Armed Polite Society
Main Forums => The Roundtable => Topic started by: Ron on January 02, 2014, 11:16:08 AM
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Anyone using these in place of incandescent or compact fluorescent bulbs?
I went back to the old style incandescent (and a couple of the halogen incandescent bulbs) from CF's and am much happier with the light in my home.
It would be ideal if I could get the same light quality with the long term reliability and savings of an LED. The initial cost of going LED is high though; what saith the hive mind?
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I have one in my bedroom, and I like the color temperature of it a lot. It's a matter of about $300 to convert my entire house to LED. Right now I'm running a mix of incandescent and CFL.
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I just started switching mine, using the bulbs Costco sells. We have a rebate program with SoCal Edison in CA, so you can get a good part of the purchase price reimbursed. They are called Conserv-Energy bulbs, by FEIT Electric. I'm quite happy with the light, favoring it a bit over the CFLs they replaced (my CFLs were all pretty old, so I can't speak to newer generation CFLs vs LED). They are 40 watt equivalent, but seem brighter to me.
I also replaced a bunch of my mom and dad's lights with these because my dad was griping over us no good rotten kids wasting all his electricity keeping the lights on over Christmas. He's pretty curmudgeonly about change, but is happy with the light from these ( a good bit whiter than the incandescents they replaced). Six of them are in ceiling fans in their kitchen/dining area. I did notice that when the ceiling fan lights were dimmed that I could hear a slight buzzing. I don't know if that's the bulbs or the ceiling fans.
I only have experience with this one brand, so would be interested to hear about other brands and the kind of light they throw.
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Have not taken the plunge yet into LEDs, especially since I found CFLs to pretty much blow chunks with regard to working life expectancy. I bought over 100 100W incandescents before the asinine ban on them, so I am good for several years in those applications where an incandescent is the absolute best option.
I hear LEDs have the same problem CFLs do WRT working life expectancy. All those big life span numbers being taken in vibration-free and well-ventilated (to dissipate heat) labs. When used in the wild, I have found CFLs to last as long as incandescents at several times the total cost of ownership.
If CFLs had panned out as advertized, I would have been happy. The awful CFL color can be attenuated with shades & filters in many applications.
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Recently purchased one for the over the kitchen sink spot. Don't remember the brand was purchased at Lowe's. It is dim-able bulb and had to buy a dim-able switch to go with it. Seems like is was just under 40 bucks.
Love the light. It's bright and good color.
When I can afford it I will be changing every bulb out.
In the mean time we bought a butt load of 60w incandescent bulbs.
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I hear LEDs have the same problem CFLs do WRT working life expectancy.
Depends on the brand. The cheapo bargain LEDs are junk. The driver circuits are poorly designed, use pathetically bad components, and have mondo problems with heat control (which kills the crappy driver circuit in short order). The good stuff (GE, CREE, and Philips) far outpaces the cheap junk in every respect and are good buys at current prices.
We have tested the Cree and Philips products for durability and light quality. No comparison with regard to the quality between these brands and the cheap stuff. The better products are worth every penny. For durability the Philips "yellow petal" lamps win hands down. Pick one up and you'll see why. Built like a tank. The CREE lamps are aren't nearly as robust due to their use of a rubberized glass globe, but it is more traditional in appearance and is more efficient (9.5w vs the yellow-petal Philips 12.5 w for a 60w incandescent equivalent).
Also, Philips now also has a more traditionally appearing lamp, the 429381. It is on par with the CREE in efficiency and price. My personal impression, based purely on a weigh comparison, is that it is not as physically strong as the previous yellow petal model. However, given the older model's survive-a-nuclear-holocaust construction, saying the new model isn't as strong is kinda like comparing a Mack truck to an F150. Also, IIRC this new lamp is not dimmable, though that may have changed recently. Check current mfg specs to be sure.
Both lamps are available in 2700k incandescent equivalents. A light meter and spectrum analysis shows color temp claims by both manufacturers were accurate on our samples, mimicking incandescent lamps so well that the difference was imperceptible in impromptu tests with passersby.
