CFL lightbulbs are NOT saving as much as you think they are!

[Glowmaster]

Thanks Bill

I hope you are as delighted with my LED ceiling tiles as I am when paddling a Molokai.

I am going to also include a touch dimmer I just got in, to see if you like it better than the RF.

 Physics labs all over the country are using them because the AC connection is remote from the light, and they get no 60 hz. noise that interferes with sensitive measurements. 

The Harvard physics lab it the latest.

Glowingly,

Ed.

[Eagle]

Plenty of LED made for Christmas lights - but not as popular for old style regular incandescent bulb home lamps and light fixtures yet.  Just checked and you can pick them up now at the local hardware stores.

Will try them out - good info thanks - CFL are quite nasty little products.

[eastbound]

i bought a few led's at home depot, but find the light unpleasant

i have one in a tan paper fixture, which helps, but for many of my existing fixtures the light is too bright white--cruel to a wrinkled old soul like me.

my wife was changing over to cfl's prior to my move-in---one broke and i showed her recommended cleanup appraoaches and mercury content info, and she removed all of them---put them on our brooklyn stoop as "free stuff" they were gone in minutes!

i am a nut for dimmers, and bought the dimmable leds--they dim perfectly--now, if only the tone can be softened up a bit

i generally like soft light--sitting in front of 8 led monitors all day at work (now), staring at little numbers, is tough on the eyes. at home i keep things dim and use focused light for tasks--and these day i read on tablet so dont need light to read.

off topic just sold a bunch of hlf puts at a double--that company is such a POS--nice to make money on the demise of a predatory scam.

steer clear of any and all MLM's

[PonoBill]

The color temperature "problem" with LEDs is a byproduct of one of the features of LEDs--the color temperature can be varied. It's much more difficult to change color temperature with other light sources. So since it can be changed, it is changed--all over the spectrum from "warm" temperatures of 2700K (actually a cooler temperature but consumers consider the color to be warm) to cold 7000K. The manufacturers are fiddling with colors to find the ones consumers buy best.

We actually see best in light that's about 5000K, and a lower color temperature might feel more homey, but it's actually more difficult to see and discriminate letters against background.

I've been paying attention to all this while switching over our houses to LED. You can get other color temperatures than what you can pick up in a hardware store, but they're more expensive since most people want the most bang for the buck, and want something in the 4000-5000 range. A 2700K LED is less energy efficient than a 5000K LED because it takes a higher effective wattage to see equally well with it.  For example I picked up a test candelabra lamp at Lowes--a sylvania, dimmable. The packaging didn't spec the color temp but it was nine bucks, so I got one to try. Way too cold, my wife would hate it, but just adding one to the candelabra made the room much brighter and easier to see in. Doesn't matter--wouldn't pass the all-important Diane test.  I know I can buy 2700K candelabras from a local lighting specialist for about 20 bucks apiece, but geez, twenty bucks? The lamp has six of them, that's gonna sting. Of course I only have to buy them once. A 40 watt equivalent is 3 watts (varies with bulb design) so in theory it would pay for itself with Mauis expensive electricity in two years. In practice I generate my own power here, but I still don't have a reason to waste it.

I've heard people say the difference between LED and incandescent or fluorescent is meaningless environmentally. That's simply dumb. Lighting is 20% of energy use worldwide. Switch to LEDs completely and it reduces worldwide energy use by 17%. Reduced manufacturing requirement from lifespan of the bulbs may also be very significant--not to mention the mini environmental disaster that fluorescent lighting represents.  Once installed an LED source will actually last about 40 years. Perhaps longer. Lumen degradation is nonlinear--it slows over time. We don't know how long high power LEDs last.

[Eagle]

EB and PB thanks about all the info on dimming and color.  My wife is also very sensitive to color and has to have the right warmth and ambiance.  On boats LEDs are vital to cut draw on the house batteries and work a charm at anchor or during a race.  During a race it is forbidden to turn on your engine to charge - all on the honor system.  On cars - much more popular also - as you know.  The zone often has good info that you could not find elsewhere.  Thanks to all that take the time to post their wisdom.