LED bulb prices

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madbrain
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Re: LED bulb prices

Post by madbrain »

wesef wrote:Dimmable BR30 LEDs were on sale for about $5 each at my Costco a few days ago.
Aren't all LEDs dimmable ? The LEDs don't have the word "dimmable" on the package. Typically it's CFLs that do.
Easy Rhino
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Re: LED bulb prices

Post by Easy Rhino »

No not all LEDs are dimmable. It's better than with CFls though.

I was buying a few at ikea and some we're dim able and some noy
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GerryL
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Re: LED bulb prices

Post by GerryL »

Just brought the mail in and noticed that my monthly Angie's List mini-magazine has a cover story on LEDs.
LeeMKE
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Re: LED bulb prices

Post by LeeMKE »

IKEA

I just bought a set of LED bulbs to replace some CFLs and the prices were more reasonable than what most of you are quoting from Amazon and Costco. What struck me was the wide variety of LED options they offered. Lots of shapes and sizes.

$4.49 for the E26 (equivalent to a 40w incandescent)

http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/categ ... oom/20514/
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Re: LED bulb prices

Post by Easy Rhino »

yeah I just put a few (dimmable, more expensive 7.49) ikea bulbs in our guest bathroom.

Consumer reports dinged a them a little bit because they're fairly "directional" in their light pattern. But they seem fine to my untrained eye (most of our rooms are can lights anyway).
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madbrain
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Re: LED bulb prices

Post by madbrain »

LeeMKE wrote:IKEA

I just bought a set of LED bulbs to replace some CFLs and the prices were more reasonable than what most of you are quoting from Amazon and Costco. What struck me was the wide variety of LED options they offered. Lots of shapes and sizes.

$4.49 for the E26 (equivalent to a 40w incandescent)

http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/categ ... oom/20514/
The type of bulb and light output really makes a big difference when it comes to LED prices.

The BR30 I purchased have a light output of 750 lumens. This was considered a "65 watt equivalent". It was very heavy compared to the CFL it replaced.

The Ikea E26 "40 watt equivalent" bulb at $4.49 only puts out 400 lumens.
protagonist
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Re: LED bulb prices

Post by protagonist »

I bought 60W equivalent Cree Soft White (2700 K) LED bulbs at Home Depot in MA yesterday for under $5.....I think $4.97.
I bought 100W equivalent (over 1600 lumens) Soft White (2700 K) PhilipsLED bulbs at Home Depot in MA yesterday for under $15. List price was, I think, about $33.

They dim well to about 25% (subjective) and I have not noticed any buzzing. Below that level they just shut off.
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Re: LED bulb prices

Post by madbrain »

protagonist wrote: I bought 100W equivalent (over 1600 lumens) Soft White (2700 K) PhilipsLED bulbs at Home Depot in MA yesterday for under $15. List price was, I think, about $33.
Do you mind sharing the model of this bulb ? What kind of base ?
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Re: LED bulb prices

Post by protagonist »

madbrain wrote:
protagonist wrote: I bought 100W equivalent (over 1600 lumens) Soft White (2700 K) PhilipsLED bulbs at Home Depot in MA yesterday for under $15. List price was, I think, about $33.
Do you mind sharing the model of this bulb ? What kind of base ?
I believe it is this bulb: http://www.homedepot.com/p/Philips-100W ... /204384620
Though that link is to a store in W Spfld, MA and it states there are only 6 in stock, I found mine in a Home Depot in Hadley, MA and they seemed to have quite a few of them....so I assume they are probably widely available for now, at least in this area.

Though I bought a bunch of LED bulbs, for a typical homeowner like myself who does not keep lights on for many hours... mostly only when I am in a particular room at night.....I am not sure I see the point. You still can't beat incandescents for their color profile, and they are so cheap, I imagine it would take many years to recoup the investment of even a $5 60W LED vs a 50 cent incandescent if you only leave it on an hour or two a day. And even if you do save , the amount of money is trivial. I am skeptical about the environmental impact as I don't know what goes into the manufacture of the LED bulbs. It probably makes sense for lighting in an office building or institution where the lights are on constantly.
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Re: LED bulb prices

