BEST LIGHT BULBS 2017
You might think that light bulbs are a commodity and in fact to many, they are. Still, they are all not alike. Some have smart home features, some change color, some are super efficient and some even have Wi-Fi.
Smart bulbs offers a degree of interactivity and control you can’t just get with traditional bulbs such as remote control options and scheduled timers. They are also more convenient as it is easier to tap on a smartphone than getting up and trudging over to a wall switch.
Today LED light bulbs are illustrating some bright ideas. Manufactures are designing household LED bulbs having the potential to last for decades. And combining their potential with their decreasing sticker price, LED bulbs have become more affordable and popular than ever.
It is not all, however, due to new technology. Thanks to newly achieved efficiency standards, conventional incandescent bulbs have been phased out in favor of environmentally friendly and more-efficient alternatives.
In theory, purchasing a bulb with 20 years lifespan and short payback time seems like a good choice. Compounded with increasing number of smart home products, one day LED bulbs may become just as familiar to us as 60-watt incandescent.
Still you might want to know how do these extra-terrestrial bulbs stack up or which LED bulb is best for your home? Some LED bulbs have 30 year lifespan or emit better light quality as compared to standard 60-watt incandescent bulbs while some can be dimmed by a smartphone app. some require smart hubs to connect across your entire home while some are capable of emitting a range of colored light.
Below is given a list of some of the best LED bulbs:
Cree 60W Replacement LED Bulb:
The design of Cree 60W Replacement LED is focused on familiarity putting it right in line with rest of Cree’s residential lighting lineup. It is obvious from looking at the bulb that it is not incandescent. The conspicuous collar of heat that sinks around the neck of the bulb is arguably a blemish when compared with other bulbs sporting more streamlined and more modern designs.
If you are going to use the bulb behind a lamp shade, the look of the bulb is likely a moot point. But if you are looking for an LED that fits into an exposed bulb aesthetic, then the Philips Clear LED might be a better choice.
Apart from aesthetics there is a lot more to the bulb design. Removing Cree’s rubbery globe unveils a tower like fixture with yellow diodes serving as windows. It is a design departure from much of the competition.
The tower approach might help the Cree LED to achieve its omnidirectional light output. Although those who keep their diodes in bed at the bottom don’t seem to have, if any but not much, trouble regarding directionality.
Another cosmetic concern includes dimming performance. Most bulbs including incandescent when used with in-wall dimmer switches will buzz and flicker to a certain extent. Cree’s LED exhibits a noticeable, faint buzz along with small amount of flicker when you din the LED down past 50 percent brightness.
This LED puts out 800 lumens using 9.5 watts which gives it a very impressive efficiency rate of 84.21 lumens per watt. The Cree’s LED light is rated at 2,700 K, the same low and warm color temperature as you will get with a standard incandescent.
The Cree bulb promises a lifespan of 25,000 hours or 20 years if used for an average of 3 hours a day. Cree backs that lifespan up with a 10 year warranty.
Pros:
Exceptional efficiency
Satisfying performance
Industry-leading 10-year warranty
Cons:
Noticeably buzzes on dimmer switches
Not quite as bright as comparable Philips LED
This LED leads the pack if you are looking for value in lighting aisle.
Osram 60W Replacement Ultra LED:
At first glance, the Osram Ultra LED is just a fairly typical-looking light bulb which you might like if you are a fan of inconspicuous design. On turning on the bulb, you will find the same golden glow you get with majority of the bulbs on market these days along with a light output of 800 lumens rendering it a worthy replacement for brightness of a 60W incandescent. All that is well and good but there is nothing on the surface helping the bulb stands out from the crowd.
Once you peek under the hood, all that changes. Osram’s bulb puts that light out from power draw of just 8.5 watts which is approximately the lowest power draw of any 60W replacement LED, making the Osram’s LED the most efficient 60W replacement with a very impressive 94 lumens per watt.
Over the course of Osram’s LED’s 25,000-hour lifespan that efficiency adds up to energy savings. Run it for an average of three hours per day and it will just add over a buck to your utility bill each year. Those savings of course don’t mean a whole lot if bulb is not built to last. Osram backs up its LED with five year warranty which is better than cheaper alternatives.
