LED's are ok.

[Fantine]

It will be interesting to see if LED lights really last as long as advertised. My CFL's never did. I know that CFL's work better when they're not turned off and on often, but I had some that were real duds.

You also couldn't use CFL's outdoors if your temperatures went below freezing--do LED's do that?

I've used some LED's, haven't had to replace that many bulbs lately. But I have gotten some of the "soft" ones and I like the look.

Veterans can get 10% off at Lowe's and Home Depot all year round. That's why I bring my husband on the Home Depot trips.

 

[timewerx]

LEDs are more efficient - using on the order of only 10-20% of the electricity for the same amount of light.

But if you buy your LEDs from Wallmart or Target or Home Depot, you will get bulbs that look just like incandescents. (but they are not as efficient)

The bulbs are not less efficient by much. The outer covering is only transparent glazing. Its purpose is to scatter the light, not absorb it. By design, it's supposed to transmit most of the light coming from the LED. Ideally, it should transmit 100% of the light with zero losses. In reality, we may have around 10% losses not much. There no other way because a direct LED light without glazing is very very harsh. It's like working under a pin light and shadows are sharply defined and reflected light is blinding. It would be nice for a display or showroom but not for working or relaxing/sleeping.

 

[Dave-W]

The bulbs are not less efficient by much.

I have bought LEDs from Walmart and Home Depot; they look like this:

Before they carried them I bought from China sources over the internet. They look like this:

This chart was very telling to me and convinced me of the benefit of LED lighting:

 

[Spiritlight]

I changed all my lights to leds years ago. I replaced all those stupid fluorescent lights I had to keep changing with them. These days they are brighter if you want or you can buy ones that are dimmable. If your house has the low voltage downlights with the old 50w glass globes you will really notice a huge power saving. The light is a bit weird at first but you soon get to like it.

I love the fact that that outside light I used to have to regularly change with an extension ladder hasn't had to be for 4 years now because of the led I put in it.

 

[Spiritlight]

Put these in where flouros were or in oyster lights. get an electrician to do it if you dont know how. Seriously the best place for light bulbs and the silly holders that need replacing is the bin lol.

INTERIOR DOME LIGHT LED to replace Caravan Fluorescent Tube 12v EASY to fit | eBay


For Downlights I have had some luck with eBay ones and these go ok. If you use one of the older non electronic transformers you can hook up as many as the transformer wattage allows in parallel. electronic ones can be a bit hit and miss with multiple lights. some will though.

ie 50w transformer you could hook up 7 of them on that transformer that used to run 1 50w lamp. That is a huge power saving and cheap to install.

8 x Quality Wide Beam LED Downlight Globes / Bulbs 6W 12V MR16 GU5.3 Warm White | eBay

 

[Spiritlight]

LED bulbs can interfere with cable TV signals. We have recessed ceiling lights in the kitchen, and I replaced the halogens with 120W equivalent LED floods. The light was great. But when we turned on the TV, the sound was gone, and the picture alternated between pixellation and a black screen. Turning off the lights, or dimming them significantly, returned the picture to normal. And there was no interference if I switched the TV input to over-the-air. The TV is in a built-in cabinet, and the cable line runs through the ceiling close to where the cans are located. Obviously, the LEDs, at least at full wattage, are emitted a signal that interferes with the cable transmission. I suppose the cable could be shielded or rerouted somehow, but I don't want to tear up the ceiling. So I'll stick with halogens or CFLs. Weird.

You might have some luck buying a power board with a power filter in it. decent quality leds from say Phillips shouldn't cause any interference. El cheap ones might cause interference, though, and usually the interference isn't magically coming through the air, it goes back through the light circuit through to the power one then to your TV so a power filter will stop it. Plug your cable receiver into it too.

 

[NothingIsImpossible]

I'm a tech geek but at times get confused about LED bulbs. Probably because there are a million kinds. Some look like older bulbs. Some are the new twisty kind. Some seem whiter. Some seem brighter. Some are yellowish. I realize it tells you what they are on the box and the wattage, but I seen three different LED bulbs that had the same watts but acted all different.

I know growing up the bulbs we had usually gave off a yellowish tint. Then they started to make more whiteish ones. So with LEDs I buy ones that have no tint. Just a white light. And since they seem to last forever, they are so much better. Even LED Christmas lights are great. Or other LED stuff (like flashlights).

 

[OldWiseGuy]

I'm a tech geek but at times get confused about LED bulbs. Probably because there are a million kinds. Some look like older bulbs. Some are the new twisty kind. Some seem whiter. Some seem brighter. Some are yellowish. I realize it tells you what they are on the box and the wattage, but I seen three different LED bulbs that had the same watts but acted all different.

I know growing up the bulbs we had usually gave off a yellowish tint. Then they started to make more whiteish ones. So with LEDs I buy ones that have no tint. Just a white light. And since they seem to last forever, they are so much better. Even LED Christmas lights are great. Or other LED stuff (like flashlights).

Aren't the 'twisty kind' CFL's?

 

[NothingIsImpossible]

Ah is that whose those are? Ok makes sense now. Well I guess we use those, not LEDs.

 

[WolfGate]

It will be interesting to see if LED lights really last as long as advertised. My CFL's never did. I know that CFL's work better when they're not turned off and on often, but I had some that were real duds.

You also couldn't use CFL's outdoors if your temperatures went below freezing--do LED's do that?

I've used some LED's, haven't had to replace that many bulbs lately. But I have gotten some of the "soft" ones and I like the look.

Veterans can get 10% off at Lowe's and Home Depot all year round. That's why I bring my husband on the Home Depot trips.

LED bulbs can easily be made to work below freezing. Well below. Lots of parking lots and new street lights are using LEDs. The driver (power supply) can also be made to go down to way below zero.

 

[WolfGate]

I'm a tech geek but at times get confused about LED bulbs. Probably because there are a million kinds. Some look like older bulbs. Some are the new twisty kind. Some seem whiter. Some seem brighter. Some are yellowish. I realize it tells you what they are on the box and the wattage, but I seen three different LED bulbs that had the same watts but acted all different.

I know growing up the bulbs we had usually gave off a yellowish tint. Then they started to make more whiteish ones. So with LEDs I buy ones that have no tint. Just a white light. And since they seem to last forever, they are so much better. Even LED Christmas lights are great. Or other LED stuff (like flashlights).

That is why they really need to tell us in bolder print the color and the lumen output. Color differences are one of the biggest challenges with putting LED bulbs in a house. You cannot guarantee the light will look the same if you mix brands or models within the same brand. If you have 4 downlights in the kitchen, for example, replace all four with the same brand and model bulb.

Course if you confused a CFL with and LED the bulb would be way different for the same wattage.

Of course, if you had