Post by madbrain »

protagonist wrote: I believe it is this bulb: http://www.homedepot.com/p/Philips-100W ... /204384620
Though that link is to a store in W Spfld, MA and it states there are only 6 in stock, I found mine in a Home Depot in Hadley, MA and they seemed to have quite a few of them....so I assume they are probably widely available for now, at least in this area.
Nice. Your link is showing a $24.97 price locally in San Jose, California, though.
Though I bought a bunch of LED bulbs, for a typical homeowner like myself who does not keep lights on for many hours... mostly only when I am in a particular room at night.....I am not sure I see the point. You still can't beat incandescents for their color profile, and they are so cheap, I imagine it would take many years to recoup the investment of even a $5 60W LED vs a 50 cent incandescent if you only leave it on an hour or two a day. And even if you do save , the amount of money is trivial. I am skeptical about the environmental impact as I don't know what goes into the manufacture of the LED bulbs. It probably makes sense for lighting in an office building or institution where the lights are on constantly.
I haven't bought incandescent bulbs since 2000. Before then, I remember replacing lots of bulbs every 6 months. I wasn't leaving lights on all day by any means. And I was in a house with only about 30 bulbs total. Now with almost 250 in the new place, it would be crazy to use incandescent bulbs, I would probably be replacing a bulb every week.

I disagree about the environmental impact being small. At the utility level, if everyone switches to low-power bulbs (CFLs or LEDs), the peak energy demand will be reduced.
With the tiered electricity pricing in California, it will also show significant savings on your bill.
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Re: LED bulb prices

Post by czeckers »

If CFLs lasted their stated duration, then I'd say they are still the better deal despite their drawbacks such as long warm-up period when it's cold out and not playing nice with motion sensors and dimmers. However, I definitely find that, while some last a long time and I haven't replaced them in 5 years, others make it one year and then burn out. I've never encountered a good explanation for this.

Thus, I've been replacing the difficult to reach bulbs and the bulbs on dimmers with LEDs despite their greater cost relative to CFLs, and the easy to reach fixtures still with CFLs. However, I suspect that over time, the LEDs will become the dominant technology unless something better comes along.
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Re: LED bulb prices

Post by yolli71 »

I purchased 10 of the the EcoSmart 9-Watt (65W) BR30 Soft White (2700K) LED Flood Light Bulb (Model # ECS BR30L W27 65WE 120) from Home Depot in October of last year. They were for my kitchen and my master walk-in closet. So far I have been very impressed...they are dimmable and the light quality and the appearance of the bulbs are great. I also didn't notice any buzzing noises.

Home Depot sells them in a 3 pack for just under $40...so about $13 per bulb. I plan on purchasing more of these for my recessed lights in my family room.
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Re: LED bulb prices

Post by protagonist »

madbrain wrote:
protagonist wrote: I believe it is this bulb: http://www.homedepot.com/p/Philips-100W ... /204384620
Though that link is to a store in W Spfld, MA and it states there are only 6 in stock, I found mine in a Home Depot in Hadley, MA and they seemed to have quite a few of them....so I assume they are probably widely available for now, at least in this area.
Nice. Your link is showing a $24.97 price locally in San Jose, California, though.
That's odd. It comes up as $14.97 here, and it says you can only get that price in stores, not online. Perhaps that is a function of local incentives.

madbrain wrote:

Now with almost 250 in the new place, it would be crazy to use incandescent bulbs, I would probably be replacing a bulb every week.

I disagree about the environmental impact being small. At the utility level, if everyone switches to low-power bulbs (CFLs or LEDs), the peak energy demand will be reduced.
With the tiered electricity pricing in California, it will also show significant savings on your bill.
Wow, that's a lot of bulbs. Yes, it probably would work better for you. I wasn't suggesting that the environmental impact is small....just that I don't know the true environmental impact. I haven't personally researched what goes into the manufacturing process, packing, etc of LED's. I would guess that if they truly last as long as they do, they would be an improvement over incandescents, but that is only a guess.
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runner9
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Re: LED bulb prices

Post by runner9 »

I believe it's discussed higher up in this thread, but Home Depot prices seem to vary by region/state. That bulb shows up at $24.97 here in the midwest.
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Re: LED bulb prices

Post by NAVigator »

runner9 wrote:I believe it's discussed higher up in this thread, but Home Depot prices seem to vary by region/state. That bulb shows up at $24.97 here in the midwest.
The price might also depend on where in the midwest you look. Over here the Home Depot price is $14.97 for that bulb.
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Re: LED bulb prices

Post by kcb203 »

