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rykertest
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Basic Member
Posts:132
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| 10/30/2009 11:45 AM |
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| I like what I see, but before I plunk down 30-60 bucks per light I want to know if anyone else has used them.
I hope that LED's can make it because I think they are a much better alternative (potentially anyways) than CFL's.
Feedback anyone? |
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jemconsulting@mac.com
Registered Users
New Member
Posts:16
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| 10/30/2009 9:23 PM |
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| See if your local Walmart has the GE 10w LED Par 30 bulbs - they are $40 and have good color and brightness. |
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rykertest
Registered Users
Basic Member
Posts:132
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| 10/31/2009 7:10 AM |
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| Hi, thanks for the reply. I did buy two of the walmart LEDs and they were just too dim. The philips ones are supposed to be much brighter. That's their theory anyways. They better be brighter for what they cost! Lol |
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designade
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Posts:3
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jemconsulting@mac.com
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New Member
Posts:16
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Dana1
Registered Users
Advanced Member
Posts:702
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| 11/04/2009 8:58 AM |
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Posted By rykertest on 10/31/2009 7:10 AM
Hi, thanks for the reply. I did buy two of the walmart LEDs and they were just too dim. The philips ones are supposed to be much brighter. That's their theory anyways. They better be brighter for what they cost! Lol
Whenever buying LEDs, look at the fine print for the light output in lumens (not candelas, which is a center-spot brightness, not a total light output number.) Then divide lumens by watts. If the lm/w number is under 50, better CFLs are gonna beat it on efficiency.
If it's a tiny spot-lamp designed for accent lighting you can be OK comparing candela numbers with those on similar halogens.
Another important factor to look at is color rendering index (CRI)- under 80 is marginal to downright lousy, 80+ is pretty good, 90+ is awesome. The Array PAR30 is very efficient at ~70lm/w, but a CRI of 80 while fine for general illumination, isn't gonna win awards with art-lovers. The Cree LR6R30 is less efficient at ~55lm/w (comparable efficiency to the best edison base CFL R30s) but has a CRI over 90.
Last but not least, color TEMPERATURE, makes a huge difference. All MR and edison-base LED bulbs are based on blue LED technology, and are most efficient in the blue "cool white" end of the spectrum (5000K and up). But food and skin tones can look practically nauseating under very high color-temps (aquariums look good at high color temp, but we're not fish, eh?). Most residential applications call for lower "warm white" color temps (3000K max), especially for kitchens & dining. High efficiency blues can be good for residential security lighting though.
Beyond mere brightness I demand efficiency out of an LED before I buy in. They last damn-near forever (or at least the better ones should), so buying a lower efficiency
version now locks in the low efficiency for 10-15-20 years or more. My expectation is that by the time the existing CFLs fail LED efficiencies will have improved, and the prices will have fallen. Right now there are very few LEDs that beat CFL efficiencies (but some, particularly on the low-output R and PAR bulb end), but some of the MR16 etc. tiny halogen replacements that have no CFL equivalents are cost effective now in high-priced electricity markets, and will be even more so next year.
It'll likely be a long time before any LEDs beat linear fluorescent technology for raw lumens/watt though. Where appropriate it's better to let T8s & T5s do the heavy lifting of setting ambient light levels. But if the longevity & color rendering issues ever get resolved on organic LED (OLED) technology it could be a whole new ball game.
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