Something else to consider is the type of setting in which you will be using the bulb. Osram’s LED is rated for dampness so you can use it outdoors if it is not exposed directly to things like snow and rain. Osram recommends avoiding enclosed fixtures as heat buildup can shorten bulb’s lifespan.
For those who like a more whitish and hotter color temperature from their light bulbs, Osram offers equally efficient version of its Ultra LED.
Pros:
Strong dimming performance
Plenty of brightness
Very efficient design
Cons:
Little low color rendering score
Less warranty as compared to competitors
You have got an escalating number of LED options at this price point. Osram has done a good job in making sure bulb it has created can compete in that kind of market. With omnidirectional light output, impressive efficiency and ample brightness, the Osram 60W Replacement Ultra LED executes its core function admirably well and also offers strong dimming performance to boot.
Green Creative BR30 Cloud LED:
Today the majority of LED’s on the market strive to replicate the classic look of incandescent. The Cloud LED endeavor for something different eschewing familiarity and taking a fresh approach to BR30 design. Simply this is not a means of standing out. The hollowed out construct means that the build needs less materials to produce.
It has similar design approach as equally priced Philips SlimStyle BR30 LED where diodes sit in a flat disk atop a skinny stub of a body. Both lights promise to manage heat better and both weigh considerably less than their competitors.
When specs are compared, you will find Cloud LED comes out ahead at almost every turn. Both claim a light output of 650 lumens. Cloud LED puts that light out using a power draw of 8 watts.
Coupled with bump in brightness, the Cloud LED is the most efficient BR30 easily. The only disappointment you will find with Cloud LED’s specs is that it sits with color-rendering score just below 80 out of 100. The color rendering score measures how precisely a given light source is able to illuminate colors.
The power consumption of bulb is very low coming in at 7.8 watts. Running the bulb for an average of three hours per day, yearly your energy cost would be less than a dollar per bulb. This bulb also puts out impressive brightness. Anything above 650 lumens is solid and 2,700 K version of Cloud LED comes in at over 700 lumens. The 4,000 K version is even brighter.
This LED is also rated for dampness meaning you can use it outdoors as the bulb is not going to get rained on directly and for use with dimmer switches, dimming down to roughly 7 percent of its maximum brightness. There is also a noticeable amount of flicker when used on a dimmer switch.
Pros:
Unique design
Great brightness
Excellent efficiency
Cons:
Color rendering is weak
Flickers a bit on dimmer switches
With very good scores in both efficiency and brightness, along with a variety of color temperature to choose from, this bulb is gets about everything right at $13. It is a solid bargain.
GE 16W LED (100W Replacement):
Of the new bulbs, the GE 100W Replacement LED is one of the best bulbs. This bulb features a heat sink-centric design with long, vertical fins around the bulb helping to disperse the heat and also creating the illusion of a traditionally- shaped light.
Measuring the light output, GE claims that the bulb puts out 1,600 lumens’ worth of illumination at warm-toned 2,700 K. this may be a good thing if you prefer warm tones in your home.
The most impressive spec of the bulb is that it only consumes 16 watts of electricity which is proficient enough to put out 100 lumens per watt. If you use it an average of 3 hours per day, it would add less than $2 to your energy bill each year which means you are paying 11 cents per kilowatt hour. A 100W incandescent, under the same parameters would cost more than $12 per year.
The LED looks good beneath a lampshade. Its output is omnidirectional so you can expect an even amount of brightness in all directions. This includes downward light which becomes especially important when you are sitting under a lamp. The color rendering score is 81 which is perfectly adequate for an LED. GE 100W Replacement LED is not anywhere close to color rendering capabilities of GE Reveal line.
Another advantage of GE is dim ability. You can dim the light smoothly up or down on all of the switches and don’t produce an audible buzz.
The GE 100W Replacement LED is rated to last over 20 years (25,000 hours). GE backs up its LED with a 10 year warranty, the same warranty that Cree offers for its bulbs.
Pros:
Great efficiency
Exceptional 10 year warranty
Cons:
Average color rendering score
A bit pricey as compared to competitors
With GE 100W Replacement LED, you get the complete package. From specs to the price, the LED gets about everything just right. GE is dimmable, omnidirectional bulb that draws just 16 watts to put out very bright 1,600 lumens, it is a smart buy in lighting aisle.