I just bought a couple BR30/65w equivalent recessed bulbs at Costco today at $12.99 minus an $8 instant discount for a total of $4.99 per bulb. They are 13 watts, so I save 52 watts. I save 1 kwh hour every 19.23 hours. Given that I pay $.117/kwh, I save $0.0061 per hour. Based on $4.99 per bulb, the bulbs pay for them selves in 820 hours, or 2.25 hours per day over a year. I bought a couple to test them out, and if I like them may go ahead and replace the most commonly used ones in the house.
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Re: LED bulb prices

Post by curmudgeon »

My understanding about the wide regional variation in LED bulb prices is that this is due to utility subsidies in some regions. On the plus side, we don't have to deal with messy and wasteful rebate forms, but just get a direct discount at purchase. On the minus side, the utilities are getting to count the money going into these rebates as if it was new investment in power plants, etc, and we, the ratepayers, will get to pay for it (probably several times) through higher utility bills over the years.

While you can make an economic argument for the concept (and I don't want to go off into politics), it does get a bit fuzzy around the edges. People throwing out CFLs to replace them with better-working LEDs probably means that the power companies double-count the energy saved based on the theoretical lifetime of the CFLs plus the LEDs.
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Re: LED bulb prices

Post by jeffyscott »

protagonist wrote:I imagine it would take many years to recoup the investment of even a $5 60W LED vs a 50 cent incandescent if you only leave it on an hour or two a day.
It would be better to calculate than imagine. At one hour per day, assuming 15 watts vs. 60 watts, the savings would be 45 watts per day and about 16,000 per year. 16 Kw at 12 cents per kW would be about $2 per year. So it only takes 27 months or about 800 hours of use to break even on a $5 LED.
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Re: LED bulb prices

Post by protagonist »

jeffyscott wrote: It would be better to calculate than imagine. At one hour per day, assuming 15 watts vs. 60 watts, the savings would be 45 watts per day and about 16,000 per year. 16 Kw at 12 cents per kW would be about $2 per year. So it only takes 27 months or about 800 hours of use to break even on a $5 LED.
Thanks for doing that. You are right. It is better to calculate than to imagine.

The savings would be greater than that in theory, since you would have to replace the incandescents much more often.

However, is it worth $2/bulb/year to sacrifice the improved color rendering and diffusion characteristics of an incandescent bulb over the LED replacement? Incandescents have CRI's (Color Rendering Index) as high as 98-99, whereas most LED replacements barely top 80, and the R9 of most LEDs is in, or close to, the single digits. My experience with the LEDs is that they are dimmable (with my dimmers) to a point, but not to the extent of an incandescent, and most of them need ventilation to work properly. Maybe the LEDs "come close" to reproducing the quality lighting of an incandescent, but $2/year is not a lot of money, and after all, it is your home.

I am not suggesting that it is NOT worth it....just that it is a consideration. I am experimenting with LEDs, but I don't think the answer is as cut and dried as some people suggest, even at a $5 price point. The cost of running a light bulb is pretty trivial, no matter what bulb you choose, if it is on for an hour a day.

If your lights are on for long periods of time, of course, the cost-benefit ratio of LED's would dramatically increase. Mine are not- I only typically use artificial lighting at night and only in rooms where I am present at the time.

The advertised savings on the package over the lifespan of the bulbs (I have seen this as high as $220+) is meaningless to a guy like me, since it is based on 22+ years of heavy use (with the assumption that your bulb will still be functioning, in your possession, in use and unbroken over 22 years from now, which is a huge assumption).

The biggest advantage I can see of LEDs (other than the suggested environmental advantage which, if valid, may be a big deal in the long run) is convenience of not having to replace bulbs- but that is based on the assumption that they really WILL last as long as they are advertised, and I think that's a huge leap, since they have only been around for a few years. Nobody really knows their longevity.
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Re: LED bulb prices

Post by madbrain »