Ron, go for it. There's no real downside if you get good units. I am slowly converting my house to all-LED as the old incandescent lamps burn out. Lamp prices have dropped radically in the last year and continue to get lower on an almost daily basis, making the switch even more economically appealing.
Brad
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I just started switching mine, using the bulbs Costco sells. We have a rebate program with SoCal Edison in CA, so you can get a good part of the purchase price reimbursed. They are called Conserv-Energy bulbs, by FEIT Electric. I'm quite happy with the light, favoring it a bit over the CFLs they replaced (my CFLs were all pretty old, so I can't speak to newer generation CFLs vs LED). They are 40 watt equivalent, but seem brighter to me.
I also replaced a bunch of my mom and dad's lights with these because my dad was griping over us no good rotten kids wasting all his electricity keeping the lights on over Christmas. He's pretty curmudgeonly about change, but is happy with the light from these ( a good bit whiter than the incandescents they replaced). Six of them are in ceiling fans in their kitchen/dining area. I did notice that when the ceiling fan lights were dimmed that I could hear a slight buzzing. I don't know if that's the bulbs or the ceiling fans.
I only have experience with this one brand, so would be interested to hear about other brands and the kind of light they throw.
Curious as to how well the Feit brand "blubs" =D hold up.
ALL the cheap junk in the electrical dept. at Menard's here in WI is Feit brand. Their CFL's last about a month. :P
OTOH, they had some nice 4W LED standard base small bulbs I got as bed/reading lamps for my girls, since they didn't get hot beyond maybe body temp., even when they left them on and threw blankets, pillows, and stuffed animals on them. And they're still trucking along.
So I'm curious if the higher wattage units are decent, and they've managed to not screw up what should be the inherent stability and simplicity of LED lighting in the name of being the cheapest.
OTOH, Feit might just make whatever it is a retailer wants on spec. And I'd suspect Costco's demands are higher than Menard's by far.
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OTOH, Feit might just make whatever it is a retailer wants on spec. And I'd suspect Costco's demands are higher than Menard's by far.
Yeah, the ones I saw were totally an impulse buy - I had not done any research beforehand. That said, yeah, I've found Costco generally has pretty high standards, so hopefully these meet some minimum Costco standard even if the general brand is junk. If not, I guess on the bright side, the Edison company paid for most of them. :)
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So far I've bought one LED bulb. I forget who makes it, but it's a 60W equiv. I currently have it in my living room in the table lamp. The light is bluer than I like, so I'm probably going to replace it with something like a Samsung Warm White and put this one in the fixture outside.
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I'd like to take all of the idiots who foisted the low flow toilets and showers upon us, tie them to the bumper of a Hummer H2, and drag them through a field of crushed CFLs.
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I'm on the second round of LEDs in the kitchen. Learned the hard way that the glass globe enclosing the bulbs retained too much heat & caused them to essentially burn out. Got a cheap clip-on shade - as nobody comes and admires my kitchen ceiling it does not matter how cheap/chintzy it may look.
Been running a LED flood in the living room for about a year now. Much better than the CFL it replaced.
I've got LEDs from Home depot to use when the incadescents burn out. Cost will be recouped if they last 3 years after the last incandescent goes TU.
stay safe.
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I just put in our first LED bulb, 100W equivalent. It went into the bathroom next to 2 incandescent 100W bulbs. I have to say it seems brighter and is the right color temp that we are looking for in the bathroom. As my other bulbs die out, I will replace them with LEDs. It was a Sylvania that I got at Lowes.
http://assets.sylvania.com/assets/Documents/RETRO053.64ed2042-64e7-4e16-9150-ffda82e7bd6d.pdf (http://assets.sylvania.com/assets/Documents/RETRO053.64ed2042-64e7-4e16-9150-ffda82e7bd6d.pdf)
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Figured those unfamiliar with color temps and such might like some basics. This chart does a pretty good job.
