LED bulbs and electric savings

  • Active since 1995, Hearth.com is THE place on the internet for free information and advice about wood stoves, pellet stoves and other energy saving equipment.

    We strive to provide opinions, articles, discussions and history related to Hearth Products and in a more general sense, energy issues.

    We promote the EFFICIENT, RESPONSIBLE, CLEAN and SAFE use of all fuels, whether renewable or fossil.
Status
Not open for further replies.
I really like LED's. We converted interior lights to LED on our boat several years ago (the reduced energy use helps take the load of the solar charging system).

Though most of our house lighting is still CFL, my kitchen can lights are LED conversions, and my exterior security light went from a halogen fixture to an LED fixture this fall. The lighting is just as good for a fraction of the energy use. I recently replaced 5 (incandescent) candelabra bulbs in my dining room ceiling fixture with dimmable LED candelabra bulbs. So that fixture alone went from a 200 watt fixture to a 45 watt fixture. I figured the payback for the 5 x $11 bulbs to be about 2 years for us.
 
Last edited:
fossil said:
but the lamps are so spendy I'm not sure I'll live long enough to see the amortization.
Click to expand...

Put'em in the will, with the BMW. ::-)
 
  • Like
Reactions: valuman and fossil
Costco had some dirt cheap prices on LEDs the last time I was there. I got a complete 13W LED outdoor fixture for $9.99.
 
Home Depot had em on sale, $5.00 a pc or something like that. I bought 2, 1 failed in 3 days. They are under warranty, if you want to pay the shipping to send it back to the manufacturer. Which costs more than the bub in the first place. I guess ya get what ya paid for, or not even.
 
Seasoned Oak said:
I recently replaced a CFL with a LED bulb and the LED used 1 watt more then the CFL ,both 60 watts equiv.
Click to expand...
What kind of LED bulbs were these? The Cree that I have purchased use 8 watts compared to the 13W the CFLs used.
 
My LED replacements are near 100%: 10 Cree 60w equivalent, 20 SunSun 60w equivalent, and 10 SunSun 40w equivalent, plus a LED tape for under the counter lighting. My wife and I both like the whiter output better, 3200K and 5000K depending on location. First LED's were some SunSun for trial, over a year ago. Then added as time went on. The SunSun were the highest in lumen/watt. Last install was about 1 month ago, some more SunSun. Price average after utility rebate was about $7/each for the 60w and $3/each for the 40w. No bulb failures. No dimming issues. One bulb has had a flicker that rarely shows up and doesn't last long. Very satisfied.
 
DBoon said:
What kind of LED bulbs were these? The Cree that I have purchased use 8 watts compared to the 13W the CFLs used.
Click to expand...
One of those recessed bulbs. Over the kitchen counter.
 
Hogwildz said:
Home Depot had em on sale, $5.00 a pc or something like that. I bought 2, 1 failed in 3 days. They are under warranty, if you want to pay the shipping to send it back to the manufacturer. Which costs more than the bub in the first place. I guess ya get what ya paid for, or not even.
Click to expand...
Home Depot wouldn't take it back? I would think they would within a month or two with a receipt at least.
 
jebatty said:
My LED replacements are near 100%: 10 Cree 60w equivalent, 20 SunSun 60w equivalent, and 10 SunSun 40w equivalent, plus a LED tape for under the counter lighting. My wife and I both like the whiter output better, 3200K and 5000K depending on location. First LED's were some SunSun for trial, over a year ago. Then added as time went on. The SunSun were the highest in lumen/watt. Last install was about 1 month ago, some more SunSun. Price average after utility rebate was about $7/each for the 60w and $3/each for the 40w. No bulb failures. No dimming issues. One bulb has had a flicker that rarely shows up and doesn't last long. Very satisfied.
Click to expand...
I tried a 5000K Polaroid 60w equivalent in a outside light since it was an open box cheapo to try but I took it out and back to Menards. I thought the light was too blue. I'll have to see if anyone makes a warmer 4000K LED light. Something that will be as bright at -30F as it is at 75F would be nice!
 
How do LEDs hold up to vibration? My CFLs have worked well for me, but I have a few bedroom ceiling fan lights that keep losing the same bulb. I figure that there must be more vibration in that bulb or a loose wire. Maybe LEDs will work better.
 
DBoon said:
Brand?
Click to expand...
It personally took me 485 days to kill a HD Cree Daylight 60W (dusk to dawn use, no dimming). When I contacted them, Cree happily took it back and sent me a replacement along with a prepaid packing slip for the return of their defective bulb for engineering forensics. As a result of how Cree handled the return of the defective unit and stood behind their product, I've bought 6 more of them (for a total of 10). The dusk to dawn use on my dock is literally the most strenuous testing I can run on a bulb. I've had a CFL in one of the two fixtures for 5+ years now...
 
  • Like
Reactions: Laszlo
FYI, home depot gladly replaced my 100 watt EQuiv cree led that I had bought at least two months ago. No packaging, nothing. Just went and got a new one. Those babies are 16.97$

So I removed the temporary 60watt cree from the lamp and threaded the 100 watt back in, much brighter in the room at almost double the lumens output. Those cree bulb bases get mighty hot.
 
Highbeam, just curious, was the 100W Cree LED installed vertically, or at an angle or downward? I am wondering if a non-vertical placement and the high heating of the electronics creates early failures.
 