Cree 11W LED with 4Flow Filament design (soft white):
For years now LEDs have been trying to imitate incandescent. First it was light quality, with LEDs of all types quickly keying in on a gratifying yellowy color temperature of 2,700K. Then there were bulbs with diodes tactically placed to imitate an incandescent’s filament, along with designs tried to hide unsightly heat sinks.
Cree’s new LED takes another step ditching heat sinks altogether supporting a convention based construct. Cree dubs it “4Flow”. When the LED generates heat, it pulls ambient, cooler air into the bulb venting out hot stuff in the process.
This allows for a streamline build that embraces the exact same silhouette of a conventional, A19-shaped incandescent light bulb. However, the glass used for original Cree LED’s bulb is gone; instead the new LED is entirely built out of lightweight plastic.
The dichotomy between long-term value and upfront deepens when you compare new bulb’s efficiency specs with those of original. The new LED is incrementally brighter than last one with a light output of 815 lumens but it is also slightly less efficient with a power draw of 11 watts.
Compared with the original Cree LED, this new model will add an average extra 18 cents to your yearly energy bill. This LED is dampness rated for light outdoor use which means that it should work fine as a porch light as long as your fixture doesn’t leave the bulb exposed to the rain completely. It is also claimed that it is safe to use the bulb in enclosed fixtures, though if the things get too hot, you might somewhat shorten the lifespan of the bulb.
Cree’s LED illuminates a warm, golden glow which is typical of most lighting options these days. For a dollar more, Cree also offers a 5,000K version of the new bulb. You can also get 40W replacement versions at both color temperatures.
Pros:
Appealing familiar design
Better brightness
Good dimming performance
Cons:
3 years warrant
Slightly less efficient than the original
This low cost, simple LED is a strong performer with plenty of upfront value.
Philips 60W Replacement LED:
Bout this bulb’s build, there is nothing terribly high concept, because that is exactly what it is: a bulb. That opposes a recent trend of LEDs with reinvented shapes including Philips’ own flattened down SlimStyle. The SlimStyle was the brand’s most budget-friendly LED until the arrival of this new 60W replacement.
Beneath the SlimStyles’s $5-$10 range, the new bulb gives Philips a new price tier and Philips separates the two with dimmability, the new bulb doesn’t have it while the SlimStyle had. If you are not planning on dimming the lights anyway, then this new bulb should make a lot of sense. On the other hand, if your home contains dimmer switches and you like being able to dial the lights up/down without buzz or flicker, then you will want to look somewhere else.
Aside from non-dimmable design, the specs are right where you would want them for a 60W replacement LED. Drawing just 8.5 watts of power, the bulb claims the light output of 800 lumens at warm, familiar color temperature of 2,700K.Iit will pin just over $1 onto your yearly energy bill if you run it for 3 hours per day.
The math comes in favor of this LED. With a yearly operating cost of $1 and at $5 upfront, you are looking at a total year one cost of $6. It is cheaper than an incandescent you got for free.
Keeping incandescent comparisons aside, the Philips LED’s 8.5 watts are lower than almost every other 60W replacement LED. The bulb positions in the center with a divider that separates it from our spectrometer’s eye. Light is scattered evenly throughout the sphere and you get very accurate lumen, color rendering index readings and color temperature.
Philips rates this new LED at 2,700K which is the same as the majority of bulbs on the market. There is also a day-light version of the bulb which shines at 5,000K.
Pros:
Exceptional efficiency
Strong light quality
Truly tempting price $5
Cons:
Non-dimmable
Not rated to last as long as others
The Philips 60W Replacement LED, at 5 bucks is an undeniably strong value and one getting the important things, basic light quality and efficiency almost exactly right.
Philips 60W Equivalent LED:
Philips has been making flat-topped LEDs for a while now and the current bulb Philips 60W Equivalent LED doesn’t deviate much from what Philips has already done. The bulb shares its shape with color changing, app-enabled Philips Hue LEDs.
The Philips LED sports a build that is slightly heftier than some of the other LEDs. At 4.55 ounces, it is almost a full ounce heavier than comparable 60W replacement from Cree. But the flimsiest of flex lamps are able to support its weight without issue, but still might be worth consideration.
This LED checks off all the boxes you will like be looking for in terms of intangibles. It is fully dimmable, omnidirectional and Energy Star certified. This LED not only works with in-wall dimmer switches but also with them.
