We bought our first LED light bulbs today (update)

[Omaha Steve]

Edit: I totally forgot we bought two outdoor lights last summer. We replaced the front door and back deck fixtures. We spent about $20 each. The dusk to dawn bug light is dim until it picks up motion. It looks like moonlight and is beautiful. We replaced the patio door light a couple years ago. It doesn't dim or offer on at dark, off when the sun comes up.

Marta used an LED bulb in a nightlight. So this is our first real indoor test of the LED lights.

Original post below.

Wow. We had four 40W (two were burned out) decorative bulbs in the restroom. We replaced them with four decorative 6W bulbs. It says they will last over 20 years. It was so much brighter than before, we loosened two of them. It is still whiter and brighter than before with the old incandescent bulbs. It also cuts down on heat, a plus in the summer.

So we went from 160W down to 12W.

We paid $2.99 ea on sale plus sales tax.

Next is the dinning room chandelier. It takes nine bulbs. We will need a dimmer.

It also means cutting down on mercury in the house since we have some fluorescents that will get replaced as they go out.

OS

79 votes, 1 pass | Time left: Unlimited
	I have not yet used LED bulbs
	2 (3%)
	I have tried LED bulbs and don't like them
	1 (1%)
	I have tried LED bulbs and love them
	72 (91%)
	Other please expalin
	4 (5%)
	1 DU member did not wish to select any of the options provided.
Show usernames Disclaimer: This is an Internet poll

[meow2u3]

1. LED bulbs for $3?

I paid $12 for my three-way LED bulb. Where did you get yours for $2.99?

[Omaha Steve]

9. We don't normally shop there for political reasons

Menards. They treat the employees like crap and are anti-union. We had a couple rebates (can only be used at Menards like the old company store way) from when we needed parts to start up our tiki fountain.

I just checked the receipt and we did pay the $2.99 price on the shelf, not the price below. Looks like I'll be getting $2 back when I go to customer service. We will be paying much more for dimmables in the dinning room.

We prefer Ace Hardware where we know the workers and they say they are treated well.

Menards: https://www.menards.com/main/electrical/light-bulbs/led-light-bulbs/sylvania-40-watt-a19-5000k-led-light-bulb/p-1444431927653-c-7482.htm?tid=-1114558397233338220

[meow2u3]

12. I never heard of Menard's

OTOH, I'm from Pennsylvania, not Nebraska. Ace seems to sell LED's for a lot more.

[Snarkoleptic]

21. Menards is a midwest big box chain run by a right wing nutjob.

We have them all over the Chicago area, their products are crap and I won't spend a dime there.

[indigoth]

25. Menards

I worked for menards many many many years ago. Met him in person.

That job was THE WORST job I've ever had. And he is not a pleasant man.

I don't shop there. Ever.

[Omaha Steve]

27. Like I said

Political reasons.

[greytdemocrat]

44. Strange

The wife and I love them. The one near us does
not have crappy stuff and the people are nice
as can be!

Gotta love LED lights! I have run into problems with a
cheap 60W version I got at Home Depot. Had to take
them all back and exchange them for new ones.

I have never had problems with ones that cost
a little more. I imagine it's quality control.

[bullwinkle428]

65. I specifically bought a 4-pack of LEDs from Home Depot about a year ago

because they were cheap. Installed one on the light fixture above my garage door, and it has been switched on almost continuously since installation. Performs like a champ, so I've yet to even touch the other 3 in the package.

ETA: They might be CFLs. Either way, they work great for me, in that application.

[philosslayer]

56. "they treat the employees like crap and are anti-union"

Well.... as long as you got a great deal we can overlook all those things.

[Omaha Steve]

58. Well I could have gone to Wal-mart it was closer

Those were the two local places to get the fountain supplies the day we started the project. I spent the rebates. It took $ out of their pocket. To not spend those would have left the $ in their company.

I see you have NEVER posted in the DU Labor Group. Wonderful you will be joining us there often, now that you found us!

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=forum&id=1117

[philosslayer]

59. Or Ace Hardware

Well you yourself admit employees are treated better.

[Omaha Steve]

61. They didn't have the items I needed

It is closer than both of the others. I started there.

[LanternWaste]

69. You should tell everyone where to shop

You should tell everyone where to shop. Make us into better people; evolve us. Or type....

[Drahthaardogs]

63. They also won't honor the military discount

Claiming they are too close to the base. I only shop Lowe's.