(https://armedpolitesociety.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.frostelectric.com%2Fimages%2Fcontent%2Fcolortempchart.png&hash=20ed044d13d5ec0cb0996927b6597a16dc6a137a)
From this you can see where the "warm" and "cool" color descriptors come from. Lower on the color temp scale is warmer (yellow and yellow-orange light), higher is cooler (white and blue-white). FYI, terms like "warm white" and "cool white" are (at best) general guidelines. They lack any type of standardization and can be very subjective. It's better to have a baseline understanding of color temp (see chart above) so you can tell where the light output really falls.
Along with color temp there is also color spectrum. Just like sunlight through a prism, differing light sources have differing spectra. The more complete the output spectrum, the better the illumination will be at rendering colors accurately. The spectral "notching" of fluorescent (long tube and CFL) is why fluorescent illumination always seems to have a vaguely artificial quality. Modern CFLs have solved this to some degree with gas mixes and filter coatings, but it's still an issue inherent to fluorescent light sources. To illustrate.
(https://armedpolitesociety.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fbmb.lcd.lu%2Fscience%2Fcompared_spectra.jpg&hash=ebd94242c9a6c48459736f2edfa4a5771e70cf61)
LEDs have an inherently more complete color spectra vs fluorescent so I wouldn't worry about it other than to file it away as a handy factoid. It is nice to note, though, that a 5500k LED closet light will accurately render clothing colors the same as would noonday sun, or at least as close as makes no everyday difference. No more getting those almost-the-same sock colors mixed, or trying to figure out what that tie will really look like with that shirt.
Brad
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I just put in our first LED bulb, 100W equivalent. It went into the bathroom next to 2 incandescent 100W bulbs. I have to say it seems brighter and is the right color temp that we are looking for in the bathroom. As my other bulbs die out, I will replace them with LEDs. It was a Sylvania that I got at Lowes.
http://assets.sylvania.com/assets/Documents/RETRO053.64ed2042-64e7-4e16-9150-ffda82e7bd6d.pdf (http://assets.sylvania.com/assets/Documents/RETRO053.64ed2042-64e7-4e16-9150-ffda82e7bd6d.pdf)
How big is that thing? I wanted to get a couple of 100 watt equivalents when I bought the 40s, but the 100 watt ones at Costco were huge (though not much bigger than some of my CFLs). I'd love some of those in the same size as an incandescent.
I have to say, I like LED light too. I put the little candelabra lights in the light over my dining room table, and they dim way better than the CFLs I had there did, and they have a much brighter and more pleasant light. I actually like the color better than the light from the original incandescents that were in that lamp.
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Brad, the above is what stops me from spending that $300 to convert my house to pure LED.
Nobody wants to actually declare a color temperature on their packaging. And it's driving me nuts.
I want that 4000-6000K nice midrange color temp, in LED, without the pulsy/stark CFL feel. I run a mix in my 3-bulb ceiling fans right now to give higher K temps from CFL, but smoother light from incandescent. The only people labeling their bulbs seem to label them between 2500 to 3000 K, which is too yellow for my goals. About once a month I scavenge through Amazon, looking for someone willing to advertise a nice midrange color temp.
I'm ordering 4 of these, this month:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0073COMUW/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=AAF37WJS3P6BT
They're 6000 K, which should help with some of the excessive yellow sensation I get in my house sometimes. I'd prefer to get 5000K right in the middle of my desired spectrum, but I've got 30 bulbs to change to convert my whole house. I'll take what I can get, when I can get it. It's very hit and miss to even find a midrange color bulb.
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I just put in our first LED bulb, 100W equivalent. It went into the bathroom next to 2 incandescent 100W bulbs.
Holy sheep dip, do you tan in that bathroom, or just keep the serving trays warm? :O
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AZ,
The mfg I mentioned put color temps somewhere on the packaging AFAIK, though it may sometimes be hard to find. A visit to their web site, or even Amazon for that matter, usually gets the specs.
