led lights in the home?

[airmanwilliams]

Anyone ever used led lights to replace their home incandesant lights? Worth the swap for power bill and everything?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/110V-AC-4-W...0209636?pt=US_Light_Bulbs&hash=item337bcaa2e4

 

[Spork]

I've thought about switching certain lights over to them but I've found most LED are pretty low output. For example the one you listed was only 350lumens, the average 60W incandescent light bulb puts out about 840lumens so the one you have listed is like a 25W incandescent. From what I've seen a 60W equivalent LED would be around $25. The LED has a huge life example this one http://www.homedepot.com/Electrical...=10053&langId=-1&storeId=10051#specifications has 25000 hours so that is appealing.

For some reason I've avoided the compact florescent bulbs, I have some over a vanity and they take a while to warm up and are bothering me enough I'm about ready to pull them and stick in some regular bulbs. The LED bulbs appeal to me, I don't have many of the old style flashlights because I've switched to LED, I think at some point it will be the same in my house lights.

 

[STAG]

I don't have any input as far as LEDs for homes. But my .02 is I have not yet ever found a LED flashlight that can match the light output/pattern of the Maglights. I hate the beam pattern of every LED flashlight I've ever seen, it's a small concentrated area of blindingly white light, and then almost a ring of darkness around the edge. Taking his into consideration I think I would be unhappy with LED lights as a replacement home light.

That being said, I would take an LED taillight on a vehicle any day over a regular bulbed tail lamp. Same goes for blinkers.

 

[airmanwilliams]

Ive still got a bit of research to do on them especially with the lumens being so low. Ive recently started selling led lights on ebay and ksl and some of the people that ive sold to have taken the light strips and wound them up in their light fixtures inside trailers and it got me thinking about getting these lights in the home to save onn our power bill and even getting some to replace my marker, signal, and brake lights on my sidekick and dodge neon.

 

[rholbrook]

I looked into it 6 months ago and the payback is not there. They havre to come down a ton even with rebate that are and will be offered. The $25 bulb you can get with rebates for $13 but that isn't going to make it worthwhile. The U has been working on some low cost led material that when and if it's brought to the public should be the answer.

 

[frieed]

Interesting, I have an LED Maglight that I bought on a whim and thought I would be returning but found I liked better. The pattern is just as adjustable as the halogen bulb version and can be focussed to an even tighter beam, seems to just as bright or brighter, and add to that the shock resistance and efficiency. I like the whiter light of the halogen a little better (the leds are a little towards blue)

I have not yet ever found a LED flashlight that can match the light output/pattern of the Maglights.

 

[skeptic]

I'm considering making the switch to LEDs. The biggest issue for me is they are pretty much all 180* of light unlike CFLs or incandescent which are essentially 360*. I have switched out several of my lights to CFLs, and I'm generally happy. You have to be careful about what you are buying though, some of the ones I have are too white, some of the older ones have a noticeable warm-up. I don't have any CFLs on any of my dimmer switches, but I do have a 3 bulb bathroom light on a motion sensor switch - CFLs lightly flicker when it's off. No big deal in my boys bathroom (why it's a motion sensor light), but just one more little thing making me want to give LED bulbs a try.

 

[airmanwilliams]

Here is a website that a friend pointed me to lastnight for more info and help. http://www.superbrightleds.com/

 

[DAA]

I switched all the CFLs in one of our buildings over to LED's about six months ago. The bulbs we ended up using are dimmable (nearly every light in the building has a dimmer), 3-21W, with 7 Cree bulbs each, machined aluminum housing. Buying in bulk they cost about $30 each. They are saving us money on electricity every month and if they last as long as they are supposed to they might eventually pay for themselves on electricity alone.

But... this is in a commercial office space application. The real savings that we are already seeing is in not having to spend man hours replacing nearly as many bulbs as before. In this particular building the configuration and useage pattern makes it labor intensive (read expensive) to change light bulbs. High end people working in the space, burned out bulbs not acceptable, had to be replaced after hours, scaffold required etc. - it took a small crew just to change bulbs and we were having to do it weekly. It still takes a small crew, but we have gone a couple months without one of these suckers going bad - saving us TONS of money.

So, this particular application, they are paying for themselves in replacement costs very quickly and if they last as long as they are supposed to will end up paying for themselves many times over.