[passiveporcupine]

17. I can't imagine a three-way LED going for $2.99.

The bigger and more complicated the LED bulb, the price goes up fast. My floods for the front porch were pretty expensive...$20 or 25 each. I wouldn't pay that much if they weren't so durable and still give good light. I know I'll get my money back out of them. A three-way always burned out pretty quickly for me (incandescents) so I'd be happy to pay $12 for an LED that will last and pay for itself in life and savings.

I didn't know they had three-way yet, and I'm going to need one when I get my living room floor lamp fixed, so that's good to know.

[meow2u3]

19. I paid $13 for a 3-way at Wally World

It was their house brand, but it works nonetheless.

[passiveporcupine]

24. Yes, I know.

I was just trying to explain you will most likely never find a 3-way LED for $3. The cheapest bulbs will be the small low watt non-dimming bulbs. Those are the ones that you can sometimes get a good sale price on with bulk packaging. I got some that way from Home Depot.

I agree, Ace prices are higher and I did some on-line research on quality comparisons and I found that Home Depot has the best brand of LEDs for quality.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

52. I paid $150 for a three way in las vega . . . .

Oops. No, I didn't.

[flyingfysh]

36. The less expensive LED bulbs don't last as many years

A $12 bulb lasts longer than a $3 bulb. I actually work in the LED industry in a research lab, I have heard people talking about this.

[Bradical79]

47. We have them less than that at Lowes

3 way bulbs are much more expensive than a regular non-dimmable bulb. They were down to $19.99 each before we stopped selling them.

[ohnoyoudidnt]

2. I like them.

Don't get your hopes up too much on that 20 year claim, though.

[Duckhunter935]

11. Had some for years now

never lost one yet. I am all LED, even my 48 inch tube lights in the garage. Bright, no flickering when cold.

[Snarkoleptic]

22. Agree, I've had some begin to intermittently flicker after a couple of years.

The electricity savings, lower heat and instant-on are the attraction for me.

[plimsoll]

33. Depends on where they go.

20 years iffy, but the garage lights might be OK.
On the other hand, inside an enclosed ceiling mount 4 years might be good services. Heat dissipation seems to be a problem, not from the light but from the transformers that need to be in there.
I like them, my wife prefers them to the CFl versions.

As for to bright, just wait. As the LED ages it will produce less light. There's predictable curve, a really expensive light could be built to increase the intensity of the light as it runs through more cycles.

[scscholar]

34. This

We paid about $50 for high quality Cree bulbs at work, and I think all of them have already quit long before the investment could have possibly paid-off. We went back to 150V incandescent bulbs, and I can't ever remember having one quit even though we have a lot of power problems since we're in Seattle.

[thesquanderer]

8. CFLs fail quickly because they don't like to be turned on and off.

The claims of long life are based on leaving them on continuously. Of course, most of us are in the habit of turning lights off when we don't need them, to save electricity. But cycling the CFLs on and off shorten their life, making them especially bad to use in those rooms where you tend to stay in for only a few minutes at a time as opposed to leave on all evening. For me, they last pretty well in the bedroom, but are terrible (certainly worse than old incandescents) for use in bathrooms, kitchen, basement, garage. And when you first turn them on, they are dim. By the time they are at full brightness, you often don't even need to be in the room anymore. And of course, disposal is ecologically unfriendly. And nobody told us these things ahead of time, we were just told they would save us money and be better for the environment, neither of which turned out to be true. Really, a terrible technology except for particular uses. I wonder who made lots of money by persuading the government to practically force us to use them.

[passiveporcupine]

16. I gave a big bag of CFL's away just to get rid of them

Once the LEDs were available and I had a chance to try some. Got two free ones (ugly ones by Phillips) from our electric co-op, that I loved, except for the looks. I leave them on the back porch now and only have the nice ones inside that look almost like old incandescent bulbs. They are so much more attractive than cfls if you can see the bulbs, and I can see all of mine.

It didn't phase me a bit to gove away those CFLs. I offered them on freecycle and got a number of responses, which made me feel bad, because I'd rather see people moving to the savings of LEDs now, not later.

[meow2u3]

13. They're supposed to last between 10 and 22 years

depending on the wattage and how often they're turned on and off.

[TreasonousBastard]

4. LED's are getting better...

for a while it was tough to get decent color out of them-- fluorescents can use various phosphors to get balanced colors, but LED's have very narrow color bands so it's expensive to get good color.

