LED lighting

[Ralph]

I have been buying into it more and more for certain applications. I still prefer clear incandescents inside the house, but for exterior and work light applications, I am buying LED fixtures.

Menards has some LED 48" shop lights that run $80. For that price, they are a practical alternative to high output fluorescent fixtures.

I also installed a LED motion sensor light above the garage door at home today. It was a bit pricey at $100, but it will make that up easily over its lifespan considering it uses 33 watts at full brightness where I was using 150 watts before to get fewer lumens from halogen floods.

 

[wank]

Was at a friends today He lives off the grid so is trying them Now and hates them says too blinding and unnatural

 

[Ralph]

Was at a friends today He lives off the grid so is trying them Now and hates them says too blinding and unnatural

Agreed... As I mentioned, I don't like them in the house. They're similar to fluorescents and work well outside or for shop lights.

 

[Al Johnson]

Electric power is quite expensive where I'm moving. So I'm going to try some LED lamps in the house and see if I can stand them. If not, I'll go with CFLs, although I really don't like them much either. Not going to heat the place with incandescent lights, though.

 

[Ralph]

Electric power is quite expensive where I'm moving. So I'm going to try some LED lamps in the house and see if I can stand them. If not, I'll go with CFLs, although I really don't like them much either. Not going to heat the place with incandescent lights, though.

Eh, particularly in a northern winter, heat from incandescents is not exactly a detraction.

 

[frank_c]

Had two CFL's burn out in a ceiling fan fixture the other day. I replaced them with 40 watt equivalent Cree LED bulbs. Color seems the same, so far they are good.

I picked up another 40 watter for the light over the back door but it has the blue tint to it. I might have gotten the soft white instead of daylight. Was weird at first but I don't mind it now. Supposedly will not attract bugs, either.

40 watt equivalents burn 6 watts each. I am not expecting a huge savings in my electric bill but not having to replace the outside bulb every other month will be nice.

 

[Al Johnson]

Eh, particularly in a northern winter, heat from incandescents is not exactly a detraction.

But it's the cost of that heat, when you get it from electric resistance instead of LP gas. Then in the summer, if the AC is on, you are using electric to remove the heat caused by use of electric.

Other than that, I'll take what heat I can get in this weather!

 

[themonk]

I haven't found the color temp of my various LED's objectionable. Very similar to traditional to my eyes. I plan to buy these from now on.

 

[Ralph]

It's not the color temp. If a LED is in a lamp or a frosted fixture, fine. But if the bulb is exposed or in a clear fixture, you can not beat a clear incandescent for the light quality.

 

[themonk]

I have one on my back porch, totally exposed. Bright as hell and I like it a lot. I plan to replace the outdoor floods at my parent's house with LED's here as soon as I can get a ladder up to them. Ladder isn't exactly easy to move alone.

 

[Ralph]

I have one on my back porch, totally exposed. Bright as hell and I like it a lot. I plan to replace the outdoor floods at my parent's house with LED's here as soon as I can get a ladder up to them. Ladder isn't exactly easy to move alone.

I will renew my original distinction between indoor and outdoor/shop use. I have no problem with LEDs at all in outdoor fixtures. In fact, I prefer them to fluorescents because of quicker startup in the winter. It's indoors where I prefer the warmth of a clear bulb in a clear fixture.

 

[Al Johnson]

Ralph, you would have loved these lamps. My great-grandma had one in her bedroom in the '50s, hanging from a cord in the center of the room with a key switch on the socket. It gave a very warm light, and not very bright, but enough for a bedroom. Probably 40 watts.

 

[Ralph]

Ralph, you would have loved these lamps. My great-grandma had one in her bedroom in the '50s, hanging from a cord in the center of the room with a key switch on the socket. It gave a very warm light, and not very bright, but enough for a bedroom. Probably 40 watts.

Those are coming back... we got a new light fixture for our living room, and I really wanted to put one of those in it, but the fixture was too small.

 

[grigsby]

i have zero problem with the LED light. In fact as each bulb in my house burns out I have been replacing them with Cree bulbs. Side by side the light is very similar.

 

[frank_c]

Saw this at Home Depot, kind of cool. Change a bare bulb holder into a LED fixture.

 

[miwico]

Saw this at Home Depot, kind of cool. Change a bare bulb holder into a LED fixture.

Sweet!

 

[John]

I only have one inside the house. I bought it because they don't put off much heat and a cfl wouldn't fit without looking tacky.

The wife brought home this little antique lamp that I used to burn my hand on the bulb when turning it off.

 

[FinlayZJ]

Anyone who has Duke Power can buy LED bulbs through Duke's store at a HUGE discount, FYI.

 

[miwico]

I'm up to about 10 led lamps in the house. Plan on a full swap but that's going to take some time. Just the basement has 23 fixtures.

 

[frank_c]

I have 6 CFL spots in the TV/guitar room in the basement but I'm going to get LED's for those so I can run dimmers. I'll hang on to the bulbs and use them in the laundry room and smaller room, by the time I go through all of them there will probably be a bulb that only burns 2 watts.