protagonist wrote:
madbrain wrote:
protagonist wrote: I believe it is this bulb: http://www.homedepot.com/p/Philips-100W ... /204384620
Though that link is to a store in W Spfld, MA and it states there are only 6 in stock, I found mine in a Home Depot in Hadley, MA and they seemed to have quite a few of them....so I assume they are probably widely available for now, at least in this area.
Nice. Your link is showing a $24.97 price locally in San Jose, California, though.
That's odd. It comes up as $14.97 here, and it says you can only get that price in stores, not online. Perhaps that is a function of local incentives.
Yes. I checked the detailed specs, and it says that the "Color rendering index" is 80 . That doesn't meet the California specs for utility incentives, which require a CRI of 90.
That bulb probably meets the specs for rebates in your state, though, hence the difference.
Wow, that's a lot of bulbs. Yes, it probably would work better for you. I wasn't suggesting that the environmental impact is small....just that I don't know the true environmental impact. I haven't personally researched what goes into the manufacturing process, packing, etc of LED's. I would guess that if they truly last as long as they do, they would be an improvement over incandescents, but that is only a guess.
I don't think there is really much a question that LEDs are an improvement over incandescent in terms of environmental impact.
IMO the question is more about LED vs CFL, in terms of not just environmental impact, but cost. IMO, the utility rebates should be adjusted to reflect that environmental impact, but that's a policy discussion not allowed on Bogleheads.

At current prices in California, assuming CFLs and LEDs last the duration listed on the package, the CFLs are still less expensive than LEDs.
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Re: LED bulb prices

Post by madbrain »

kcb203 wrote:I just bought a couple BR30/65w equivalent recessed bulbs at Costco today at $12.99 minus an $8 instant discount for a total of $4.99 per bulb. They are 13 watts, so I save 52 watts. I save 1 kwh hour every 19.23 hours. Given that I pay $.117/kwh, I save $0.0061 per hour. Based on $4.99 per bulb, the bulbs pay for them selves in 820 hours, or 2.25 hours per day over a year. I bought a couple to test them out, and if I like them may go ahead and replace the most commonly used ones in the house.
That's really cheap. Where was this ? What's the Costco item number ?
Given your low electric rate, presumably, you are not in California.
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Re: LED bulb prices

Post by madbrain »

curmudgeon wrote: While you can make an economic argument for the concept (and I don't want to go off into politics), it does get a bit fuzzy around the edges. People throwing out CFLs to replace them with better-working LEDs probably means that the power companies double-count the energy saved based on the theoretical lifetime of the CFLs plus the LEDs.
Yes, indeed, CFLs getting replaced with LEDs won't save much energy. But they may still have a positive environmental impact, since they are supposed to last longer than CFLs.
It's not really possible to give the rebates directly based on the savings of the bulbs. Not everyone has the same type of bulbs, runs them for as long, etc.
There are other conservation incentives such as "tiered pricing" in California, where the biggest electricity users pay much higher rates beyond a certain threshold. They partially subsidize those who consume less, and pay for utility rebates as well.
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Re: LED bulb prices

Post by protagonist »

madbrain wrote:
IMO the question is more about LED vs CFL,
To my thinking, I would take LED hands down over CFL. Perhaps I am biased against CFL.....I know people say the new ones are much better than the earlier ones....but wherever I see CFL and am aware of it, I find the light very harsh. Plus a number of CFL's I purchased at one time burned out very rapidly. And there is the question of the mercury content re: environment (I doubt that the majority of CFL owners dispose of them properly). I use CFLs only occasionally, in locations where the lighting quality is not important to me, such as in my basement.
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Re: LED bulb prices

Post by kcb203 »

madbrain wrote:
kcb203 wrote:I just bought a couple BR30/65w equivalent recessed bulbs at Costco today at $12.99 minus an $8 instant discount for a total of $4.99 per bulb. They are 13 watts, so I save 52 watts. I save 1 kwh hour every 19.23 hours. Given that I pay $.117/kwh, I save $0.0061 per hour. Based on $4.99 per bulb, the bulbs pay for them selves in 820 hours, or 2.25 hours per day over a year. I bought a couple to test them out, and if I like them may go ahead and replace the most commonly used ones in the house.
That's really cheap. Where was this ? What's the Costco item number ?
Given your low electric rate, presumably, you are not in California.
Washington, DC. It's a Feit BR30 Flood 65 watt replacement, 93+ CRI, 750 lumens, 110 degree beam angle, dimmable, 2700K, dimmable, 13 watt. Item is 823920. UPC is 0 17801 43511 5
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Re: LED bulb prices