Also, 4000-6000 K color temp is considered by most to be pretty harsh. Noonday sun harsh, and usually more suited to an environment calling for that color temp. 3000-3500 k seems to be the sweet spot for general interior illumination. The LED troffers in my office are 3500 K and the light is pleasantly neutral, neither stark white nor yellow-ish. If you've never tried a 6000 K lamp, you might want to find one locally and see it in action first before hauling off and ordering a bunch.
I have two of the 2x4 3500 K version of these in my office:
http://www.cree.com/Lighting/Products/Indoor/Troffers/CR-Series
I looked at your link. Not sure about that one. I'd have to see it in action. Based on the color temp and the fact that I've never heard of it in the reams of stuff I've researched for LED lamps, I'm guessing it's a cluster array of plain white LEDs using a heavily frosted cap for light dispersion (common in some of the hurry-up-and-get-something-on-the-market imports). I'm curious to know how well they work in a real work environment given the price. Would you post an update on performance when you have a chance? More than a few of the reviews mention flickering and reliability issues, so I have to keep that in mind too.
Brad
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I'd like to take all of the idiots who foisted the low flow toilets and showers upon us, tie them to the bumper of a Hummer H2, and drag them through a field of crushed CFLs.
Can I ride shotgun?
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Anyone using these in place of incandescent or compact fluorescent bulbs?
I went back to the old style incandescent (and a couple of the halogen incandescent bulbs) from CF's and am much happier with the light in my home.
It would be ideal if I could get the same light quality with the long term reliability and savings of an LED. The initial cost of going LED is high though; what saith the hive mind?
I picked up one a couple months ago. It was a name brand, I forget which. Price was around $8 for a 60W equivalent. Seems to work well, light resembles the incandescent (ie., not garish bluewhite). It gets warm but not hot.
I'll be getting more, in the fullness of time.
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Have not taken the plunge yet into LEDs, especially since I found CFLs to pretty much blow chunks with regard to working life expectancy.
They vary. We have one that's still working that we installed when we moved in 20 years ago.
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I have a box of them with date installed and date of death written on them with a magic marker.
Why, you ask?
Because when and if our stupid, stupid Colorado hyper-left legislators decide to try to mandate them, I'm going to send that box to my local stupid-stupid hyper-left Legislator with a note not to believe the lobbyists and to shitcan the notion that "They do it in California, why not here in Colorado?"
Then let her dispose of them in a proper manner.
Pack those careful, now. Wouldn't want them to break in transit. >:D
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Holy sheep dip, do you tan in that bathroom, or just keep the serving trays warm? :O
Our dining room light has 6 60W equivalent bulbs in it. It helps my mood in the winter.
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Brad, I'll let you know when they come in.
My house is an older style with less natural lighting than many newer designs, and I do find myself craving more ambient light. These bulbs will simulate that for me, I think. All I know is my light is much too yellow in my house as it is right now.
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Brad, I'll let you know when they come in.
My house is an older style with less natural lighting than many newer designs, and I do find myself craving more ambient light. These bulbs will simulate that for me, I think. All I know is my light is much too yellow in my house as it is right now.
If the ones in your link don't work out, you might give these a try. They may even be available at Home Depot now.
http://www.amazon.com/Philips-425264-Household-Daylight-Dimmable/dp/B00APTS030/ref=sr_1_1?m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&s=lamps-light&ie=UTF8&qid=1388699785&sr=1-1
5000 K color temp, and I'm familiar with the light dispersion from a similar Philips product (nicely uniform). Scroll down in the description for a comparison table.
Brad
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Thanks, added to my wishlist for next month. I'll pick up 2-3 of them. I'll try them side by side with the ones I just ordered.
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Looks like Home Despot keeps them in store stock. Same price as Amazon.
http://www.homedepot.com/b/N-5yc1v/Ntk-Extended/Ntt-425264?browsestoreoption=1
Brad
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This is the one I bought.
