Sharp Introduces Nine New LED Lamps for Home Use

Nice Ken!! Anything about cost?

 

. . or availability in the U.S.?

 

Full report tonight? Comparative wattage and all?

 

If they're 1/2 as cheep as the r30 I tried, then they're still pricy. If the Wallmart stuff is like the costco stuff, it'll be the coolest cold shade of blue/white light you ever imagined ... and very directional. That's the tradeoff for inexpensive.

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Finally, an LED bulb that can give a realistic color. Looks like a potential good fit for some small can/spot fixtures. The one negative is that the warm light output is still probably too low for for larger cans.

For the "warm white" the power consumption is about 7.5 W for 360 lumens (48 lumens/watt.) The 40W equivalent CFL's I have use 9W to produce 550 lumens (61 lumens/watt) so they aren't going to displace CFL's on efficiency, unless dimmer lighting is desirable.

Now what they need to do is make a replacement appliance bulb to put in refrigerators...

 

Here is the Sam's link:
Sam's Club - Cyron PAR38 LED Bulb - 4W - Warm White
or http://www.digipills.com/tinylink/?EKMcBbMHMk
Note that it isn't Sharp brand and it ain't cheap....$30.74 each. Could not find it on Walmart or Costco sites. I don't need one in the fridge..need one over the stove. Still...it is a nice step in the right direction.

 

The Sylvania micro-mini twist CFL's would probably fit. The old long GE CFL works in mine...although it takes 4 seconds to turn on now (I keep saying, "Just die already!"...but it lives on just to spite me.)

$31 for a 30W equivalent is nuts! And that PAR probably isn't equivalent since it is only 4W with 80% claimed energy reduction.

I've never gotten a decent CFL at Sams though, all overpriced GE bottom end stuff. Learned my lesson and quit buying bulbs there.

 

I have three different styles from Sam's Club. I just removed a par 38 from a recessed in the kitchen tonight. My wife didn't like it. Neither did I. It gave our glacier white Corian an arctic blue hue. The candelabra and 1w small globe were not very bright and lost about 50% of it lumen in 30 days. I put them in some of my wifes decorative lamps and left them on. All have been removed now.I wouldn't recommend any of them.

The smaller bulbs were about $13 for 3 and I think the par 38 was about $13 for 1.

 

I'd be very interested, if you hear anything.

 

I bought some 'warm white' LED Christmas lights (I bought 6 strings) at Target...each string was about $20 for 35 bulbs...did catch a sale, so it was a little cheaper. A lot less blue looking than the older white ones (wife liked that). I am just looking forward to not having to track down the one bulb that is out (at least for a long while). Funny, each string came with a spare bulb. Link to Target's site:

http://www.target.com/LED-35-Bulb-S...rchPage=1&field_keywords=led christmas lights

or http://tinyurl.com/ygabftw

 

I saw Panasonic and Sharp LED bulbs for sale at Yodobashi Camera and others stores in the Akihabara (Electric Town) area of Tokyo last month. I don't remember the price but they were very expensive and well above the price of CFLs. The price range that ken1784 is probably about right.

It's a shame they're so expensive.

 

Not so funny. Many of the LED Christmas lights have a fairly high failure rate. If you do a little searching on the web, you will find many, many posts about peoples' disappointment with Christmas LED failures. They fail due to a combination of cheap LEDs, high drive currents, and bad connections. I have used Phillips Christmas LEDs for several years. This year I finally bought two more strings to scavenge for spare bulbs, since you can't order replacement bulbs (at least anywhere I can find).

Mine are inside, so I haven't had a problem with rust, but for outside use that is a common problem. Many of the LEDs have steel (yes, steel) leads that rust when they get wet. I know it's hard to imagine, but sometimes it does get wet outside. If you are going to use them outside, look for sealed units. You can't replace dead bulbs on the sealed ones, but at least you don't have to throw out the entire string after one year of use.

I've been seeing a lot of screw-in LED replacement bulbs with the standard E12 (Candelabra) base. These might be better for outdoor use, but I haven't read any reviews. They are a *lot* more expensive, but you can easily replace the bulbs, and you can buy the sockets by the foot. Take a look at this site:

LED Christmas Lights by LED Holiday Lighting

Once again, I have not used these or ordered from this company, but their products look interesting.

Tom

 

LED's will be to the 2010's what CFLs were to the 2000s. Leaps forward in availability, with dramatic price drops, all leading to much greater efficiency, and the commensurate reduction in global warming greenhouse gasses. Hoo-ray!

 

I've preferred the IKEA CFL bulbs for awhile. I had a motion sensor spot light above my garage at home, and had CFL floods, but hated them because by the time they got up to brightness, I had already falled or tipped over the obstacle that was in my way. So, I switched to LED Floods that I saw at Costco. About $10-15 per bulb, but they were instant-on and not expensive to run compared to the 100W incandesant. I've since switched to a single 40W fixture that uses the day light sensor to come on. It runs all night and uses extra electricity, but I do the psychological acceptance due to the 5 KW array of solar panels on the roof of the house.

I wonder if I kept the LED floods in the garage because I could probably use them inside for the recessed lighting in the kitchen...hmmmm

 

Remember when CFLs were +$10 a few years ago? Now under $1. Arguably LED prices should fall farther/faster as in some ways they are easier to build, and have much less hazardous material I think.

 

Does anyone know of a LED replacement for Par bulbs in track lights, both the little ones and the bigger ones?