Post by madbrain »

kcb203 wrote:
madbrain wrote:
kcb203 wrote:I just bought a couple BR30/65w equivalent recessed bulbs at Costco today at $12.99 minus an $8 instant discount for a total of $4.99 per bulb. They are 13 watts, so I save 52 watts. I save 1 kwh hour every 19.23 hours. Given that I pay $.117/kwh, I save $0.0061 per hour. Based on $4.99 per bulb, the bulbs pay for them selves in 820 hours, or 2.25 hours per day over a year. I bought a couple to test them out, and if I like them may go ahead and replace the most commonly used ones in the house.
That's really cheap. Where was this ? What's the Costco item number ?
Given your low electric rate, presumably, you are not in California.
Washington, DC. It's a Feit BR30 Flood 65 watt replacement, 93+ CRI, 750 lumens, 110 degree beam angle, dimmable, 2700K, dimmable, 13 watt. Item is 823920. UPC is 0 17801 43511 5
Same exact bulb I got from Costco but it cost $9.99 here, only $3 rebate/bulb here in California.
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Re: LED bulb prices

Post by deanbrew »

protagonist wrote:
madbrain wrote:
IMO the question is more about LED vs CFL,
To my thinking, I would take LED hands down over CFL. Perhaps I am biased against CFL.....I know people say the new ones are much better than the earlier ones....but wherever I see CFL and am aware of it, I find the light very harsh. Plus a number of CFL's I purchased at one time burned out very rapidly.
I agree. I've been severely disappointed in CFL bulbs. Very few have lasted much longer than incandescent bulbs, and I hate the light quality and time it takes for them to warm up. I won't be buying any more CFL bulbs, and I'm waiting for LED prices to come down further and for 100W equivalent bulbs to become more widely available and at better prices.
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Re: LED bulb prices

Post by NHRATA01 »

deanbrew wrote:
protagonist wrote:
madbrain wrote:
IMO the question is more about LED vs CFL,
To my thinking, I would take LED hands down over CFL. Perhaps I am biased against CFL.....I know people say the new ones are much better than the earlier ones....but wherever I see CFL and am aware of it, I find the light very harsh. Plus a number of CFL's I purchased at one time burned out very rapidly.
I agree. I've been severely disappointed in CFL bulbs. Very few have lasted much longer than incandescent bulbs, and I hate the light quality and time it takes for them to warm up. I won't be buying any more CFL bulbs, and I'm waiting for LED prices to come down further and for 100W equivalent bulbs to become more widely available and at better prices.
I've used CFL bulbs pretty much exclusively since 2001 (except for applications where they aren't ideal) and generally had very good luck. Onesie twosie cases of bulbs burning out within short order which I chalk up to poor QC, but generally long service lives out of the rest. I've got 2 left in the family room that are used 3-6 hours a day for 5 years, as well as a pair of porch lights that I leave on all night and have typically gotten 3-4 years out of the bulbs. What usually kills CFL's is short duty cycles like a bathroom or closet (and of course sealed enclosures where heat builds) which is hard on the ballast. They are better used in cases of long duration.

Now about 1.5 years ago I started migrating to LED's. First with the Philips A19 60W equivalent replacement. Funny looking in a bare fixture but give a much better quality light than CFL's. Last year I moved to the Cree bulbs and IMO they're great. Mild directionality to the light but they look more conventional and are priced right.

The only problem though with being an early adopter is these bulbs are going to last 15-20 years, and you know they'll just keep getting better in design. And dropping in price (not to get into politics but unfortunately the repeal of the incandescent "bulb ban" here in the states will probably slow the decline in price due to less demand).
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Re: LED bulb prices

Post by serbeer »

deanbrew wrote:... I'm waiting for LED prices to come down further and for 100W equivalent bulbs to become more widely available and at better prices.
You may be pleasantly surprised if you try 60W equivalent LEDs. The ones I purchased as giving as much light output as my old 100W incandescent bulbs, or even a bit more. I have no idea why, but personally I am putting 60W LEDs wherever my 100W incandescents were previously.
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Re: LED bulb prices

Post by deanbrew »

serbeer wrote:
deanbrew wrote:... I'm waiting for LED prices to come down further and for 100W equivalent bulbs to become more widely available and at better prices.
You may be pleasantly surprised if you try 60W equivalent LEDs. The ones I purchased as giving as much light output as my old 100W incandescent bulbs, or even a bit more. I have no idea why, but personally I am putting 60W LEDs wherever my 100W incandescents were previously.
Interesting. I just bought a couple of 60W equivalents, but they are only rated to provide 800 lumens, which is far lower than 100w incandescent bulbs. Most 100W incandescent bulbs give off 1500-1600 lumens. I may try one in a kitchen pendant and see how it looks compared to the 100W incandescent.

