JDgreen227
Super Member
Gee, gives me all warm fuzzies when an online buddy actually realizes what a miserly SOB I really am....
CFL Rant
- Thread starter vulcancowboy
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Gee, gives me all warm fuzzies when an online buddy actually realizes what a miserly SOB I really am....
dave1949
Super Star Member
:laughing:
DoubleL
Bronze Member
Don't even consider CFL they suk. Go to LED.
Utilitech 9.9-Watt (60W Equivalent) A19 Medium Base (E-26) Warm White LED Bulb is $6.98 at Lowes as an example. Wait for one of those $5 off $50 coupons and save 10% of that price.
LD1
Epic Contributor
I dislike CFLs as much as most on here. They suck in frequently used situations, suck in cold weather, and dont last near as long as they are supposed to. But that being said, they still last about as long as an incandescent. And with the energy savings, it still makes sense to use them.
But I believe LED's are where its at now. Especially if they get anywhere close to their advertised lifespan. I just replaced my whole house of incandescent with LED's. 35 in total (not sure how some of you have 100+. Must be a huge house.
Some were cree, others where phillips flat bulbs. 3 hours of use a day and an LED uses 8.7 KwH per year. A 60w bulb would use 65.7 KwH. Thats about a $6.50 savings per year. Bulbs only cost $4-$5. So EVEN IF they only last a year like an incandescent would, it still makes sense to use them. But I am betting they will last alot longer.
But I believe LED's are where its at now. Especially if they get anywhere close to their advertised lifespan. I just replaced my whole house of incandescent with LED's. 35 in total (not sure how some of you have 100+. Must be a huge house.
Some were cree, others where phillips flat bulbs. 3 hours of use a day and an LED uses 8.7 KwH per year. A 60w bulb would use 65.7 KwH. Thats about a $6.50 savings per year. Bulbs only cost $4-$5. So EVEN IF they only last a year like an incandescent would, it still makes sense to use them. But I am betting they will last alot longer.
Looking4new
Super Member
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I have switched my whole house except for two bulbs, the fridge light and oven light over to LED from CFL. Best move I ever made. Any LED's that don't work go right back to where I bought them. I buy from 2 -places, Home Hardware and an outfit in Montreal, PQ .
I bought 4 recessed can mount type 27 watt retrofit LEDs from Costco for $15 each. You pull the old screw in CFL out, screw in the pigtail adapter, plug in the new LED and shove it all back in the can. Done. Well being the tinkerer that I am, I decided to test fire one before install. I temporarily wired it while it sat on my surface plate. Wow, a bunch of light and right now! I left it on for about a half hour and then unplugged it. The surface plate, a 24x36x4 granite slab, was very warm, and when I touched the cone shaped part of the LED I almost couldn't keep my hand on it because it was so hot. This got me to thinking about the cost to cool a room full of these "heaters". How much more of a load does the air conditioner have to produce, to keep up with this extra generated heat. So the LEDs may only use 27 watts, but how many watts to support them. I think the technology is very new and watts used will be lower in the near future. Since heat is energy, get rid of the heat, less energy is used to do the same job. Time will tell.
Quote Originally Posted by dave1949 View Post
Quote Originally Posted by dave1949 View Post
LD1
Epic Contributor
They certainly produce less heat than an incandescent
tractchores
Veteran Member
I have recently started to replace everything with LED's. We keep the house somewhat cold and the CFL's are pretty much useless... and outside in the winter they take 10's of minute to warm up (not very useful for a spotlight on a motion sensor). I now am switching everything to LED if I can break even within 1 year (so basically any switch on a lot or with many lights on it). Now that electric is rising nearly 30% in our area its much easier to justify the up front cost. It has definitely lowered our electric bill and the quality of the light is so much better. I've also been able to get more brightness out of the fixtures, which helps because there was a shortage of lights or something when my house was built (seems to have about half of what is normal). I prefer the LED's over the regular bulbs because of the huge amount of heat the regular ones generate, while I'm sure its fine in my ceiling cans it seems almost dangerously hot.
For folks struggling with the base of a CFL in a socket check out bulb extenders. They extend the base just enough to make it fit into most fixtures.
For folks struggling with the base of a CFL in a socket check out bulb extenders. They extend the base just enough to make it fit into most fixtures.
bumperm
Veteran Member
That's an understatement for sure! With any electrical device there will always be waste heat (unless we are talking about an electrical heater, in which case there will still be heat wasted due to wiring loss.
In the case of an incandescent lamp the efficiency is about 16 lumens per watt - lumens being a measurement of light output. LEDs are well over 100 lumens per watt now. Note that all the wattage dissipated or consumed, that doesn't go into producing light, is instead making heat.
The reason high power LEDs use heat sinks (those finned aluminum things) is that for longest life and to avoid thermal runaway, they want to operate at a temperature generally below 100 C.
If you think LED heat sinks get hot, try putting your hand on an incandescent lamp (or better yet, don't).
LD1
Epic Contributor
LED's are probably the coolest running light except florescent. HPS, Mercury, Metal Halide, Halogen ALL get MUCH hotter than LED's