CFL or LED

ownerbuilder2012 · 10-13-12, 01:58 AM

I've been using CFL for quite a long time, but then here comes the LED. My question is: Is LED reliable, I have no question about it's energy saving features, but I'm concerned about the quality of light.

Does anyone here have used LED? Can you share your thoughts about it?

ecomodded · 10-13-12, 03:30 AM

I have 3 LED light bulbs in my house, one 20 watt $20 one and two $3 9 watt light bulbs from ebay.

The $20 one i bought at home hardware and it is as bright as you could ever want, i have it on a dimmer and use it at 3/4 not to save power but because its that bright.
My 9 watt cree LED's from ebay are not that brilliant, I use one of those in my stoves fan hood light and one in a hallway.
The cheap ebay lights seem more like 2-3 watt as they are more spot light and less fill.

strider3700 · 10-13-12, 11:23 AM

I've got 5 LED's in the house

3 Luminus 8 watt bulbs in the dinner room light and 1 in the basement.

All 4 of them are on dimmers. THe cheap regular dimmer downstairs works great. the bulb is brighter then the expensive dimable CFL that it replaced.
The expensive fancy dimmer that works with regular CFL bulbs does not work well with the LED's. They flicker and are amazingly bright at it's highest setting. I'm thinking about relocating the bulbs and going back to CFL's there.
The light is a little whiter then I prefer but not bad.

I also have a 3 watt LED in a touch sensitive table lamp beside the bed. the lamp has a low/med/high setting. On high the light flashes on for a 1/2 second every 5 seconds. the other two settings work. low is fine to see around the house but would hurt your eyes to read by. Medium is barely enough to read my kindle without straining my eyes.

the 3 watts were $12 for a 3 pack. 2 of them aren't in use.
the 8 watts were $22 for a 2 pack.

All came from costco.

Daox · 10-13-12, 11:38 AM

I always question LED efficiency. Last time I did a good search for LED bulbs for the house I found that their efficiency was right around the same or worse than CFL bulbs, at least for the more inexpensive LED bulbs.

That being said I have one LED bulb (besides nightlights) in my house. Its a PAR20 dimmable bulb. I couldn't find a dimmable CFL in the PAR20 format. It was expensive at around $23, but it does work very well. However, the efficiency still isn't stellar compared to a CFL bulb, but it is much much better than the halogen it replaced.

I did a quick little review on it when I first got it.
http://ecorenovator.org/forum/lighti...ght-today.html

Xringer · 10-13-12, 01:13 PM

I've replaced some 23w CFLs with 7.5w LEDs and use brighter 12w LEDs in a few places where extra light is needed.
Mostly, our decorator style lamps were incandescent, on dimmers.

LED Video
Green slot :: LEds video by Xringer - Photobucket

We have an over-voltage problem with our grid.. Not good for LEDs..
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f1...ltageagain.jpg

I had to replace three LEDs that went bad, but they failed in less than a year,
so it didn't cost anything to get new ones.
I don't think we've had a failure for about 6 or 7 months now.

Update on the video..
The last 60w LED shown was replaced with a 23W CFL (since it's used very little in that corner).
The 60w Phillips LED is now sharing a (dual socket) kitchen ceiling lamp fixture with a 23W CFL.
During food prep, that ceiling fixture is needed. It's off-and-on all day long.
My guess is 3 hours a day run time..

ecomodded · 10-13-12, 05:45 PM

Xringer you have some serious lighting.
Have you put the bulbs on a watt meter ?
A 60 watt LED would be the equivalent of a 200 w incandescent

my 20 w is easy as bright as a 100 w incandescence. You have some bright lights,
or are they not as bright as i suspect ?

Xringer · 10-13-12, 06:47 PM

Since the wattage is so low, I have not tried to get an accurate measurement..

I just used my 'new' meter (not sure how good it works at low power) and my 100W(eq) CFL used 25W.
I've replaced two of those 100W(eq) CFLs with 60W(eq) LEDs that use 12W. (2 table lamps).

In my work areas, I've replaced 75W & 100W CFLs with 40W(eq) LEDs using 8.6W. (little desk lamps). Worked out pretty well.

There are five of those 40W(eq) LEDs hanging above the dinning table.
So, that fixture is burning up 8.6 x 5 = 43 watts.

That 43 watts of LED above the table is plenty bight.
It compares pretty well to using five incandescent 40w blubs (200W).

Before we installed the five 40W(eq) LEDs in that fixture,
we had 65W(eq) 11W CFL spots installed. They were way too weak..

I got those 65W(eq) CFL spots very cheap (on sale at HD) and they stink.
Much weaker than expected and very sensitive to cold (or even cool) temps.

Those 40w(eq) decorator LEDs in the bedroom and bath are bright!
I have to use the dimmer in the bedroom. It's too much in morning..