As a note of comparison, the Cree 18W (100W Equiv.) bulb costs $20 and provides 1600 lumens, while the Cree 9.5W (60W Equiv) costs $10 and provides 800 lumens. So, the 1600 lumen bulb costs twice as much as the 800 lumen one. I would expect that gap to shrink (hope so).
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Keep It Simple
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Re: LED bulb prices

Post by Keep It Simple »

If anyone is interested Home Depot has 60 watt equivalent Cree A19 bulbs on sale for about half off at $6.97 each. This is the lowest I've seen them. Now if the BR30 model would just come down some more....

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Re: LED bulb prices

Post by ieee488 »

Keep It Simple wrote:If anyone is interested Home Depot has 60 watt equivalent Cree A19 bulbs on sale for about half off at $6.97 each. This is the lowest I've seen them. Now if the BR30 model would just come down some more....

K.I.S.
Got Cree 60W at Home Depot today for $4.97.
Not sure if it is an A19. Can't find a part number anywhere on the package.
All out of CFLs so the next one that goes, this will be the replacement.
Still have 2 or 3 boxes of regular incandescents.
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Re: LED bulb prices

Post by Epsilon Delta »

ieee488 wrote:
Keep It Simple wrote:If anyone is interested Home Depot has 60 watt equivalent Cree A19 bulbs on sale for about half off at $6.97 each. This is the lowest I've seen them. Now if the BR30 model would just come down some more....

K.I.S.
Got Cree 60W at Home Depot today for $4.97.
Not sure if it is an A19. Can't find a part number anywhere on the package.
All out of CFLs so the next one that goes, this will be the replacement.
Still have 2 or 3 boxes of regular incandescents.
A19 is a size. About 60mm diameter, 110mm long with a particular Edison base (screw thread). A19 is the size of a "standard" incandescent light. So saying an LED is A19 just means it should fit in most standard fittings.
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Re: LED bulb prices

Post by ieee488 »

Epsilon Delta wrote:
ieee488 wrote:
Keep It Simple wrote:If anyone is interested Home Depot has 60 watt equivalent Cree A19 bulbs on sale for about half off at $6.97 each. This is the lowest I've seen them. Now if the BR30 model would just come down some more....

K.I.S.
Got Cree 60W at Home Depot today for $4.97.
Not sure if it is an A19. Can't find a part number anywhere on the package.
All out of CFLs so the next one that goes, this will be the replacement.
Still have 2 or 3 boxes of regular incandescents.
A19 is a size. About 60mm diameter, 110mm long with a particular Edison base (screw thread). A19 is the size of a "standard" incandescent light. So saying an LED is A19 just means it should fit in most standard fittings.
Ah, then that's what I bought.
Haven't tried it yet.
Turns out that I have two more brand new CFLs and a box each of 60W, 75W, and 100W incandescents.
I think I'll put in the LED once one of the CFL goes bad.
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serbeer
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Re: LED bulb prices

Post by serbeer »

ieee488 wrote: Turns out that I have two more brand new CFLs and a box each of 60W, 75W, and 100W incandescents.
I think I'll put in the LED once one of the CFL goes bad.
I don't understand this type of reasoning. LEDs take less energy than CFLs, turn on faster, have better light spectrum, run no risk of breaking releasing mercury vapors. Their lifespan is in tens of years most likely. So, why, once already invested money into LEDs you would leave them seating on shelf until current bulbs go bad? You'll be paying more in electricity costs in the meantime aside from the other things I mentioned. And if you want to avoid putting in LEDs prematurely to make them last longer in total, keep in mind that by the time 10+ years passed, new LEDs will probably cost under 50 cents each, just as incandescents did, so replacement would be non-event. And light fixture can go bad before LED does.
Keep It Simple
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Re: LED bulb prices

Post by Keep It Simple »

ieee488 wrote:
Keep It Simple wrote:If anyone is interested Home Depot has 60 watt equivalent Cree A19 bulbs on sale for about half off at $6.97 each. This is the lowest I've seen them. Now if the BR30 model would just come down some more....

K.I.S.
Got Cree 60W at Home Depot today for $4.97.
Not sure if it is an A19. Can't find a part number anywhere on the package.
All out of CFLs so the next one that goes, this will be the replacement.
Still have 2 or 3 boxes of regular incandescents.
How is this possible? The nationally advertised price at Home Depot is $6.97 on sale right now. How did you get this at Home Depot for $4.97?

Is anyone else seeing these 60 watt Cree A19 bulbs for less than $6.97? If so, where?