Really do like it.
http://www.lowes.com/pd_366513-3-78847_0__?productId=3465384&Ntt=dimmable+led+bulb&pl=1¤tURL=%3FNtt%3Ddimmable%2Bled%2Bbulb&facetInfo= (http://www.lowes.com/pd_366513-3-78847_0__?productId=3465384&Ntt=dimmable+led+bulb&pl=1¤tURL=%3FNtt%3Ddimmable%2Bled%2Bbulb&facetInfo=)
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The biggest problem with LED bulbs is there's no such thing as "an LED bulb". It's not like incandescents where the cheap ones are similar to the good ones.
You should never buy anything but Cree. First, because they are about the best all - around option, and second, because I work for them and I need the stock to go up.
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An interesting LED bulb:
http://www.dvice.com/2013-9-4/flat-led-light-bulb-only-3
And in a similar vein:
http://dornob.com/flat-light-bulb-idea-compact-replacement-for-round-bulbs/#axzz2pI4QMSbw
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They vary. We have one that's still working that we installed when we moved in 20 years ago.
The two (CFLs) which have lasted longest are in a hall light, from which I removed the globe. Free air circulation seems to be necessary for longevity. Worst ones are in the bathroom medicine cabinet-mirrors, where circulation is not good.
Roo_ster called dibs on riding shotgun, so can I tie the SOBs up to the bumper? Oh, and as noted, I have a boxful of dead CFLs we can crush.
Terry
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Roo_ster called dibs on riding shotgun, so can I tie the SOBs up to the bumper? Oh, and as noted, I have a boxful of dead CFLs we can crush.
I think we should use the new Aluminum F-150 instead of the Hummer.
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How big is that thing? I wanted to get a couple of 100 watt equivalents when I bought the 40s, but the 100 watt ones at Costco were huge (though not much bigger than some of my CFLs). I'd love some of those in the same size as an incandescent.
I have to say, I like LED light too. I put the little candelabra lights in the light over my dining room table, and they dim way better than the CFLs I had there did, and they have a much brighter and more pleasant light. I actually like the color better than the light from the original incandescents that were in that lamp.
Ben,
Here are some pictures of the 40W LED and a 75W incandescent bulb. I also weighed them: 75W incandescent is 30 grams and the 40W LED is 304 grams.
(https://armedpolitesociety.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi953.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fae14%2Fadively%2FAPS%2F05e7acfb-401a-4664-a255-4ad659498b3a_zps030d0883.jpg&hash=2685531694d195a69ca716f6a0b48a2d44460be3) (http://s953.photobucket.com/user/adively/media/APS/05e7acfb-401a-4664-a255-4ad659498b3a_zps030d0883.jpg.html)
(https://armedpolitesociety.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi953.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fae14%2Fadively%2FAPS%2F2a3ac1ff-7a34-4640-8227-fb70c71b5997_zps372e09fc.jpg&hash=35662deb4e3a3a4662bf8aab65f434723865f944) (http://s953.photobucket.com/user/adively/media/APS/2a3ac1ff-7a34-4640-8227-fb70c71b5997_zps372e09fc.jpg.html)
(https://armedpolitesociety.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi953.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fae14%2Fadively%2FAPS%2F2014-01-02210410_zpsa583d501.jpg&hash=123ce465f6d033ff0d09d0f3b32b89bd3d88af80) (http://s953.photobucket.com/user/adively/media/APS/2014-01-02210410_zpsa583d501.jpg.html)
(https://armedpolitesociety.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi953.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fae14%2Fadively%2FAPS%2F2014-01-02210418_zps26dec58d.jpg&hash=c527a740c746a08832c25eccb60724fed80fd1b8) (http://s953.photobucket.com/user/adively/media/APS/2014-01-02210418_zps26dec58d.jpg.html)
Holy sheep dip, do you tan in that bathroom, or just keep the serving trays warm? :O
Just the serving trays...I was wrong, we have 2 75W incandescent bulbs in there now, we use to have 100W, but as they burned out I used what we had available.