The bath doesn't have a dimmer, so when it comes on, be ready!!
When taking a shower, I've noticed a lot better lighting in the tub area now..
Those LEDs are the best lighting we've had in the bathroom..
(But now, I'm thinking about trying another dimmer in there )..

hamsterpower · 10-13-12, 07:02 PM

I had an interesting experiment with LED christmas lights last year. I found the string of LED lights too bright on the tree, so I tried them on a dimmer. They would not light at all. strangely when I plugged in an incandesent string, both strings worked and dimmed perfectly.
My final set up was two 9 watt LED strings and one 4 watt incandesent night light all dimmed ~50%. So much better than the two or three 27 watt strings from years earlier.

By the way, I made the dimmer test strip from a cheap power strip that I spliced a wall dimmer into the cord. Now I can add a dimmer to any wall outlet for testing through out the year and for lighting the tree at christmas.

ecomodded · 10-13-12, 07:56 PM

Doh ! equivalent forgot about that measure, makes perfect sense now.

That is odd hamsterpower, i suspect the dimmer did not recognize the low load, maybe one more string of LED's and it would dim ?

Ryland · 10-14-12, 11:14 AM

My oldest LED is around 10 years old an is still working perfectly, the LED next to my bed is around 8 years old, one out side of my door is 5 years old and I think that at that point they started to get cheap enough that I bought a few a year and now have about 15 LED's in the house, non of them have failed all of them when hooked up to a watt meter draw less power then a CFL of the same brightness, but that is NOT true of all LED's, lucky for us most of them now list their lumin output and their watt draw, I don't buy anything that is less then 50 lumins per watt and I aim for 70+ lumins per watt, I also like the warmer white and only use the cold white in places like out door lighting or task/work lighting.

I also live with someone who can stand the blue tint from the cheaper cold white LED's so she notices if I install one that is lower quality.

10-13-12, 01:58 AM	#1
ownerbuilder2012 Aspiring Renovator Join Date: Sep 2012 Location: Australia Posts: 11 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	CFL or LED I've been using CFL for quite a long time, but then here comes the LED. My question is: Is LED reliable, I have no question about it's energy saving features, but I'm concerned about the quality of light. Does anyone here have used LED? Can you share your thoughts about it?

10-13-12, 11:23 AM	#3
strider3700 Master EcoRenovator Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Vancouver Island BC Posts: 745 Thanks: 23 Thanked 37 Times in 30 Posts	I've got 5 LED's in the house 3 Luminus 8 watt bulbs in the dinner room light and 1 in the basement. All 4 of them are on dimmers. THe cheap regular dimmer downstairs works great. the bulb is brighter then the expensive dimable CFL that it replaced. The expensive fancy dimmer that works with regular CFL bulbs does not work well with the LED's. They flicker and are amazingly bright at it's highest setting. I'm thinking about relocating the bulbs and going back to CFL's there. The light is a little whiter then I prefer but not bad. I also have a 3 watt LED in a touch sensitive table lamp beside the bed. the lamp has a low/med/high setting. On high the light flashes on for a 1/2 second every 5 seconds. the other two settings work. low is fine to see around the house but would hurt your eyes to read by. Medium is barely enough to read my kindle without straining my eyes. the 3 watts were $12 for a 3 pack. 2 of them aren't in use. the 8 watts were $22 for a 2 pack. All came from costco. Last edited by strider3700; 10-13-12 at 11:53 AM..

10-13-12, 11:38 AM	#4
Daox Administrator Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Germantown, WI Posts: 5,525 Thanks: 1,162 Thanked 374 Times in 305 Posts	I always question LED efficiency. Last time I did a good search for LED bulbs for the house I found that their efficiency was right around the same or worse than CFL bulbs, at least for the more inexpensive LED bulbs. That being said I have one LED bulb (besides nightlights) in my house. Its a PAR20 dimmable bulb. I couldn't find a dimmable CFL in the PAR20 format. It was expensive at around $23, but it does work very well. However, the efficiency still isn't stellar compared to a CFL bulb, but it is much much better than the halogen it replaced. I did a quick little review on it when I first got it. http://ecorenovator.org/forum/lighti...ght-today.html __________________ Current project - To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. & To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

10-13-12, 01:13 PM	#5
Xringer Lex Parsimoniae Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Woburn, MA Posts: 4,918 Thanks: 114 Thanked 250 Times in 230 Posts	I've replaced some 23w CFLs with 7.5w LEDs and use brighter 12w LEDs in a few places where extra light is needed. Mostly, our decorator style lamps were incandescent, on dimmers. LED Video Green slot :: LEds video by Xringer - Photobucket We have an over-voltage problem with our grid.. Not good for LEDs.. http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f1...ltageagain.jpg I had to replace three LEDs that went bad, but they failed in less than a year, so it didn't cost anything to get new ones. I don't think we've had a failure for about 6 or 7 months now. Update on the video.. The last 60w LED shown was replaced with a 23W CFL (since it's used very little in that corner). The 60w Phillips LED is now sharing a (dual socket) kitchen ceiling lamp fixture with a 23W CFL. During food prep, that ceiling fixture is needed. It's off-and-on all day long. My guess is 3 hours a day run time.. __________________ My hobby is installing & trying to repair mini-splits EPA 608 Type 1 Technician Certification ~ 5 lbs or less..