Thanks,

K.I.S.
ieee488
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Re: LED bulb prices

Post by ieee488 »

Keep It Simple wrote:
ieee488 wrote:
Keep It Simple wrote:If anyone is interested Home Depot has 60 watt equivalent Cree A19 bulbs on sale for about half off at $6.97 each. This is the lowest I've seen them. Now if the BR30 model would just come down some more....

K.I.S.
Got Cree 60W at Home Depot today for $4.97.
Not sure if it is an A19. Can't find a part number anywhere on the package.
All out of CFLs so the next one that goes, this will be the replacement.
Still have 2 or 3 boxes of regular incandescents.
How is this possible? The nationally advertised price at Home Depot is $6.97 on sale right now. How did you get this at Home Depot for $4.97?

Is anyone else seeing these 60 watt Cree A19 bulbs for less than $6.97? If so, where?

Thanks,

K.I.S.

the SKU(?) is 810048025978

There was only too left in the display box. Sounds like I should have taken both. :-/

Edit:
this is the one:
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Cree-60W-Equ ... /204592770
Last edited by ieee488 on Fri Apr 11, 2014 11:07 am, edited 1 time in total.
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tyrion
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Re: LED bulb prices

Post by tyrion »

Keep It Simple wrote:
ieee488 wrote:
Keep It Simple wrote:If anyone is interested Home Depot has 60 watt equivalent Cree A19 bulbs on sale for about half off at $6.97 each. This is the lowest I've seen them. Now if the BR30 model would just come down some more....

K.I.S.
Got Cree 60W at Home Depot today for $4.97.
Not sure if it is an A19. Can't find a part number anywhere on the package.
All out of CFLs so the next one that goes, this will be the replacement.
Still have 2 or 3 boxes of regular incandescents.
How is this possible? The nationally advertised price at Home Depot is $6.97 on sale right now. How did you get this at Home Depot for $4.97?

Is anyone else seeing these 60 watt Cree A19 bulbs for less than $6.97? If so, where?

Thanks,

K.I.S.
I logged in to home depot to check. Depending on where your 'home store' is you could get them for $4.97. Unfortunately for me they were still $9.97. So it depends on what part of the country you're in.
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madbrain
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Re: LED bulb prices

Post by madbrain »

Keep It Simple wrote: How is this possible? The nationally advertised price at Home Depot is $6.97 on sale right now. How did you get this at Home Depot for $4.97?

Is anyone else seeing these 60 watt Cree A19 bulbs for less than $6.97? If so, where?

Thanks,

K.I.S.
You might want to read the rest of this thread, and notably about "utility instant rebates".

There is no such thing as a "nationally advertised price" on LED. They are different all over the place.

FYI, that particular one shows up at $9.97 here in California, on sale from $12.97 .

I think there may be a good business model for those buying LEDs in the states with the highest rebates, and then reselling them nationally in other states where they don't have those rebates :).
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runner9
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Re: LED bulb prices

Post by runner9 »

The Cree bulb is $6.97 on the site when I select my local store, it's $9.97 at a store just 20 miles from here, as well as $9.97 outside of Chicago.
ieee488
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Re: LED bulb prices

Post by ieee488 »

I put the 60W Cree into use in the family room where a 100W CFL was used.
Unfortunately, it is not bright enough, so the 100W CFL will go back.
Will have to wait for when the 100W LEDs go on sale as this one did.
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msilenus
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Re: LED bulb prices

Post by msilenus »

Would anyone who bought some of these recessed ceiling LEDs, esp. the Costco ones, mind commenting on dimmer performance? The one thing holding me back from replacing a number of bulbs in our house is that we use the dimmers a lot on our current bulbs, and I haven't been happy with how low/quiet the ones I've tried in years past have gone. We tend keep the bedroom hallway lights on for hours after the kids go to bed, with their doors open, so it's important that they be both very dim, and very quiet.

Also, do you need to replace the dimmer switches for these units?

Thanks! Appreciate any/all input.
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jeffyscott
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Re: LED bulb prices

Post by jeffyscott »

We never set them that low, but testing them it seems like its possible but may take some fiddling, at least with the switches we have. We are not big users of dimmers, have only two switches and I did not put anything special in for the LEDs.