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Thanks Andy. I've got a couple of dual bulb torch lamps that don't have a lot of vertical clearance and I've been trying to get bright light without the bulb sticking up over the shade. The 100 watt equivalent CFLs always did. Not sure if the 100 watt equv LED will as well. I actually should try these 40s I have in one of them, given that they at least appear to me to be brighter than actual 40 watt incandescent bulbs.
Edit: Just to verify, your first post said 100 watt equivalent, but the above said 40? My 40s are about the same size as an incandescent, so I'm assuming your bigger one is the 100 watt equivalent?
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Thanks Andy. I've got a couple of dual bulb torch lamps that don't have a lot of vertical clearance and I've been trying to get bright light without the bulb sticking up over the shade. The 100 watt equivalent CFLs always did. Not sure if the 100 watt equv LED will as well. I actually should try these 40s I have in one of them, given that they at least appear to me to be brighter than actual 40 watt incandescent bulbs.
Ben, I have a 100W CFL here that I will get a comparison shot of tomorrow (it is currently supplying light to my corner of the family room.)
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More and more towns in Northern Virginia are going to LED street lights. They actually do a decent job of lighting the streets.
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TTU is slowly converting all lampost and exterior safety lighting to LED. Much better light quality than sodium vapor, and noticeably better than metal halide. Hands down winner on maintenance costs and energy use.
Brad
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LED outdoor light=win. Of course it's physically impossible to color balance vapor lamps. Around here, the early adopters are car dealerships, because the cars look a million times better under the LEDs. The economics are already in fa or of LED for new installations, but car dealers are actually switching.
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TTU is slowly converting all lampost and exterior safety lighting to LED. Much better light quality than sodium vapor
Well, pretty much everything short of a candle is better light quality than sodium. =)
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My burb of Milwaukee is also switching over to LED. Generally only on streets where there's been major digging/resurfacing going on. We have the really horrid monochromatic orange low pressure sodium lamps on almost all of our residential side-streets, I remember them going in sometime in the late 70's as a child, probably in slightly delayed response to the 70's energy crisis, and Prez. Carter encouraging everyone to wear sweaters etc. :P Because of their almost single-line emission, and kind of close to the yellow/green peak of human sensitivity, they were the most efficient lamp for a long time.
When it was realized the monochromatic LPS lamps were not good enough the major thoroughfares have the brighter pinkish high pressure sodium.
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Because of their almost single-line emission, and kind of close to the yellow/green peak of human sensitivity, they were the most efficient lamp for a long time.
More efficient than induction? ???
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More efficient than induction? ???
I think so. LPS can get up to 200 lumens/watt and they don't degrade as they age, or at least much.
Induction lighting is pretty much the same as florescent lamps, except there's no electrodes piercing the envelope for direct discharge into the gas. I don't think they get above 100 lumens/watt. And lose efficiency as the gas discharge UV light is re-converted, re-emitted by the phosphor mix on the inside of the glass. The LPS pours almost all it's energy into the two very close lines of yellow/orange sodium emission.
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Sorry, yeah, you're right. Sodium's about efficiency; induction's about low maintenance costs.
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OK, so these ones I ordered from Amazon are a bit too blue/green.
They are extraordinarily noonday sun-like.
I do want a bit more "yellow" but there's a mountain of difference between all these things.
Of all the bulbs in my house, it seems they rank from yellow to blue in this order:
1. Typical spiral fluorescent
2. GE Soft-white incandescent
3. The first LED bulb I bought
4. Typical 40w fluorescent tube
5. The most recent 6000K LED bulbs I bought
Wish I knew the brand of the first one I bought.
I'll continue to use these ones I bought... they're mellowing the aggregate color tone and helping with the "too yellow" feel I get in my house, but I wish I had uniform ~3500K color temps from all my bulbs.