But, they are getting better. I laid out a bundle for the basic Philips Hue system where I can remotely control the lamps to get almost infinite color and brightness. Too expensive to do the whole place with them, but having them in the living room is fun. The rest of the place is gradually going LED as the fluorescents die.

[Major Nikon]

5. I installed 6 of them in cans and one is starting to flicker after about a year or two

The ones I got were more expensive as they were made to go in closed fixtures.

[Kelvin Mace]

6. Just moved a year ago

The house was using incandescent lighting and I replaced every one of the bulbs with LEDs (Lowes had them one sale for $2.50 for a 60w equivalent that uses 9 watts). I then added a Nest thermostat and smart sensors to manage lights. Compared his 2014 August bill to my 2015 August bill and he used 1.2 megawatt hours versus my 900 kilowatt hours. a 25% reduction is nice, but it was actually more than that since we drive a Nissan Leaf and use around 300 kWhs a month to charge the car. So, our adjusted use compared to his was probably around 600 kWhs, or half.

LED lights do make a noticeable difference, as does a smart thermostat and sensors.

[demmiblue]

7. I don't like bright, so I was hesitant.

My local hardware store had a display of the different types (color/intensity).

I picked the warmest color... perfect! Plus, I got 4 for $10.

Added bonus, no more worrying about the clean up if a bulb breaks. Cleaning up after a broken cfl is a pain in the arse.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

10. Love them. We did 25 6 inch can-light retrofits 3 or 4 years ago.

They were about $40 bucks a piece - that's the price of early adopting I suppose. The same lights are $14 bucks now.

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Cree-TW-Series-65W-Equivalent-Soft-White-2700K-6-in-Dimmable-LED-Retrofit-Recessed-Downlight-DRDL6-06227009-12DE26-1C100/205337184

We also did some spot/display lights and every thing else we could find bulbs for.

We took our total house wattage from about 2300 to about 400.

The boyfriend is an LED fanatic now. We replaced the building flood lights and hall/foyer lights. We (he) changed out the car tail lights.

I recommend the lights to all my customers and friends. On a new build out or remodel, the $14 bucks including bulb and trim kit is a no brainer. A good halogen (last I bought) is like $6 bucks plus baffle/trim - the soft white bulbs are cheaper but burn out faster. The lights I used (above link) are "shower approved" so they make even more sense in a bathroom.

[passiveporcupine]

14. It took me a couple of years to get it done

but my whole house is LEDs. I even had a double flood light added to the front porch and spent a lot of money for two LEDs for that, but like you said, they are supposed to last 20 years. Not all my bulbs say 20 years. I think they must be getting better at it.

[rufus dog]

37. I did the same thing about 4 years ago

The whole house, except for maybe 6 CFL bulbs. When one of those burned out after a couple of years I replaced all of them.

Haven't lost one LED yet, but the best part, I track monthly electric usage. Saw a big drop, when I worked the numbers, the payback was 7 to 12 months. Less usage than a couple across the street who live in the same floor plan. She works about 60 to 80 hours a week, basically 9 to 9 every day, he is tight as hell. I have a kid that gets up in the morning and hits six light switches from her room through the trip downstairs. We compare bills almost monthly, he has come close to my usage, but never better.

[FailureToCommunicate]

15. Welcome to a bright future Steve. For the next purchases, know that LEDs come in dimmable, and warm

-er varities. They also can be found as good bulk prices at Costco and home centers, NOT local hardware stores.

[rufus dog]

38. I have a friend going the Costco online route

He is getting smoking deals, paying about 25 percent for the same bulbs I got four years ago. Said he found a bit better deal on Amazon, but has the Costco ones shipped to his local store so he doesn't have to worry about someone ripping off $100 dollars worth of bulbs sitting at his front door.

[WestSeattle2]

18. Entire house is LED. We like them except for dimmers. At low light levels, the light flickers which

is quite annoying. The upside though, is that they give off very little heat. We can actually have lights on in the house during July and August. That never happened with incandescent.

[Omaha Steve]

23. It might be the dimmer switch

I was reading up on LED and found this at Popular Mechanics: http://www.popularmechanics.com/home/how-to/a10104/everything-you-need-to-know-about-led-light-bulbs-16542040/

These Bulbs Dim, Right?

LED bulbs sold as "dimmable" work acceptably with most newer switches. The best dim to about 5 percent, though at that level some produce a faint buzzing. Make sure you buy a bulb that has been verified to work properly with your switch; check the manufacturer's website for a list of compatible dimmers.