It produces little to no buzz which speaks well to the bulb’s construction. Wall dimmers produce electromagnetic resistance as they dim the light which causes bulb components to vibrate and buzz. But the near-silent performance of Philips LED bulb indicates tight and thoughtful engineering inside the bulb.
Philips calls this bulb a 60W equivalent considering that it puts out 830 lumens. This is a small uplift from the amount of brightness that you get with most 60W replacements where the popular benchmark is 800 lumens.
The color temperature is 2,700K which is a very popular time and is often referred to as “soft white”. Lots of bulbs endeavor for this incandescent-esque, warm color temperature.
This LED is rated with color rendering index of 81 out of 00 which is fairly average for an LED.
Pros:
Excellent brightness
No buzz or flicker
Cons:
Not quite as efficient as the Cree’s 60W replacement
The Philips 60W Equivalent LED is a very well-rounded bulb and merits consideration right up alongside comparable Cree 60W Replacement LED as a best buy. The Philips LED is brighter of the two and also performs better with built-in dimmer switches. Still it is not as efficient as Cree and warranty is half as long and also costs $5 more which is far from significant.
GE Reveal BR30 LED:
The white-bodies GE Reveal BR30 LED appears to be simple enough with same silhouette as many types of existing floodlights you might be using it to replace. It looks no different than GE’s standard BR30 LED instead of blue band at the base.
Like all BR30s, this LED is designed to spread light in a single direction contrasting the omnidirectional light that you will get with most common A19 shaped bulbs. In BR30, the “BR” stands for bulging reflector which means that any light shining at a downward angle reflects back up and out through top of the bulb making it the ideal bulb shape for recessed lighting setups as well as overhead track lighting.
The GE Reveal BR30 LED sets itself apart from other GE Reveal bulbs with a focus on color quality that filters out excess yellow tones. This provides it a color rendering score about ten points higher than bulbs that sit next to it on the shelf. It means that it will make colors more accurate and vivid.
While filtering out, of course, some of the light will improve color quality and it comes at an expense of brightness. This LED compensates for this by increasing the wattage to get the brightness back up where it should be. This makes for a light slightly less efficient than other LEDs.
Another consideration regarding brightness is how well a bulb will work on a dimmer switch. Many dimmer switches generate electromagnetic interference causing bulbs to buzz and flicker and some bulbs are prone to it than others. The GE Reveal BR30 LED buzzes very faintly when you din it but you will not see a noticeable flicker on any dimmer switch.
The main claim of entire GE Reveal product line is that they render colors better than the competitors. The color rendering score in the GE Reveal’s case is just under 90.
Pros:
Superior color quality
Manages heat better
Exceptional performance on dimmer switches
Cons:
Uses more watts than competitors to put same amount of light
The Editors’ Choice-winning bulb GE Reveal BR30 LED excels in each spec and is available in a very reasonable price. it surely is a best buy among BR30 LEDs.
Cree Connected LED Bulb:
Cree adapted its smart Cree Connected LED Bulb design from last year’s 4Flow LED, stuffing a Zigbee radio into the existing build, meaning the bulb is not that goes out of the way to appear newfangled and fancy instead, it mimics the 4Flow’s emphasis on imitating the silhouette of classic incandescent.
The new sharing the plastic build also shares the 4Flow’s convention cooling trick which utilizes vents to circulate air through the body of the bulb which eliminates the need for heat sinks. That brings production cost down and also the weight for which the bulb is exceptionally light for an LED weighing less than 2 ounces.
It shares same lighting specs too claiming a light output of 815 lumens drawing the power of 11.5 watts on account of Zingbee radio’s power draw. In terms of color temperature, it lands extremely close to the stated 2,700K. The one thing where it lags behind at least some of the competitors is the color rendering score which is 80 out of 100.
To access its smart features, you will require pairing it with a control hub that can translate its Zingbee signal into Wi-Fi. The Cree Connected LED came with Wink support at launch but soon prolonged its third party compatibility to include Staple Connect, SmartThings and Philips Hue Bridge.
Different features are offered by different platforms for example Philips and SmartThings bring IFTTT support into the picture but in general, the largely the automating experience is same. Regardless of the platforms, you will be able to turn it on/off remotely, dim it or automate it using whatever controls your system offers including syncing them up with things like motion sensors or setting the lights to a times schedule.
