LED vs. CF vs. Incandescent (2012/2013 DOE testing)
 

There is a quick write up on some DOE testing on LED vs CF vs incandescent lighting. They evaluated everything from the life cycle of the product; manufacturing, transportation, use, and disposal. There is some very interesting info. I haven't read the full DOE reports. They do appear to be fairly lengthy.

LED vs. CF vs. Incandescent | Home Power Magazine

Here are some interesting tid bits:

I was looking at this study yesterday. I never liked CF but I am on board for the LED lights I only have a few lights left in my house that are not LED. We are happy with them so far but it would be nice to see the cost come down more.
Mark

Most of my light fixtures are still CFL, due to the high retail prices of screw-base replacement LED lamps. I have replaced a few old-school fluorescent lamp fixtures with LED strip lights and love them. I would change the plain-jane bulbs, but I don't feel the marketers have fully developed the lamps yet.

I have a feeling it will take another ten years before LED replacement lamps will fall close to the price of CFL lamps. Once the OEM's figure out how to produce more light with less heat (I believe they will), and make a power supply suited to the application, prices will come down. The market is there for the manufacturers, they just haven't perfected these products yet.

Ditto. I'd like to go to LEDs too, but the efficiency isn't a huge jump, but the price is. I currently only have one screw base LED bulb in the house. The rest are CFLs minus a few select PAR20 halogens that I can't find CFLs for (they're on a dimmer).

I got a bunch of these
EcoSmart 40W Equivalent Bright White (3000K) A19 LED Light Bulb (4-Pack)-ECS GP19 WW 40WE 120 at The Home Depot
They use 6 watts about $5 a bulb and they are Dimmable
I really think they are brighter than a 40 watt bulb.

I have these in my 3 light fans and on my porch outside lights even my vanity lights in the bath rooms.

I can handle $5/bulb. Its the $25 par20 bulbs (the one I have cost me $23) that I can't justify. My kitchen has 7 total I think for a total of $175 in light bulbs... ouch.

I agree with you I waited until they were worth the move to me anyway.
I have more than 35 of these bulbs and they are working well. I got some of them on Clarence the old ones were 6.5 watts

My Master bath has 6 of these LED bulbs
I would put them @50 – 57 watt equivalent

Yes 7 x $5 works out a lot better.

I suggest quality led light bulbs if you are going to try switching over.

My led bulbs that I bought off of eBay started flickering then died ,within 18 months. My store bought led light ultra bright dinning room bulb is still going strong, I paid $20 for it and $3 a piece for the eBay bulbs which turned into a added expense rather then a savings.

Everytime I think an LED bulb is expensive, I have to recall that I paid about $20 each for my first CFL bulbs back in the 1980s, and thought that they were worth it in energy savings. That $20 is more like $50 in today's economy, I would guess, so $20 LEDs don't seem so expensive to me.
The only problem I have with some LED bulbs is the tremendous radio interference on FM, primarily with the small reflector-type LED bulbs (I think PAR20 size) used in the range hood over the kitchen stove. Turn on the light, the radio goes silent.

Jim

I'm going to pick a pack of these, thanks Mark.

OK, here's my take. I get all the latest electronic trade journals and chip manufacturers literature including lots of free chip samples. The electronics for LEDs is here, maybe some refinements but the efficiency of the power supplies is very good and a lot of chip producers have been actively designing chips for LEDs for awhile now.
Some of the big LED manufacturers (Lumiled, etc.) are doing better with the formulas also but there's a way to go yet and the big hurdle is still cooling.

I have a few LEDs in the house now and they're quite good but like most of you I still run CFLs which I have a lot of. They last better than the first generation, which failed left and right (poor electronics), but CFL's aren't my favorite bulbs. There are issues with the light causing sleep problems, so don't read by CFL's in bed before you go to sleep.

In my view five years from now, at the most LED's are going to rule.

Rob

I do buy LEDs, but only for locations/applications where getting there to replace a CFL would be a big pain in the ***.

Way, up on my barn eves is one such location ~ 30 feet off the ground. The extended eve of the barn roof at the peak also makes it tough to replace these from the barn roof.

I sure hope I get the number of hours that made me buy these . . . .


Steve

In the past year I've bought several LEDs - 2 x 7W dimmable PAR 30s, 2 X 5W and 1 x 7W from Chinese suppliers on ebay. Of those, the failure rate is now ~75%. Never again.
I have others I bought from more reputable sources and with proper warranties - they're still going fine, so far; although they were three to four times the cost, if they actually last the expected/claimed lifetime, the cost will be trivial.