If you need to install a new switch, buy something specifically engineered to work with LED bulbs, such as Lutron's CL series or the Pass & Seymour Harmony Tru-Universal Dimmer by Legrand. But be warned: These switches are sometimes larger than older dimmers. In most cases that shouldn't be a problem, but if you have an overcrowded electrical box, you may need to upgrade it to accommodate the new dimmer.

[passiveporcupine]

39. Yeah, the low heat is nice for summer.

Also I've had lamps damaged by heat from the bulbs, so I just think it's safer all around not to have hot bulbs in your house. I also had an incandescent bulb burn a hole in a beautiful vintage silk lamp shade that got bumped and it was touching a 100w bulb...the lamp shade is going to cost me a lot of money to replace, and I cannot find one as nice as the original...it's a large shade for an old vintage floor lamp that I refinished in college. These LED's can't burn a hole in anything. I'm just so thrilled they came out with them.

I haven't tried a dimmer yet. I'd like to put in a dimmer switch for the light over my kitchen table. Not sure I'm going to like it flickering though.

[Laffy Kat]

20. I like them for some things but not others.

They are good above my bathroom mirrors because the regular bulbs get so hot after a few minutes. Also for the one lamp I keep on one of my kitchen counter which stays on pretty much twenty-four/seven, I use low wattage LED because it's obviously so much cheaper. For my porch light, however, I prefer the old bulbs because the LEDs take too long to brighten. We turn on that light when we take the dog out in the pitch dark and I want the light full strength immediately. For the most part I like them.

[passiveporcupine]

40. Why would it take a long time to brighten?

Is it a specialty bulb? Maybe there is something wrong with it? I have two LED floods outside and they come on bright right away.

My old CFLs always took too long to brighten in my house, and I didn't care for that at all. That's what I loved about the LEDs...the instant bright again.

[BillZBubb]

41. Are you sure those are LEDs? LEDs brighten almost instantly. Some CFLs take a while.

I don't know of any newer LEDs that have a noticeable power up time.

[Laffy Kat]

72. Oh, maybe that's what they are, CFLs.

I didn't realize there is a difference.

[Adrahil]

64. Yup, as other said, LEDs are instant on. CFL's can take a while.

[OldRedneck]

26. I'm gradually replacing all my incandescents and CFLs with LEDs

Our place is 2,500 sq feet.

In the great room -- one BIG central room with kitchen and everything else -- are 16 recessed ceiling lights with another 4 recessed fixtures in hallway. I've replace half of them with LED flood lights; went from 85w incandescents to 6w LED.

Each bedroom (3) has a ceiling fan with three 60w incandescent. Replaced those with ??w LEDs.

Have replaced all bathroom bulbs with LED.

$2.99 is a GREAT price; I haven't found any that inexpensive yet.

Still trying to find a 3-way LED for lamps beside sofas and bed. Bought one 3-way LED as a trial and it didn't work very well. Still have a stock of incandescent 3-ways.

Also -- replaced the 40w incandescent bulb in the lamppost at the driveway corner with a 3w LED.

[Marrah_G]

28. Some electric companies give deals on led bulbs

[kentauros]

29. I love the absolute bright-white light they make.

I'm one of those people who hates yellow or "warm" light, so I always choose the lights with the brightest white color spectrum. Make it like bright high-noon daylight, and I'm at my happiest

However, I live in an ancient apartment, and I think some of the equally ancient electrical fixtures just aren't that compatible with modern bulbs, whether they're LED or CFL. Some fixtures are quite good at burning these bulbs out at a much faster rate their their high-hour ratings.

Still, it is nice to light up my bigger bathroom with almost-daylight in the middle of the night

[BillZBubb]

42. Always look at the "Temperature". 4000K or higher gives a great white light.

I've got a bunch of 5000K's in my house and we love them. The kitchen is amazingly bright.

For some people it's too harsh. But, I like it.

[kentauros]

43. I knew there was another name for it.

I meant "temperature" when I wrote "color"

Yes, for most people, bright white is too harsh. But, I want it like daylight. Other than xenon photographic lighting, you can't get much brighter than the sun

[PADemD]

30. You may not have to switch to LED bulbs.

MIT’s new warm incandescent light bulb is nearly 3x more efficient than LEDs

http://inhabitat.com/mit-makes-a-warm-incandescent-light-bulb-nearly-3x-more-efficient-than-leds/

[Omaha Steve]

50. I wonder how fast they will get on the market

And the cost.

