-GTD, on 25 February 2012 - 03:38 AM, said:

The big box home improvement stores will have them too. If possible, buy American made verses "made in China."

Yeah I avoid made in china products mainly because growing up as a kid the quality didn't ad up.
Obviously there are other reason to buy American, but for the most part with the exception of our cars,
American made, had been most effecient and reliable for a lot of things like that.

[MakingCents]

Guardian, on 25 February 2012 - 08:19 PM, said:

I picked mine up at Lowe's while shopping for something else. The ones I got were made in Mexico. I prefer Mexican products over Chinese. As long as the money stays on this continent I'm fine with it. ;)

Buying made in the USA is the best way to go, but buying ANYWHERE but china is what's most important. If our economy is ever going to recover we need to stop giving them all our money!

[visionrafael84]

Love using LED bulbs, I only have about 25% of my place converted from florescent to LEDS. I dont know how much better they are, but I know for a fact my batteries on all the new LED flashlights last forever!

I agree with proshifter. I'm starting to focus my buying to made in america products now.

[kjz]

There are sellers on ebay who sell LED light bulbs, and they are faily cheap. The bad thing is, there are no US sellers for the good kind.