A couple of things with LEDs and parts in general. If you get a genuine Omron LED, for example, you can expect it to last. Right now there is a major influx of counterfeit parts and many of the manufacturers and suppliers are warning of the problem. Compound this with other counterfeit circuit parts, poor designs and inadequate cooling and you have a good chance of early failure rates.

So, bottom line, buy from a reputable seller, you'll pay more but get a 'real' light.

Rob

I second the suggestion to buy name brands from a legitimate dealer. I have some LED bulbs going on 10 years of 6 to 10hours a day and are still going strong. Another good use is for outdoor lighting. My CFL on the porch didn't light quickly or well when the weather was cold (below zero F) but the LED uses less energy and is just as bright, and comes on instantly no matter the weather. Going on its 4th year with no problems.

Any one else have problems with radio interfernce with LEDs?

We began switching to LEDs when MR16's were about $30 each. Now with the bulbs at less than $10 and many places will give rebates to cover part of that, they make even more sense. The daily energy saving is great as is the long life of the bulbs.
Tony

Some quick buying tips:

-If the product costs $10 each at a chain store, don't expect to find the same thing on ebay new for much less. those $3 knock-offs ain't the same.

-If the bulb looks like a pineapple or a corncob, don't buy it.

-If the specs say 100 year lifetime, don't buy it.

-If the specs have no UL listing, don't buy it.

The vultures are circling on ebay and amazon and the like due to the hype and high profit margins of their "me too" products. If you got snookered into the trap, don't blame the entire industry. Just buy something you can return locally next time.

The inverter-driven fluorescents were the same way with RFI / EMI when they first came out. The state of the art is advancing quickly in the LED lighting realm today, so I imagine in a few years these problems will pretty much disappear.

Elektor Magazine has a 10w LED replacement design for Halogen's. I don't know how feasible it is but worth a look at.

LED’s Replace that Halogen Lamp - ELEKTOR.com | Electronics: Microcontrollers Embedded Audio Digital Analogue Test Measurement

Rob

Those bulbs could have 100lm per watt or even better as i found a spec sheet on its Rebel LED bulb, many are well over 100lm per watt all the way up to 200llm per watt.

LUXEON Rebel

LUXEON Rebel White LEDs | Philips Lumileds Lighting Company

Interesting, I'm impressed with some of the efficiencies!

Rob

Is anyone aware of replacement LED bulbs for travel trailers (5'th wheels)? My son lives in one of these while in grad school and it is full of these tiny incandescent bulbs that have a base much like that of the bulb in a car brake light.

The bulbs have a glass bulb about the size of a large acorn. The base has two small cylindrical prongs sticking out sideways that allow it to be inserted into a receptacle and when twisted, it locks in place. The insulated base has a center spot for one conductor and the brass base shell is the neutral.

In any case, they burn out quickly, are incredibly hot to the touch and are expensive at the RV stores.

Because they are small, an LED replacement would be perfect.

Thanks in advance.

Steve

Steve,
I just picked one from a search:

LED Replacement Bulbs for Cars | 12v | Super Bright LEDs

I did a search for "LED brake bulb replacement"

Rob

Sounds like a fairly common 5 or 10W single-contact tail lamp bulb. Sure, LEDs are easily available for those but I cannot give you an online or B&M source from Ireland, as I don't know what's in your locality.
In the US market these bulbs have a code which describes their contact and pin layout.

A standard single filament brake light bulb is an 1156. You should be able to remove the bulb and get the number off of it.

We on the cusp of having LED bulbs for everything, or we have passed over the Cusp and do have a LED for everything or almost.. all though like Servicetech mentioned on a similar thread that they can be expensive right now.

Speaking of which $ Harley has LED headlights for their bikes , you do pay for it.

Daymaker LED Headlamp Price: $729.95

Daymaker LED Headlamp-67700109 | Headlights | Official Harley-Davidson Online Store

I have a pair of relatively narrow-beam 27W LED worklamps on my bike, which come on with high beam. The absolutely turn night into day and cost about a tenth for the pair as H-D want for one. Mind you, they're no good for low beam as there's too much beam spread/scatter and would cause dazzle.
I think the big thing (apart from the price) about the H-D product is, that it looks neat, is powerful enough on its own and fits conventional mores of bike lighting.
Me? I don't care what it looks like - on the front on my fairing are mounted two 4"x4" square black lamps and the normal headlamp - and it works, which is what really matters.
In terms of light output, I have 2160lm x2 (the LEDs) + 1100lm (the high beam) hitting the road, so that's 5420 lumens and the bike alternator isn't stressed, at all.