DBoon said:
Highbeam, just curious, was the 100W Cree LED installed vertically, or at an angle or downward? I am wondering if a non-vertical placement and the high heating of the electronics creates early failures.
Click to expand...

Standard lamp install with a lamp shade. Threads on bottom, vertical. Seems the 100 watt models are less durable than the 60.
 
I have almost all LED lights. It saves me about 10 bucks month. I have about 22 of them so in 22 months I will be even. I'm about half there. I had one bulb go bad so far and started led about 2 yrs ago little by little.
 
Highbeam said:
Seems the 100 watt models are less durable than the 60.
Click to expand...
Heat is the bane of the power electronics in these (and CFL) bulbs. It seems that they may not have the cooling optimally figured out yet for the 100W bulbs. I'll probably wait a little longer on those.
 
We just bought our house a little more than a month ago. I replaced all of the blown bulbs with LED when we first moved in and I've been slowly going through and upgrading to LED as the existing bulbs (mostly CFL) fail. I'm not looking forward to the cost of replacing the 10 floods in the kitchen and hallway but I may be forced into it sooner rather than later as over half of them were pink when I turned them on this morning. I have no idea what our cost savings is going to be as we haven't lived there long enough to establish a pattern with the electric bill. But when you have a wife who works from home and two small children who all have a habit of leaving every light on all the time, it makes you feel a little better knowing the electric meter isn't spinning off the wall...
 
mopar440_6 said:
We just bought our house a little more than a month ago. I replaced all of the blown bulbs with LED when we first moved in and I've been slowly going through and upgrading to LED as the existing bulbs (mostly CFL) fail. I'm not looking forward to the cost of replacing the 10 floods in the kitchen and hallway but I may be forced into it sooner rather than later as over half of them were pink when I turned them on this morning. I have no idea what our cost savings is going to be as we haven't lived there long enough to establish a pattern with the electric bill. But when you have a wife who works from home and two small children who all have a habit of leaving every light on all the time, it makes you feel a little better knowing the electric meter isn't spinning off the wall...
Click to expand...

Those pink flood lights you speak of sound like they must already be CFL. I hated those so much that I actually trashed them. They are a disgrace to the lighting profession with their purple, slow, warm up time. The only good thing is that once up to temperature, the light quality is really good and the watts are low. Changing those floods to LED will vastly improve the experience of turning them on but it won't save you much electricity.

LED floods are down in the 15$ range locally with several brands available for competitition. I still prefer the Cree but own some ecosmart and FEIT floods.
 
  • Like
Reactions: woodgeek
Highbeam said:
Those pink flood lights you speak of sound like they must already be CFL. I hated those so much that I actually trashed them. They are a disgrace to the lighting profession with their purple, slow, warm up time. The only good thing is that once up to temperature, the light quality is really good and the watts are low. Changing those floods to LED will vastly improve the experience of turning them on but it won't save you much electricity.

LED floods are down in the 15$ range locally with several brands available for competitition. I still prefer the Cree but own some ecosmart and FEIT floods.
Click to expand...

They are CFL floods and I hate them too. Just not ready to drop $150-200 to change all of them out at once. I've already changed 2 of the floods in the house to the Cree 65w replacement bulbs. Home Depot here has the 65w bulbs for about $15 and they have the whole LED recessed units for about $18. I think the unitized ones would look nicer than the aged recessed reflectors that are in there but not sure if they'll look $3 better.
 
mopar440_6 said:
They are CFL floods and I hate them too. Just not ready to drop $150-200 to change all of them out at once. I've already changed 2 of the floods in the house to the Cree 65w replacement bulbs. Home Depot here has the 65w bulbs for about $15 and they have the whole LED recessed units for about $18. I think the unitized ones would look nicer than the aged recessed reflectors that are in there but not sure if they'll look $3 better.
Click to expand...

Oh no, just change the bulb. That way you can use the next best thing as well as change out a defective bulb without replacing the whole fixture. I have installed many new can light fixtures in the last few years that were immediately stuffed with LED bulbs.

You can also change wattage and color as desired if you use a standard light bulb base.
 
The only exception is if the cans are not airtight and projecting into the attic. A sealed LED unit might be a good replacement. Otherwise, just crew in a new LED flood and call er done.
 
I,wander why the floods like the par 30's were so slow to warm up? My other CFLs weren't as bad. I just put up with it as I can't afford 8 new LED can floods for the kitchen. Like they say, CFLs are best used where they will be on for a length of time like my great room lamps are in the winter. They are on at 4 PM until 10 PM.
 
Are any of the LED lights made in the USA???
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

Don2222
Pimp my LT-1000 Sears Lawn Tractor - LED lights when using Snow Blower Attachment!
Replies
3
Views
533
DIY and General non-hearth advice
Don2222
Don2222
P
Sale of Incandescent and CFL Bulbs banned
Replies
62
Views
3K
The Green Room
stoveliker
stoveliker
Ashful
LED lights
Replies
120
Views
4K
The Green Room
stoveliker
stoveliker
Branimal
Energy (grid) costs...
Replies
12
Views
637
The Inglenook
EatenByLimestone
EatenByLimestone
J
Run air source heat pump WITH Central Boiler?
Replies
2
Views
262
The Boiler Room - Wood Boilers and Furnaces
Joacchim
J
Top Bottom
Back