Pros:
Solid lighting specs
Strong ease of use
Wide range of control options
Cons:
Plastic aesthetic might not appeal to everyone
New connected LEDs won’t dim very well on dimmer switches due to interference from Zingbee dimming smarts
Cree Connected LED bulb is a smart bet for connected lighting with smooth performance on multiple platforms and tried and true hardware inside it.
Philips SlimStyle LED:
The lighting aisle is getting more and more teemed with legitimate values so it is no surprise that manufacturers are looking for new ways to stand out. The Philips SlimStyle LED enters with a low-cost LED setting it apart with an unusual, flattened design.
The decision to make a flat LED bulb wasn’t an arbitrary one. The Philips with flat design was able to distribute diodes around the bulb’s perimeter, away from heat at its base. This eliminating the need for aluminum heat sinks makes the bulb a lot lighter and a lot cheaper to produce.
The SlimStyle’s flat design doesn’t compromise its ability to light like a typical bulb. With a very accurate color temperature just under 2,700K and light output of 800 lumens, it is a perfect replacement for a 60W incandescent. As for efficiency, the 10.5W power draw and the 25,000-hour lifespan put it right on par with other solid LED options. Its color rendering score is also in line with what you would expect from most other LEDs.
The flat design does produce a small problem with directionality. Like many LEDs available today, the SlimStyle claims omnidirectional light output which means it is able to produce light evenly in all directions, this is mostly true expect for corners of the bulb’s profile where you will find dim spots. These spots get noticeable using the LED bulb under a lampshade.
Though the SlimStyle is compatible with nearly all dimmer switches but it also buzzes and shows a moderate amount of flicker which is another common problem with dimmable lights. It comes with three year warranty which is much less as compared to 10 years offered by Cree.
Pros:
Flat designs help managing heat better
Serves as a respectable replacement of incandescent
Cons:
Using it with dimmer switches, gives off annoying buzz
Three year warranty as compared to 10 years from Cree which worth just a dollar more
If you are looking for an LED bulb to use with dimmer switches, you should look somewhere else and the SlimStyle tends to buzz as well as flicker a bit. On the other hand, for enclosed fixtures such as sconces, globes and so on, it seems to be an ideal option.
Cree 13.5W (60W) TrueWhite Series Soft White LED Bulb:
Consumers looking for supplementary reasons to switch their lights over to LEDs should take a look at Cree new 13.5W, 60W replacement TrueWhite (TW) Series bulb. According to Cree, its TW Series CRI score is 93 out of 100 with which the TW series can boast that it makes colors look better as compared to other currently available, consumer-level LED.
Cree attributes CRI jump to new innovation called Spectral Notching Technology” which uses a combo of optical technology and properties of a rare earth material called Neodymium to enhance the clarity of light. Whatever process they are using, it is a less efficient one than before.
The TW Series delivers same amount of light as original Cree LED but needing an extra four watts to do it. It comes to an efficiency of 59 lumens per watt for TW v/s 84 lumens per watt for the original. The TW Series LED has warm, yellow color tone with low color temperature of 2,700K. It claims to be capable of lasting 25,000 hours prior to fading to 70% of its original brightness.
The TW Series has certainly the feel and look of a high-quality bulb and for a product that lasts 20 years which makes it worth spending $20 for it.
Pros:
Revolutionary CRI score
Above average lifespan
Cons:
Less efficient as compared to original Cree LED
The original Cree LED comes with same 10 year warranty, same number of lumens, same life expectancy and even better efficiency with less upfront cost. The only advantage that TW offers is CRI score in comparison. The TW Series is surely an impressive bulb but original Cree LED is awfully tough act to follow.
LED bulb buying guide:
Who would have thought even buying a bulb will require you to be conscious? Yeah that’s what leaping technology has done. We are living in the world of innovation, modern science have done a lot to make our lives much more comfortable than ever before. Hence; compared to conventional incandescent bulbs which were - and still are - utilized in everything from ceiling fittings to angle-poise lamps, the LED bulbs consume at least 80 percent less power. LED bulbs may still be more costly to buy, but over their lifetime which is somewhere between 20,000 and 30,000 hrs, they could save you several hundred pounds per bulb.