If you are going to buy from Costco, you can always return them with no problem if not satisfied. Maybe just buy one and try it out?
protagonist
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Re: LED bulb prices

Post by protagonist »

msilenus wrote:Would anyone who bought some of these recessed ceiling LEDs, esp. the Costco ones, mind commenting on dimmer performance? The one thing holding me back from replacing a number of bulbs in our house is that we use the dimmers a lot on our current bulbs, and I haven't been happy with how low/quiet the ones I've tried in years past have gone. We tend keep the bedroom hallway lights on for hours after the kids go to bed, with their doors open, so it's important that they be both very dim, and very quiet.

Also, do you need to replace the dimmer switches for these units?

Thanks! Appreciate any/all input.
I am an avid user of dimmers. I use them on all my LEDs, and they are regular Lutron dimmers about 5 years old. None of the LEDs that I own (Philips and Cree) dim to the extent of an incandescent bulb.....I would estimate they dim smoothly down to about 20-50% of their maximum luminance (they vary). I can't say one type I bought dims better than the others. I don't hear any buzzing.
wesef
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Re: LED bulb prices

Post by wesef »

Currently using 2 Costco LED bulbs in a 6 bulb recessed lighting kitchen setup, on dimmer. Don't know exactly what incandescent bulbs are in there -- standard 65W GE stuff. Just went in to compare. The Costco LED bulbs turn on and off a split second more slowly than the incandescents -- nothing that would steer me away from them. On full, the Costcos are a bit brighter than the incandescents, but looking at the full array, you can barely distinguish the LEDs. The Costco bulbs are 750 lumens, don't know about the others. When I dim, the difference between the LEDs and incandescents becomes more obvious the further down I dim. At lowest, it's easy to pick out the LEDs -- they are brighter than the incandescents, though not much, much brighter. For our kitchen purposes, the brighter LEDs are actually more useful. On low, the incandescents make the room too dark to be useful. The dimming on both types of bulbs is very smooth -- no blinking or other annoyances.

I like the Costco lights a lot, though we just installed them. I bought a bunch and plan on swapping out as the incandescents go out. I think floods will settle in at the $5-$10 range in the next couple of years, but I was pleased to get a $5 price now.
ieee488
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Re: LED bulb prices

Post by ieee488 »

Never used dimmers.

I have several LED lights with motion detector that runs on AC at strategic places in the house.
Probably not as elegant, but does the job of providing light when I walk into a room.

edit: http://www.homedepot.com/p/GE-Motion-Se ... /203766660
I bought mine at Walmart.
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Epsilon Delta
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Re: LED bulb prices

Post by Epsilon Delta »

A triac based dimmer is a horrible thing to do to a piece of electronics, it throws out an inductive spike 120 times a second. Integrating the dimmer into the bulbs electronics is a much cleaner solution.
msilenus
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Re: LED bulb prices

Post by msilenus »

Thanks, everyone! Very helpful. I'll give some a shot soon.
Keep It Simple
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Re: LED bulb prices

Post by Keep It Simple »

My led bulbs that are on dimmers give off a horrible humming noise. I did use Cree 60watt a19 style bulbs in my recessed canisters but I don't believe this to be a problem as I have used regular incandescent bulbs in these recessed canisters before with no noise problem. I really can't believe how noisy these are.

Anyone had this experience? Is something wrong that I'm not thinking of?

Thanks,

K.I.S.
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ipod_keith
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Re: LED bulb prices

Post by ipod_keith »

The best I've come across in the northeast has been a costco in the new haven area. A few weeks ago, they were carrying a 3 pack of 40 watter's for $9.99. I do not have any feedback of the brand; we haven't bought any of these yet. (not sure how to post the picture I took; zooming in it appears to be a brand of 'Feit')

The few LEDs we do have are Cree. Out of four, one flickered regularly (not on a dimmer), and Home Depot exchanged it with no problem.
sscritic
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Re: LED bulb prices

Post by sscritic »

madbrain wrote: With the tiered electricity pricing in California, it will also show significant savings on your bill.
My tier 1 goes to 1000 kWh. Tier 3 starts at 3000kwh.

I use 550 average per month over a year. To hit tier 3, I would need to sextuple my electric use. If that happened, it wouldn't be because I added 1000 light bulbs to my house. I would be blinded by science!

You save on your bill by not having 2000 bulbs turned on in your house, not by replacing your 2000 bulbs with LEDs while leaving them on all day.

Most of the day, I don't have a single light bulb turned on. My computer screen puts out enough light to allow me to navigate most of the time.

P.S. Whether you go for big bang or some form of religion, don't forget the sun.
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