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I finally pulled the LED out of the table lamp in the living room. I'd put it there a couple of weeks ago to give it a try, but it was simply too blue white.
The fluorescent spiral bulb that went back in is MUCH nicer color wise.
I think the LED is going to go into the post lamp out front.
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OK, so these ones I ordered from Amazon are a bit too blue/green.
They are extraordinarily noonday sun-like.
Ahem...
Also, 4000-6000 K color temp is considered by most to be pretty harsh. Noonday sun harsh, and usually more suited to an environment calling for that color temp. 3000-3500 k seems to be the sweet spot for general interior illumination. The LED troffers in my office are 3500 K and the light is pleasantly neutral, neither stark white nor yellow-ish.
He can be taught! :lol: :lol:
I think you're going the right way in sticking with something in the 3500K range. It's "crisp" without being glaring, a nice balance. Unfortunately most of the work has gone into making lamps that mimic incandescent, meaning a glut of 2700K offerings but little else in A-type domestic products. Philips offers a 5000k lamp, but I think you would still find it very harsh. There are a smattering of 3000-3500K lamps in the BR30 and PAR 38 sizes, but not many.
Don't rely on your list of personally-used products as an absolute guide. Fluorescent-based lamps, both standard and CFL, can be had in color temps ranging from 2700K to 6500K. Become familiar with the color temp range and how it relates to lighting you've experienced. That will be a better guide for guesstimating what a particular lamp will perform like in your home.
Brad
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Don't rely on your list of personally-used products as an absolute guide. Fluorescent-based lamps, both standard and CFL, can be had in color temps ranging from 2700K to 6500K. Become familiar with the color temp range and how it relates to lighting you've experienced. That will be a better guide for guesstimating estimating what a particular lamp will perform like in your home.
This. There is no "typical" temp color, when it comes to fluorescent or LED. Different lamps/bulbs/luminaires are designed to give off different color temps, usually between 2700 to 6500 K.
Unfortunately most of the work has gone into making lamps that mimic incandescent, meaning a glut of 2700K offerings but little else in A-type domestic products.
I think perhaps it was necessary, due to all the hype about non-incandescents being too blue, or whatever.
Also, it seems the new hotness cheapness for LED bulbs, is the flat style. It saves money by eliminating the big, metal heat sink.
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Philips-SlimStyle-60W-Equivalent-Soft-White-2700K-A19-Dimmable-LED-Light-Bulb-433755/204730356#
It will be interesting, if those take off. Still too ugly for my open-fixture ceiling fans, of course. =(
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Also, it seems the new hotness cheapness for LED bulbs, is the flat style. It saves money by eliminating the big, metal heat sink.
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Philips-SlimStyle-60W-Equivalent-Soft-White-2700K-A19-Dimmable-LED-Light-Bulb-433755/204730356#
It will be interesting, if those take off. Still too ugly for my open-fixture ceiling fans, of course. =(
Interesting. I'll admit that I'm STILL an advocate for just putting in a fixture that comes with the LEDs integrated. That way you don't have to put up with the ugliness of a converted fixture, or the problems associated with trying to stuff LED's and necessary electronics into a bulb shape.
something like this (http://www.everychina.com/sp-z405cee/supplier-led_down_lighting_fixtures-12863/315462.html):
(https://armedpolitesociety.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.flexible-ledstriplights.com%2Fphoto%2Fpc447152-15_w_led_down_lighting_fixtures.jpg&hash=1168a908e8616e454ad1175178f573b96b63d4cb)(https://armedpolitesociety.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.led-floodlighting.com%2Fphoto%2Fpc214844-16_1w_led_down_light_cree_led_ceiling_fixtures_ac_100_240v_190_x_h125_mm.jpg&hash=e9c6300ada7210b27cb9cab986bf4c129fb0105c)
At an estimated 17+ year lifespan, 'bulbs' don't make as much sense, especially if you're losing life because of the bulb design making it so that too small components are getting too hot.