10-13-12, 06:47 PM	#7
Xringer Lex Parsimoniae Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Woburn, MA Posts: 4,918 Thanks: 114 Thanked 250 Times in 230 Posts	Since the wattage is so low, I have not tried to get an accurate measurement.. I just used my 'new' meter (not sure how good it works at low power) and my 100W(eq) CFL used 25W. I've replaced two of those 100W(eq) CFLs with 60W(eq) LEDs that use 12W. (2 table lamps). In my work areas, I've replaced 75W & 100W CFLs with 40W(eq) LEDs using 8.6W. (little desk lamps). Worked out pretty well. There are five of those 40W(eq) LEDs hanging above the dinning table. So, that fixture is burning up 8.6 x 5 = 43 watts. That 43 watts of LED above the table is plenty bight. It compares pretty well to using five incandescent 40w blubs (200W). Before we installed the five 40W(eq) LEDs in that fixture, we had 65W(eq) 11W CFL spots installed. They were way too weak.. I got those 65W(eq) CFL spots very cheap (on sale at HD) and they stink. Much weaker than expected and very sensitive to cold (or even cool) temps. Those 40w(eq) decorator LEDs in the bedroom and bath are bright! I have to use the dimmer in the bedroom. It's too much in morning.. The bath doesn't have a dimmer, so when it comes on, be ready!! When taking a shower, I've noticed a lot better lighting in the tub area now.. Those LEDs are the best lighting we've had in the bathroom.. (But now, I'm thinking about trying another dimmer in there ).. __________________ My hobby is installing & trying to repair mini-splits EPA 608 Type 1 Technician Certification ~ 5 lbs or less..

10-13-12, 03:30 AM	#2
ecomodded Supreme EcoRenovator Join Date: Sep 2012 Location: Vancouver Island,Canada. Posts: 1,037 Thanks: 116 Thanked 100 Times in 87 Posts	I have 3 LED light bulbs in my house, one 20 watt $20 one and two $3 9 watt light bulbs from ebay. The $20 one i bought at home hardware and it is as bright as you could ever want, i have it on a dimmer and use it at 3/4 not to save power but because its that bright. My 9 watt cree LED's from ebay are not that brilliant, I use one of those in my stoves fan hood light and one in a hallway. The cheap ebay lights seem more like 2-3 watt as they are more spot light and less fill.

10-13-12, 05:45 PM	#6
ecomodded Supreme EcoRenovator Join Date: Sep 2012 Location: Vancouver Island,Canada. Posts: 1,037 Thanks: 116 Thanked 100 Times in 87 Posts	Xringer you have some serious lighting. Have you put the bulbs on a watt meter ? A 60 watt LED would be the equivalent of a 200 w incandescent my 20 w is easy as bright as a 100 w incandescence. You have some bright lights, or are they not as bright as i suspect ?

10-13-12, 07:02 PM	#8
hamsterpower Apprentice EcoRenovator Join Date: Oct 2009 Posts: 142 Thanks: 0 Thanked 11 Times in 11 Posts	I had an interesting experiment with LED christmas lights last year. I found the string of LED lights too bright on the tree, so I tried them on a dimmer. They would not light at all. strangely when I plugged in an incandesent string, both strings worked and dimmed perfectly. My final set up was two 9 watt LED strings and one 4 watt incandesent night light all dimmed ~50%. So much better than the two or three 27 watt strings from years earlier. By the way, I made the dimmer test strip from a cheap power strip that I spliced a wall dimmer into the cord. Now I can add a dimmer to any wall outlet for testing through out the year and for lighting the tree at christmas.

10-13-12, 07:56 PM	#9
ecomodded Supreme EcoRenovator Join Date: Sep 2012 Location: Vancouver Island,Canada. Posts: 1,037 Thanks: 116 Thanked 100 Times in 87 Posts	Doh ! equivalent forgot about that measure, makes perfect sense now. That is odd hamsterpower, i suspect the dimmer did not recognize the low load, maybe one more string of LED's and it would dim ?

10-14-12, 11:14 AM	#10
Ryland Master EcoRenovator Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Western Wisconsin. Posts: 913 Thanks: 127 Thanked 82 Times in 71 Posts	My oldest LED is around 10 years old an is still working perfectly, the LED next to my bed is around 8 years old, one out side of my door is 5 years old and I think that at that point they started to get cheap enough that I bought a few a year and now have about 15 LED's in the house, non of them have failed all of them when hooked up to a watt meter draw less power then a CFL of the same brightness, but that is NOT true of all LED's, lucky for us most of them now list their lumin output and their watt draw, I don't buy anything that is less then 50 lumins per watt and I aim for 70+ lumins per watt, I also like the warmer white and only use the cold white in places like out door lighting or task/work lighting. I also live with someone who can stand the blue tint from the cheaper cold white LED's so she notices if I install one that is lower quality.