New LED light bulb from Best Buy

[deco_droid]

I'll stick with my old incandescents as long as the government ALLOWS us to buy them. I am not wasteful, turn lights off when I leave a room and find my electricity bill is reasonable so the small savings vs. higher cost of high tech bulbs is a wash to me. Frankly, I like the extra warmth Edison's old bulbs provide a room with in the winter months (even in Texas), so I'm surprised people in northern states would be interested in the "cold" bulbs anyway, but whatever...

[jimmijim8]

CAPCE

nOT EVEN CLOSE BIZ Cheap arss potato chip eater. There out there. I once sent a partially eaten bag back. In return I got a box of sample packs. cheers jimmijim

Ohio State's Center for Advanced Polymer and Composite Engineering? What do they have to do with anything?

[showbizkid]

CAPCE <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< what does this mean? cheers jimmijim

Ohio State's Center for Advanced Polymer and Composite Engineering? What do they have to do with anything?

[jimmijim8]

First class mail is good for up to 13 oz. A bag of chips will mail much less than 2 bucks. Who? CAPCE <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< what does this mean? cheers jimmijim

[JBOYLE]

I wonder how many people collect on a guarantee with requirements like that.

None...that's their point.
Reminds me of a $1 bag of Lays potato chips. It says on the back if not fresh return unused portion to them by mail. Who's goingto spend $2 mailing a bag of state potato chips to Dallas in order to get $1 back?

[Jim B PEI]

Go LED. They aren't good and won't last in hot locations, so you can't put one in an oven <g>. I've given up on CFL because of the 'toxic waste disposal' issue--I have to save up dead bulbs and make a special drop-off of those. LED are completely harmless. Instant on, and no heat to speak of...they will never cause a fire from heat build up.

I replaced most of my lights with LED over the last year, and just have to swap out some dimmer switches for on-off, to replace the last 15 overhead ceiling halogens with LED. I have a few incumbent CFL (8) and incandescent (5) bulbs left in various spots which will largely be replaced with LED when they burn out, although the microwave, fridge and oven lights will have to stay incandescent. I wait until LED bulbs are on sale, and have never paid more than $10 a bulb, and many as low as $2.94 or $0.99. (I wouldn't buy one that costs $17, $24, $33 or $45...) I have used then starting four years ago, and have never had a failure. I have also measured all the electricity used in my house on a meter a few times. My local electricity rate is likely higher than you at 12.65 cents a kw/h. One reading lamp/pole lamp used to have two 60 watt incandescent bulbs, but I replaced them with 2 x 4 Watt LED in two different 'warmths', so its just like daylight, and actually a brighter reading light even if more directional. According to the meters, the two 60s were actually using 124 Watts, and the two 4s use 9 Watts. At 8 hours a day on a timer, its about 72 Watts instead of 1 kilowatt. Over a year, $3.33 instead of $46.17 for that ONE light, for a difference of $42.84 in electricity. Since those two bulbs cost $23.08 including tax, my payback time even if the incandescent cost nothing, is just 200 days.

I have my overall electricity use down to an average of 7 kw/h a day over that 200 days--so I am seeing the savings starting today, November 7th <ggg> Mind you, I also changed the electric range for propane, ditched the toaster and electric coffeemaker, have solar hot water now, and don't plug in my cars in winter with block heaters, but otherwise, its a normal house with all mod cons, including using the dishwasher about ever day, and the washer about every second day, and lots of lighting indoors and out. Its sure nice to be spending $30 for electricity a month instead of $150-200, and the LED lighting is a important part of it. I really like it--although it is getting confusing using Watts which is really a measure of heat (ie, waste due to inefficiency) when really Lumens would be more to the point...except I don't know how to buy lights using Lumens 'cause I'm old enough to be thinking only in Watt-age.

The only problem with them is directionality, but ceiling/bracket/pole lights are perfect for LED, just not traditional bulb table lamps with the bulb facing upwards, unless you are a fan of lighting the ceiling.

[studegary]

I had a Brand X cfl with a one year guarantee. It quit in less than a year. I notified the company. They sent me a replacement cfl. They asked for the old one back, but did not supply postage. I decided that I did not want to pay for them to get the old one back for their analysis or assurance.

Recently, I had an expensive GE cfl fail. It had a five year guarantee. It was new enough that I still had the packaging. They say that you have to send the UPC from the package plus the original sales receipt to collect on the guarantee. I have the UPC, but haven't taken the time to search for the sales receipt. I wonder how many people collect on a guarantee with requirements like that.