Replacing every single bulb in an average home would cost hundreds of pounds, so it is worth looking for which are the most inefficient and replacing those first. It isn't worth changing a power-hungry bulb in located your shed if you only use it for a few minutes each week. Similarly, if you already have fitted and compact energy-saving fluorescent bulbs, it may also not be worth replacing these with LED ones. Always check the wattage of bulb already fitted to observe how much you'd save.
Instead, you might have a multiple spotlights in your kitchen which you use for several hours per day. Those are the main candidates for replacing with LEDs. In most cases, it's simple to removing the existing bulb and fit an LED bulb. But for some types of bulb, you are going to need a LED driver or transformer as they won't work on mains voltage. We will mention each type of bulb in turn and clarify how you can replace them with LED versions using a tiny fraction of the power.
Before you go forward to ebay and purchase a bunch of super-cheap LEDs, there are a few things you should consider: brightness, beam angle, warranty and more.
When shopping, it's reasonable to stick to well-known brands avoiding no-name cheap deals. However, it is not that you shouldn't buy a no-name bulb. If you buy it from Wilkinsons, Amazon, or even Lidl or Aldi, you can at least have the receipt and catch a refund or make a warranty claim. But you'll struggle to do the same otherwise. User reviews can be useful as well, as people often share their long-term experiences with bulbs from, say, Amazon.
Also, keep in mind that an LED bulb includes electronics as well as the LED. The electronics are questionably more likely to fail than LED. This explains a slightly strange situation where manufacturers state their bulbs will last 25,000 hours but offers only three-year warranty. If the unit fails after that, you get no response, so you should not pay over the odds unless and until you find an even longer warranty.
When it comes to the bulbs, here's what to look out for:
Dimmable:
Not all the LED bulbs available are dimmable. In fact, expect to pay more for dimmable bulbs without trying and using non-dimmable models with dimmer switch. You will find it cheaper and easier to change the dimmer switch with a standard wall switch.
Color temperature:
Color temperature is important. Many people prefer warm white, which is very similar to halogen, than the 'cold' bluish tint of white or cool-white LEDs. Look for the actual color temperature in Kelvin. A good warm white is-K. Higher values, 5000K or 6000K will seem cooler. If you need a whiter look, be careful as at end you can end up with a very clinical look.
Brightness:
You should also look at brightness which is measured in lumens. Try to figure out how many lumens your current halogen lamp is producing and match or exceed that. Some of the cheap LED bulbs generate as little as 120lm, but you will most likely find out that you need 350-400lm to provide the equivalent light output as your existing bulbs.
Beam angle:
Next is beam angle. This determines the spread of light which the bulb produces. A narrow angle means that the light will be concentrated on a smaller area, like a spotlight. Whereas a large angle is better for lighting a large area, but don't overlook that this means it could appear dimmer overall. To replace Halogen downlights, search for a beam angle of around 40 degrees. Incadescent replacement should have a larger beam angle, say 140 degrees.
CRI:
CRI is another spec you should keep in mind (if you don't, it is worth asking for CRI figure). Here's why: CRI stands for Colour Rendering Index which is a measure of light quality from 0 to 100. In other words, you can say that the CRI score tells you if objects materialize the correct color when lit using that bulb. The Incandescent bulbs had a brilliant CRI, but less with fluorescent tubes. And if you want to avoid bad-looking lighting, it is vital to go for LEDs with a high CRI.
Technology:
Not all LEDs utilize the same technology. Cheaper bulbs will be inclined to use multiple SMD (surface-mount device) LEDs, instead newer or more expensive ones will use COB - chip on-board LEDs.
COB provides a higher light output per watt, and is likely used in smaller bulbs such as MR16. Though COB isn't essentially better than SMD, it does depend on the form factor of bulbs you're purchasing and your priorities in terms of budget.
Existing equipment:
If you want to replace low-voltage halogen bulbs, there is no guaranty that LEDs will work on your transformers, which may need a minimum power draw in order to work properly. If the draw is very low from your super-efficient LED bulbs, they may perhaps flicker or not work at all. In such a case, you would need either to replace the transformers with proper LED drivers, or to change fittings from MR16 to mains-voltage GU10 fittings or instead buy GU10 LED bulbs. Fittings are cheap, and may be cheaper than to buy an LED driver for each MR16 bulb.
