Anyone else hate the new light bulbs?

[DarkBlack]

Be careful of lumen ratings, it's not apples-apples. The human eye is more sensitive to certain frequencies, that can make some lights with the same "rated lumens", appear dimmer.

 

[MotorSeven]

Be careful of lumen ratings, it's not apples-apples. The human eye is more sensitive to certain frequencies, that can make some lights with the same "rated lumens", appear dimmer.

This is true, I have 4 or 5 different brand LED's in the house and they all throw a different light. Some I'm not crazy about so they go in places like closets/porches/hallways. The one's that I like go where I want light for reading or doing some kinda task.

Another reason I went LEd is I have a long range plan of going off grid with Solar, so that is one step in that direction for us.

 

[California]

Kinda related to the government-required phase out of incandescent bulbs. Same reasoning, different application.
Industry has agreed to meet government standards for more efficient cable TV boxes in homes.

Efficient set-top boxes to save $1 billion on energy annually by 2017 (arstechnica .com/tech-policy)
DOE, satellite, telco, and cable companies forge agreement on new standards.

Although the individual savings will be small, the cumulative impact is massive: a billion dollars in electricity saved by consumers and five million fewer metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions in the atmosphere.

average monthly savings from the new agreement would be about $1.50 - not something that most consumers would care about enough to push their service providers to give them better hardware. Without the standards lots of electricity - roughly the output of three power plants - would be wasted.

 

[woodlandfarms]

Because of Incandescnents we got into this very comfortable idea of Watts and how much light we could get from that engergy (thus the 60 watt light bulb). Now what that measurement really no longer applies.

Two things you want to look at Lumens and Color Temperature

Lumens is how much light is put off a bulb, so maybe a chart like this will help

Compare: LED Lights vs CFL vs Incandescent Lighting Chart

Or like this, a better article I think

LED vs. CFL vs. Incandescent Light Bulbs | Smilodon's Retreat

As for color temp, here is a chart

Color Temperature Chart: Light Bulbs Etc, Inc.

The big problem is for me is I have bought 'warm white" and to my eyes (which I think are very well trained for this due to my work) a lot are still quite blue. My biggest fear in my investment into LED's is that in 5 years they will have all of this looking good and consistant (and be priced a lot less) and I will be sitting on the $700 in lightbulbs that last forever.

 

[dave1949]

<snip>

The big problem is for me is I have bought 'warm white" and to my eyes (which I think are very well trained for this due to my work) a lot are still quite blue. My biggest fear in my investment into LED's is that in 5 years they will have all of this looking good and consistant (and be priced a lot less) and I will be sitting on the $700 in lightbulbs that last forever.

Nice info, thx.

New market: used LED bulbs. :laughing:

 

[SPYDERLK]

Note that the 110 year lightbulb is about as bright as a candle. No surprise it lasted, it's not burning very hot.

Ways to make a bulb last long:

1) Reduce the voltage. If you run a 120v lightbulb at 100v it will last very long. I remember when you could buy little resistors that you put under the bulb and the bulb lasts 10 years. I suppose a lightbulb company buys out every resistor company and scuttles the product.
2) Design the bulb for 130v and sell it into a market where line voltage is 120v.
3) Or never turn it off, it will last longer, but not forever. But if you reduce the voltage...

I wonder if a guy could start a company to make those and sell the again, do you get bought out or forced out? Well incandescents are out?

IOW - run the bulb inefficiently. ...More waste heat, less light for a longer time. Shoot that foot right off. ... The halogen incandescents are a way around this. They can run the filaments hot because they are made to replate the tungsten that "boils" off back onto the filament as they operate. They can give a higher light/heat proportion and hang in there longer.
larry

 

[Boondox]

CFL's can take a few minutes to come up to full brightness. A poor choice for a place where you only need light for a few minutes.

When we started out with CFLs we bought the cheapest ones we could find. We got less then we paid for. Dim and did not last all that long.

CFLs are worthless. Like many in rural New England we heat with wood, and by morning the interior winter temp is around 45F. Flip the light switch and ten minutes later you have enough light to see dim shapes. LEDs are costly, but I'm tired of needing a flashlight to find things in my own house!

 

[SPIKER]

CFLs are worthless. Like many in rural New England we heat with wood, and by morning the interior winter temp is around 45F. Flip the light switch and ten minutes later you have enough light to see dim shapes. LEDs are costly, but I'm tired of needing a flashlight to find things in my own house!

UPDATE: I agree with you Boondoox... THESE NEW CFL bulbs I put into the kitchen just a few days (maybe 2 weeks now) when starting in early AM coolness take 5 min, I have COFFEE done before I can see well enough to mix them up... so I have to reach back behind the coffee maker & dish drainer to flip on the incandescent light. now if I leave these CFLs ON for 15 min I can see to eat breakfast by the time they get warm enough to shine nearly as well as the identical incandescent light fixture 4 feet away...

I may switch them out and into the Living Room ceiling Fan 4 bulbs so with 4 60watt CFLs should put out about the same as the 40watt candelabra
bulbs in there now...

Mark

 

[ultrarunner]

At work there are many plug in floresents and no screw in types.

The plug ins work really well... only take a second or two to start.

In addition, the T5 lamps also perform well.

Could it be the compact household varieties are just of low quality?

For cold applications... like the morgue... it's not the lamps that are different... it is the ballasts that are temperature rated.

I can fully understand the public frustration... if something isn't broken... it does not need fixing!

 

[aczlan]

At work there are many plug in floresents and no screw in types.
The plug ins work really well... only take a second or two to start.
In addition, the T5 lamps also perform well.
Could it be the compact household varieties are just of low quality?

We have T8 plug in fixtures out in the barn and they start pretty quick. The areas where we don't use the light for long and have enough clearance get the big 150 watt bulbs ( Shop SYLVANIA 150-Watt A19 Medium Base Soft White Incandescent Light Bulb at Lowes.com ) though. Instant start and for how long they are on (15 mins /day) its cheaper than a florescent.

Aaron Z