[Bob Andrews]

When my current home was new in 2005 I bought all CFLs. They take a while to get to full brightness if it's cold, but they seem to be OK. I bought them for electrical savings, not the idiotic, fake environmental reasons. Now, almost 8 years later, not one of them has burned out. As for the savings, I have no idea since I've never had any other kind in this house, but I assume there was a savings.

In the new place now in the planning stages, I am looking at the LEDs, and they seem like the way to go. I'm not sure about ROI in upgrades, but in new construction they look like they make sense. I still have time to do more research though, and I will. But where I see them, I have liked them- my flashlight, new car trailers, interior lights in newer cars; the new addition to our local mall is LEDs and they are amazing.

I will likely be using them in the new place, but I am still learning what's out there. I suspect they will continue to rapidly evolve in variety and application. I want my new place to be as efficient as technology will allow.

[Gunslinger]

If the light...any type of light...is made in China, it's junk and I won't buy it. I have yet to see a Chinese made light sold here that holds up any length of time and often breaks when you remove it.

Many of these new type lights are often unknown brands. Which of these companies will be around long enough to make good on their warranties? I have no problems with startup companies trying to market new technology but you also find the bottom feeders of capitalism trying make a quick buck and move on before their poor quality products come back to bite them.

[deco_droid]

We bought a batch of "lifetime" CFL's. They started dying about 6 weeks later. It will take a law to get me to use them again. Green? What about the disposition of burned out CFL's.

Haha -- I'm sorry, but that's priceless...

I was just gonna say, IF they actually backed up their CLAIM that these new bulbs lasted however many years with a money back guarantee, I would be more open to spending that much, but somehow i'm thinking if I buy an LED bulb for big bucks and it fails, no one's going to step up and stand behind their product because it's really just an estimate of bulb life, not a guarantee.

[53k]

Two questions in my mind: how durable are the LED bulbs, and how good is the color rendition? LED home lighting I have seen so far is not truly white; it's kind of a "faux white" made by a suitable mix of blue and yellow. Has kind of an "arc-light white" look to it. Might be OK for task-oriented lighting, but looks a little harsh for regular room lighting.

And the durability issue is still unsettled. Until we have real-world, long-term experience with them, we won't know just how well they hold up in the hands of consumers.

I will be real happy to let others be the beta testers for these things. Now I have LED flashlights, and like them a lot. But there, power consumption is paramount.

I bought a couple LEDs several years ago, one for a flood light over the kitchen sink. Color is better than any incandescent and no problems with them so far. A couple months ago I was looking at LED lights at Lowe's and found one marked "last one"- was $45.95, now $9.60. It was a 38-degree flood which was perfect for the light over the kitchen table. When I checked out the number was incorrect and the cashier called a manager. He finally said "let him have it for $6.90" so, needless to say, I snapped it up. Took the CFL out of the fixture and screwed in the LED- perfect illumination and color. Also, being that directional, it doesn't give you side glare which I always found irritating with either an incandescent or cfl.

[jlmccuan]

We bought a batch of "lifetime" CFL's. They started dying about 6 weeks later. It will take a law to get me to use them again. Green? What about the disposition of burned out CFL's.

[4961Studebaker]

Switched over to LED landscape bulb replacements by Philips (through Home Depot). Bi Pin Halogens were getting too expensive to buy. And many places are not carrying them anymore.

I will use up the CFL's I have on hand before venturing into the LED interior lighting.

Everyone should get used to looking at the light spectrum indicator on the packaging.
For example the LED bi pin replacements were a white light. Where as a factory LED Malibu landscape spotlight was in the yellow light spectrum.

[shifter4]

swvalcon, perhaps the electric bills are done like some other places we have lived. An average is established and the "normal" bill is made from that for periods of time. That is a really good reason to always read your own meter and have the numbers ready- -they will adjust them. My 1st taste of this was in Athens, Alabama when we moved in a house that had been occupied by a couple that had 4 daughters and entertained frequently ! Our bill after the adjustment was a couple of hundred less from then on.

We have recently had " Smart Meters " installed by Florida Flicker and Flash ( AKA FPL ).
These allow you to go online and monitor your power usage , since it is monitored in real time.
Of course some think that it is a plot by FPL , although the perceived nefarious intentions seem to vary from
person to person .
We also have "drive by " water meters , wherein the reader just passes down the street , and magically
gathers our data.

[j.byrd]

swvalcon, perhaps the electric bills are done like some other places we have lived. An average is established and the "normal" bill is made from that for periods of time. That is a really good reason to always read your own meter and have the numbers ready- -they will adjust them. My 1st taste of this was in Athens, Alabama when we moved in a house that had been occupied by a couple that had 4 daughters and entertained frequently ! Our bill after the adjustment was a couple of hundred less from then on.