All that said... My folks who work in that building are complaining a lot about the new lights. They say they are too harsh and cause eye strain (all of them work at computers all day - if it was up to them they wouldn't ever turn any lights on at all). I haven't actually been in the building since the new bulbs were installed (it's in Oklahoma), but I'll be there in a few weeks to see for myself. It very well could end up we pull them all back out - keeping the people happy and productive is worth a lot more than paying a couple guys to change light bulbs every week if it's really bothering them that much. Meantime, I have a few of them on my desk that I think I'll try at home, just to see what I think.

- DAA

 

[N-Smooth]

FWIW i replaced my three outdoor lights (porch and 2 garage) with some led lights from walmart that were like $12-13 each and have been pleased. for some reason i can't keep any other type of bulbs alive out there. i had a timer switch wired up and it died after a year so i got rid of it and got sensors on the bulbs so they would only turn on at night. those failed too so i got the led lights and i just leave them on 24/7 since they're so efficient. they aren't as bright as "normal" bulbs but i like the clear light. yellow light pisses me off.

for flashlights i love led's. my streamlight strion led flashlight is one of my favorite purchases of all time

 

[skeptic]

Agreed on the flashlight part - they are the best option. Maybe not the cheap crappy ones, but the better quality LED flashlights can't be beat.

 

[kellerexpress]

Just purchased a led maglite, it's crazy bright

 

[phatfoto]

I have a mix of Halogen, LED, CFL and incandescents around the house. I have some big round globe types over the vanity in the bathrooms, mostly CFL, but trying some LED in there too. On more than one occasion I've had CFLs in the same box be different colors. Another thing with CFLs is some are very picky about whether they are pointed up or down. It does make a difference, and the ones designed to point down are pricier. VERY irritating! With LEDs you get what you pay for. No such thing as a cheap LED "bulb". And Halogens seem to be fairly decent, but I haven't seen them last any longer than old style bulbs.

I don't have any dimmable LEDs, and Halogens don't seem to like being dimmed. I have tried a couple different dimmable CFLs, and I don't like them. I really dislike that the ones I've tried flicker when they are off. Difficult to handle when you are trying to sleep.

I'm just not certain I've saved any money switching bulbs yet.

 

[Caleb]

When my dad redid his upstairs he used all LEDs. It's no where near as bright, but once your eyes adjust, you don't even notice. He has probably 20 can lights in his upstairs, so the cost difference in power usage is quite significant. His problem he ran in to at first was he bought them off ebay (this was several years ago when LEDs of this type would have cost him $100+ per light). He got them for ~$30 each, but after a few weeks he started loosing rings of LEDs (they have three rings and there's something like 4 circuits per light). The seller was great about sending replacements, but it got annoying, so he eventually shelled out the big bucks and bought nice ones. They've been going strong ever since.

 

[SAMI]

I've got 4 LED's in our main bathroom, and we really like them. I also have an LED bulb in our main bedroom ceiling fan light combo. We don't use that one much but I do agree that it takes your eyes a minute to adjust to that one in particular.

We have 4 dimmable LED lights that will be installed into our main living room in the basement once we've mudded and painted. They are 75watt equivelant @ 750 lumens, and use 14.5watts on the highest setting. They have a 32 year life expectancy, or 35,000 hours of use. We chose to do LED lights in that main room since we project 90% of our time being spent in that room, other than sleeping in our bedroom. So, the slight additional upfront cost is easily made knowing the lights are rated for 3 decades; 2+ decades longer than we intend to live in the home. The particular lights we bought were only about $30 each if not less, and have an Energy rebate available.

As far as LED flashlights go, if you have an LED flashlight and are not happy with it - you own a crappy LED flashlight. I've got a several LED flashlights, including several Maglights, and you certainly get what you pay for. I carry a Streamlight PT-2L which has a C4 LED with 180 lumens; it'll blind you - which is why I carry it. I have another light with has a CREE bulb and packs 1,600 lumens, and has an adjustable light spread/pattern. That is an amazing light, but it's not the best for getting a large spread of light. You can't go wrong with an LED Maglight for great light output and adjustability. My favorite Maglight is an LED converted 3xAA unit with a on/off tailcap. It's skinny, beefy, bright as hell, and can pack anywhere I need it on trips. Anyways, I have a thing for flashlights...

 

[Caleb]

As far as LED flashlights go, if you have an LED flashlight and are not happy with it - you own a crappy LED flashlight.

Exactly. My LED Surefire will change anyone's opinion on LED flashlights.