My entire home except the kitchen and the bath is now illuminated with led bulbs. I am using LEDON 10w 600 lumen, Ikea Ledare 400 lumen, Philips 9w 470 lumen and Toshiba ecore 250 lumen (in my WC) retrofit bulbs. The rest are switch start fluorescent tubes 36 watts and 18 watts.

I've started to buy these bulbs nearly about one year ago with the Ledon lamps which are still the reference in light quality (CRI higher 90). I am very satisfied with this technology and till now no singe bulb has failed.

What are your thoughts about this technology and has anyone else also switched to led? 

btw. I do like fluorescents (esp. switch start) very much since my childhood but I am still interested in new technology ;-)

I tried the Lights of America ones and some Feit Electric ones the Feit ones lasted longer than LOAs. In the lumen department they both suck. I had one that said 60 watt replacement it was bright as a 25 watt bulb (if that)so I went back to incandescent and fluorescent. For bright lights 75 watts and up LEDs are not worth it.

The problem with the CRI of white LEDs, is that the higher the CRI, the lower the efficiency will be, and the opposite.

I think the very best lamp I have (my reference) is the LEDON 10W lamp. It has 600 lumen consuming 10 watts so it has 60 lm/W. The good thing is that the color temperature is 2700 Kelvin and the CRi is >90 so I guess this one is pretty good. I am not able to distinguish this lamp from an native incandescent bulb if it is hidden behind a lamp-shade...

 60LM/W ? What is the advantage over fluorescents then ?

60LM/W ? What is the advantage over fluorescents then ?

I think full light output direct after switching it on is the main advantage of them. Maybe also the really good cri at 2700 kelvin.

60LM/W ? What is the advantage over fluorescents then ?

Instant full brightness (best when kept ON only for short time, so it may cool down in meantime; for intermittent use the fluorescents do not go above 50lm/W, for T5HE I would not guess for more then 30lm/W when used only for a minute of ON time; already assume cold lamp power boost ballast),
insensitive for frequent switching,
bright even at cold (so the electrolytic-free version suitable for outdoor illumination; but the fixture should unconditionally keep it dry)
and a bit of novelty.

And the electrolytic-free type a chance to last a bit longer (here I compare it to "weell known qualeetee" CFL's)


But here is valid (with LED's even more then with fluorescents), then the dedicated fixtures perform way way better then these compact retrofits, mainly when speaking about life and lumen maintenance.

For those that like or need brighter light, led just doesn't cut it.  600 lumens is not really equivalent to a standard 60w...800 lumens is a more typical rating.  The efficacy just isn't there to justify the ridiculously high prices.  When I can get a 1500 lumen 15w unit for $20 I might consider them significant. They do have certain advantages for special applications, such as refrigerated storage and display case lighting, and stuff like lcd screens.  Cfls and linear fluorescents just make the most sense these days.  I personally like lots of light and have little use for general purpose lamps of that low output. I've got 4 utilitech 23w 5000k daylight cfls i found at Lowes for $10 a 4 pack in my ceiling fan in my room.  They seem to be decent enough and are about the same efficacy as most led units.  That amount of lighting would be about $200 worth of leds.  I still don't understand why people use 2700k lamps anymore.  They just look so dingy and yellow.  3000k is a nice warm color without the yellowness and 4100k is even better for general lighting. 2700k was just a necessary evil back when soft white incandescents were the standard.

For the color temperature I think it depends where people live. In the north (Europe) 2700k is the most preferred light color for domestic use (also in Germany). If you come to Italy, Spain etc. more 4000K and 6000K lamps are preferred. As I was on holiday in Egypt only daylight cfls were used there, not a single 2700k lamp was there.

This is a interesting topic: the colder the climate is, the warmer light color people prefer ;-)

@SOX55W: For directional lights the LED have the efficacy advantage of being already directional, so does not need any reflector or so. The nondirectional fluorescents and incandescents loose there - the reflector does not reflect all the light, so e.g. 660lm lamp (60W incandescent) give in typical surface mount fixture only about 500lm of directional light, while for the same task you suffice with the 500lm output in LED's. So ~8W of 63lm/W LED's is enough, compare to ~11W of 60lm/W CFL setup.
And if the light have to provide usable amount of light within few seconds (stairs,...), so when the lumen output of majority of small fluorescents is maximum half of the rated one, you would need for the same task about 18W fluorescent. It would not matter, if the light is getting brighter later on, when only 500 net lumens are necessary for that task. So on such place the 8W LED suffice, while you would need 18W fluorescent.

I see where LEDs would be great, but it looks like they are just pushed into everywhere where they dont belong, pretty much like CFLs are

At some point, why not just use a fluorescent

At some point, why not just use HID

They both are a lot better than LEDs for several applications



@Color of light :

I am from Israel and can confirm this pattern : The 6500K lamps (,FL's, CFL's) are the norm

Some more facts :

 - Most (seems like all) vintage T12 FL's are 4000K, as if only in the 80's 6500K's became (widely) available

 - The available alternative (was available but less common in the 90s / around 2000, becoming rare today) in T8 FL's is cool white 4000K. There seems to be no T8's below 4000K, and today you find very little 4000K T8's all are 6500K

 - The most common T5 are 4000K, but there are also 2700K and 6500K available

 - The most common CFLs are 6500K, next 2700K, and the rare ones (though available) are 4000K

 - The only PL's available are 4000K. I have seen some 6500K's but they were cheapish low quality ones which i wouldn't buy, though i prefer 6500K

 - The only circlines >T8 available are 6500K

I like 6500K and sometimes 4000K (and use 4000K since thats the only 11W PL available). Dislike incandescent or anything that imitates its yellowish color (though weirdly HPS color is fine with me, even indoors)

My parents like 2700K, accept 4000K and hate 6500K

I thing this is general problem with those "green brains": They totally ignore specific properties of each technology and force everywhere what they just believe is the best. But there is nothing like the "universally best" technology, each of them have it's applications, where are the best, while in another application the same technology is the worst...

I am green myself (vegan, for the reasons of being against all animal cruelty and against the excess pollution and use-up of natural resources by animal-based industry)

And i do see this problem all the time everywhere. Looks like there are so few real greens, ones that think for themselfes and dont just shout/follow stupid trends, ban lamps, and make bad name to all of the greens, and drive on the Prius to the end of the driveway to check the paper mail

I have tried and failed to see the point of LED in the home.
Now, I`m not saying its a poor light source, but unless you pay through the nose for a good one, the standard domestic ones are really not good, and even the cheaper ones are expensive and don`t even do 18 months, without a rather large fall in light output.

For a better price, and IMO a better light output  I`m affraid I would have to go with CFLs, in my kitchen unit lighting I am using cheap, (£1 each, UK price), PRC made CFLs, they have been in well over 2 years now, and out of the 18, NOT ONE has died yet!

I have tried and failed to see the point of LED in the home.
Now, I`m not saying its a poor light source, but unless you pay through the nose for a good one, the standard domestic ones are really not good, and even the cheaper ones are expensive and don`t even do 18 months, without a rather large fall in light output.

For a better price, and IMO a better light output  I`m affraid I would have to go with CFLs, in my kitchen unit lighting I am using cheap, (£1 each, UK price), PRC made CFLs, they have been in well over 2 years now, and out of the 18, NOT ONE has died yet!

Yep, I totally agree.  Same efficacy for alot less money, and most of the cfls on the market, at least the ones I've tried last pretty well with good lumen maintenance.  Unfortunately, led is still a novelty young technology that's already tainted by cheap junk that doesn't deliver. It's got a long road ahead to becoming practical mainstream lighting.