Let’s consider some of the frequently asked questions and their solutions:
AREN'T LEDS EXPENSIVE?
The days of $30 LED bulb are over. With the increase in demand and when manufacturing processes have become more streamlined, costs have dropped. In addition, utility company rebates have brought the price of many household replacements to below $10 and in some regions they cost half that. Surely, that's a long way from the 50-cent incandescent, but you should also consider that the LED bulbs consume one-sixth the energy of incandescents and also last up to 25 times longer.
By replacing a 60-watt incandescent with an LED equivalent, it will save you $130 in energy costs over the lifetime of new bulb. The average American household could cut $150 from its annual energy bill if it replaces all incandescents with LED bulbs.
WHAT AM I LOOKING AT HERE?
Today packaging of all light bulb carries the Federal Trade Commission's Lighting Facts label, letting you compare similar bulbs without focusing on watts as sole indicator of performance. It provides information about the brightness of the bulb (in lumens); life expectancy (in years); yearly cost (based on 3 hours of daily use); light appearance, or color temperature, measured in Kelvins (K); and energy consumed (in watts). You should remember that an LED bulb's wattage rating doesn't point out its brightness but its lumens rating does. A 60-watt-equivalent LED bulb provides about 800 lumens, roughly same as a 60-watt incandescent.
You may observe a different label that is produced by the Department of Energy. It is confusingly also called Lighting Facts, though it is geared more toward retailers than consumers. The Department of Energy label doesn't give bulb's estimated yearly cost or life expectancy, but it provides information on the bulb's color accuracy.
MISSING THAT WARM GLOW?
The higher the color temperature of the bulb is, the cooler its light is. A candle glows at the color temperature of 1500 K. The CFL you tried but hated is because its light was too harsh and it was possibly running at around 4500 K. LED bulbs are marketed as incandescent replacements and usually have the color temperature of 2700 K, which is equivalent to classic warm white incandescent.
But that's the only part of the story. The quality of the bulb's light also depends on its color accuracy, which is also known as the color rendering index. The higher the bulb's CRI is, the more practically it reveals colors. Incandescent light bulbs have CRI of 100, but most of the CFLs and LED bulbs have CRIs in 80s. According to a recent study by DOE, only few of LED bulbs have CRIs in 90s, which improves as efficacy increases. Note that CRI is not always given on the packaging, so you may have to look out the manufacturer's website for it.
THOSE ARE DIM LIGHT BULBS, RIGHT?
LED bulbs which are "dimmable" work acceptably with most of the new switches. The best ones dim to about 5 percent, though some at that level produce a faint buzzing. Make sure you purchase a bulb verified to work properly with your switch and also check the manufacturer's website for a roll of compatible dimmers.
If you need to install a new switch, purchase something particularly engineered to work with LED bulbs, such as the Pass & Seymour Harmony Tru-Universal Dimmer by Legrand or Lutron's CL series. But be warned as these switches are sometimes bigger than older dimmers. That shouldn't be a problem in most cases, but if you have overcrowded electrical box, you may want to upgrade it to accommodate new dimmer.
SO WHERE CAN I USE THEM?
Most household LED bulbs go after dimension guidelines for familiar A19-shaped bulb. Some bulbs have a huge, space-age-looking heat sink; while others incorporate this essential part more elegantly into engineering. So-called snow-cone designs have heat sink that occupies the entire lower half of the bulb. These give off directional light only, which is acceptable in hanging fixtures but throws unwanted shadows when installed, for example, a table lamp with a shade. For that you will need an omnidirectional bulb, so you should check the packaging before you buy. For complete adoption, you will find LEDs in spotlights, floodlights and recessed-lighting formats, as well as designer formats such as flat panels of the Pixi system.
OKAY, NOW IMPRESS ME
Wi-Fi-connected LED bulbs can be operated from a smartphone. Taking it a step further, platforms such as LIFX and Philips Hue combine blue, red, green, and sometimes white LEDs to create millions of colors, from bright purples to daylight whites. Most LED bulbs offer stand-alone, plug-and-play functionality, for which you don't need to purchase into a larger connected system. Incorporate them into an IFTTT recipe and their colors automatically adjust to suit, say, the time of day, the weather, or which sports team is winning.
What more information would you like to have, let us know through your comments?