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Brad, I love my house when it gets natural ambient light. I just want MORE natural ambient light.
I figured "noonday sun" would be nice, rather than ratpiss candleflicker dungeon yellow.
These are a skosh past noonday sun, though.
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If you have an enclosed fixture, you can use a Switch LED. They are cooled with liquid silocone, and so can take higher temps than most. I'm using one in a closed fixture, it seems good so far:
http://www.amazon.com/SWITCH-Lighting-A260FUS27B1-R-Replacement-Dimmable/dp/B00EZE6SE4/ref=sr_1_1?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1389283911&sr=1-1&keywords=switch+led+bulb (http://www.amazon.com/SWITCH-Lighting-A260FUS27B1-R-Replacement-Dimmable/dp/B00EZE6SE4/ref=sr_1_1?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1389283911&sr=1-1&keywords=switch+led+bulb)
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Brad, I love my house when it gets natural ambient light. I just want MORE natural ambient light.
I figured "noonday sun" would be nice, rather than ratpiss candleflicker dungeon yellow.
These are a skosh past noonday sun, though.
Try the Philips 5000K lamps. Not quite as harsh as the 6000K lamps you tried. Still pretty hard and contrasty to most folks, but might fit your needs. You may be able to pick one up locally. I just checked and both Lubbock Home Depot stores show them as in stock. Philips p/n 425264. Home Depot sku 720815.
Brad
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My burb of Milwaukee is also switching over to LED. Generally only on streets where there's been major digging/resurfacing going on. We have the really horrid monochromatic orange low pressure sodium lamps on almost all of our residential side-streets, I remember them going in sometime in the late 70's as a child, probably in slightly delayed response to the 70's energy crisis, and Prez. Carter encouraging everyone to wear sweaters etc. :P Because of their almost single-line emission, and kind of close to the yellow/green peak of human sensitivity, they were the most efficient lamp for a long time.
The monchromatic nature of them has another advantage, given the crappy control of light pollution. Observatories can notch filter out the LPS glare, while still seeing most of the night sky.
90% of "not enough light" problems are actually "too much light, poorly directed" problems that people "solve" by dumping in more light to overpower the glare their original "solution" caused. Thus, LEDs, being directional, will actually force a lot of problems to solve themselves. As an example of how much better directed lighting is, compare the following situations:
(https://armedpolitesociety.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.illinoislighting.org%2Fgraphics%2Fnoshld2sm.jpg&hash=111697c039ccb1c5122728f999aff7ead8667db0)(https://armedpolitesociety.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.illinoislighting.org%2Fgraphics%2Fshieldsm.jpg&hash=6d05ee8095170ae0b87c34371bbb5b4d22ee48e3)
In the first, more light shines in your eyes than on the area you want to see. Stupid people perceive this as "better" because they see more light. In the second, the light goes on the subject, rather than being wasted as uplighting and glare.
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I talked to a guy that does gas station lighting. He said that the Cree led fixtures were letting them make things much more bright and evenly lit, without violating light-pollution laws.
I knew there were OSHA regs for minimum light levels, but I did not know there were rules about having too much.
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Darks Skies initiative for minimizing light pollution. LEDs are a boon for compliance, being so inherently directional.
Brad
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Yeah, if you want to see how much low pressure sodium lights ooze light pollution, just try to take a long-exposure night photo of the Milky Way.
Even with no moon out, you really have to find a secluded spot away from population centers.
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Yep, our lighting designers and electrical engineers are very concerned about light pollution when they are doing their designs.
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Yeah, if you want to see how much low pressure sodium lights ooze light pollution, just try to take a long-exposure night photo of the Milky Way.
Even with no moon out, you really have to find a secluded spot away from population centers.
Around here, I'd guess 90% of the pollution isn't LPS. If it was, I'd have sprung for a LPS filter for some of my astrophotography. Most of it is commercial accent lighting, including McDonalds' new idea of having lots of pointless uplighting, and nearly everybody's fascination with high-glare bollard lights.