[herding cats]

31. I love LED lights!

We switched over entirely about two years ago. I have some vision problems, and I found the fluorescent lights we were using made it extremely difficult for me to see in the evenings. Which lead to our big change. I've never been happier! Once again I can see things at night, or on gloomy days, that aren't backlit, like a TV, tablet or computer screen. It's amazing!

I have six can lights in my bedroom. They work off two separate dimmer switches. So far our LED's on those have worked flawlessly. I hope you have the same experience with your dimmers when you change over. They were expensive, but we chose for the quality and longevity of the bulbs we purchased.

[Warren DeMontague]

32. A total win-win, once you get past the initial sticker shock.

Lower electrical bills and pretty much never having to change the bulbs.

[scubadude]

35. I purchased 3, and all 3 have failed.

One lasted a week, it's replacement lasted two months, and one lasted about 6 months. They were the GE dimmable type and replaced 60 watt bulbs.
The claim that these bulbs last for years is obviously incorrect. I paid about $9 each....

[Warren DeMontague]

45. I think not all brands are created equal and not all types work in all fixtures, etc.

If you're putting them in a fully enclosed fixture (like a ceiling with a glass cover over it) you may have a heat situation which is causing the bulbs to fail. The LED bulbs do get pretty hot. That would me my guess. Not all the dimmable ones say "for use in fully enclosed fixtures" and even the ones that do might have an overheating problem.

I've had a few fail, but most of them perform as advertised. I rarely have to change light bulbs anymore, almost never.

[TheKentuckian]

46. I've got the very first I ever bought 7 or 8 years ago still, going strong.

It has been on almost the entire time too. Like seriously around 97% of the time or so.

[whatthehey]

60. Have dozens. Never had to replace one yet. Not incorrect for me.

[ileus]

48. Nearly 100% here....but those cheap LED will come back to bite you.

I've had many of the cheap ones bit the dust way early, of course they're better than 75W bulb even if they only last 6-18 months.


I just replaced a cheap LED in my Sons room over the weekend, I spent a little extra and sprung for a 8 buck chinese junker.

[sendero]

49. I converted..

... 95% of my house's lighting to LED about 2 years ago. My only complaint is that I have had several bulbs fail after little more than a year of use.

My wife wrote an email to the manufacturer and they promptly shipped us replacement bulbs free of charge.

This is a new technology and I think they are still working out the kinks on the power supplies.

[djean111]

51. Lowe's usually has some really good sales on LEDs.

I love LEDs, and have never bought one of those mercury balloons.

[JonathanRackham]

53. Bought my first LED bulb at Lowes

All my CFL problems went away.

Prices have dropped. More LEDs in the budget.

I hate CFLs and love my LEDs.

[djean111]

55. Until I could afford LEDs, I got incandescents at Dollar Tree and Walmart.

Just looking at the instructions on how to dispose of CFLs made me recoil.

[JonathanRackham]

66. We have a CFL disposal bin at work.

The maintainance crew is bribed with donuts.

[Scuba]

54. We went all LED when we remodeled last summer. Love them!!

[blogslut]

57. Still gonna use CFLs

A least, for the few plants I manage to keep alive. CFLs provide the proper spectrum for growth. As for product life, I have some CFLs that are at least five years old and going strong.

LEDs are great but I just haven't come to need them yet.

[madokie]

62. All but one fixture in our home has LED's only

last count I have 26 LED's in use today, inside and out.

I buy only the daylight ones as I find the cool whatever to not be as bright so I need a higher wattage. Most of the ones in our home are the 60 watt equivalent with a few 75 and a couple 100's. We have several that takes 3 bulbs with one that takes 5 in the kitchen.


Saves me money every single day too

[Omaha Steve]

67. I never expected this response

Thank you all.

OS

[KamaAina]

68. Anyone tried halogen bulbs?

GE has adapted halogen technology used in streetlights and headlights to the humble light bulb under the name "Cfrystal Clear". I like them but had one burn out within a couple of weeks!

[marybourg]

70. LED bulbs

emit too much UV for me. I have lupus.

[REP]

71. My entire house has been lit with LEDs since 2012

Before that, CFLs. I like the LEDs much more.

[Dont call me Shirley]

73. I bought several 2 paks of LEDs from Costco on sale $5 per pak. They flicker though, I may have

too many on one circuit.