bargain LEDs from Lowes

[LCHIEN]

I saw LEDs in BF deals that said it was good thru Dec 2 at Lowes... $0.99 for Utiltech A19 60W equivalent 9W bulb. Non-dimmable.

Now they've been slowly coming down from $10 for a while now. Seen some recently for under $5.


So I picked up a dozen.

I checked them out being a EE, 9W, more like 10.2W every one of them. 750 lumens claimed which is a bit lower than the normal 800 lumens for a 60W incandescent.

But I'm thinking about taking them back.

A typical LED bulb claims anywhere from 20,000 to 50,000 hours life. These say 2000 hours.

I was going to put them in closets and bathrooms where then don't come on all that much and need to light fast, but the life is not much more than for an incancdescent.

THink of it this way, a $5 bulb lasting 20,000 hours is a better deal than a $1 bulb that lasts 2000 hours.
And at 10.2W it uses 12.5% more power than claimed.

[Tom Slick]

I noticed those LED bulbs also and thought they were awfully cheap and quite a price difference between those and the average bulb price.

[cwsmith]

Thanks for the post. I guess I hadn't given thought to the fact, like most everything else, LED bulbs might well have different standards of build. Reading the labels/specs is always important.

Thanks,

CWS

[radhak]

Thanks for the heads-up. I am finding buying bulbs has become as mystifying as buying mattresses: tall claims that don't match actuality, and you don't realize until after the purchase!

[leehljp]

Thanks for the heads-up. I am finding buying bulbs has become as mystifying as buying mattresses: tall claims that don't match actuality, and you don't realize until after the purchase!

The LED light revolution is convoluted to say the least. I began watching it back in Japan around 2007-8, and kept up with it fairly well. Two weeks ago, I ordered a 6 pack of LED bulbs from Amazon and then after they were shipped - I realized that I missed the base size and ordered regular light bulb (E-26) sizes. I was looking for color - 4000K and 9 watt for lumens, but I wanted candelabra bases. After finding 4000K and 9 watts, I forgot to look for the candelabra base.

On LED's there are several categories:

Out door lights:
1. The normal small LEDs that come in groups for 6 or 7 to 24 or 48 or so. These are not nearly as bright as CREE type, but some do the job for the price. These LEDs are in small flashlights and in outdoor motion sensor lights with solar panels. I have a couple of HF solar, motion sensor LED lights, but I found out if they are not facing south, they don't work that well.
NOT all that bright, but doable:

http://www.harborfreight.com/60-led-solar-security-light-69643.html

http://www.harborfreight.com/110-volt-3-watt-28-led-work-light.html

http://www.harborfreight.com/27-led-portable-worklightflashlight-69567.html

2. CREE lights - which are LEDs with a yellowish square LED that is easily recognized as different from the above lights. CREE's are VERY Bright. These come in flashlights also and in general are fairly expensive, but with searching can be had for a good price.

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Ryobi-18-Volt-ONE-Dual-Power-20-Watt-LED-Work-Light-Tool-Only-P720/205673849

http://www.amazon.com/1800Lumens-Spotlights-Outdoor-Rechargeable-Batteries/dp/B015E6M23C/ref=sr_1_16?ie=UTF8&qid=1449409289&sr=8-16&keywords=Work+lights+LED

House lights:
1. Color is key. Most household incandescent bulbs are yellowish in color, called warm white, and in terms of LED are listed as 2700K. The xxxxK is the COLOR. 3000K - 3500K is cool white in most cases. Daylight is listed as 4000+K in some cases and up to 5000K. Another is "Bright white" which is used to describe colors between 3500K to 4500K or so. 5000K in some cases is blue-ish or even purplish. IN other cases, 5000K is just white-white daylight. Not as an exact science as it SHOULD be.

The wording description is not as exact as the number, unless you stay with a single brand. But as mentioned on the "5000K" number above, it generally holds true. It seems that the "purplish" light at 5000K was early days and more related to flourescent bulbs than the current 5000K LEDs.

2. LUMENS is the brightness or amount of light. We used to just go and buy a particular wattage. Not so anymore. But in general, the amount of light can be equated with the wattage. Where as, we used to use 40-60-75-100 watts, now we have 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 watt. I personally go for the higher wattage that I can get.

I don't like the weird shapes that some bulbs come in, such as flat round like a plate. The ballast or large base on some E26 bases prevents some from fitting into some lamps or globes.

I recently purchased some light bulb socket adapters to use Candelabra (E12) bulbs in a couple of fan lights with E 26 (normal light bulb) sockets. They work well and LOML is happy with candelabra looking bulbs and still having it bright enough.

What I DO like about LED bulbs:
• BRIGHT LED (CREE) bulbs in a candelabra base.
• Greatly reduced electricity consumption versus incandescent bulbs. Air Conditioning does not have to fight the heat from incandescent bulbs also.


At big box stores, I go to the bulb display and look at the color as they show for their brands of bulbs.


It is convoluted and different from choosing incandescent bulbs.