Anyone using LED home lighting replacement bulbs?

If you have any can type lights then I highly recommend this EcoSmart bulb from Home Depot...

EcoSmart E26 10.5-Watt (65W) LED Down light Light Bulb (E)* - ECO-575L at The Home Depot

I put about 20 of them in the can lights throughout my house a few months ago and I really love them. They replaced dimmable CFL bulbs and are much better. They come up to full brightness instantly (which the CFL didn't do... especially as they got older) and they dim much better than the CFL bulbs did. They don't dim all the way to 0, but they get down to maybe 5 or 10%... the CFL's were lucky to get down to like 40%. They're a great color too... not too harsh or blue. They're actually a rebadged Cree CR-6 bulb which has gotten great reviews... they even say Cree CR-6 right on the bulb, but they're much cheaper than a 'real' Cree CR-6.

The other advantage is that they're sold at Home Depot stores, so you can buy one to try and if you really hate it then you can easily return it.

Finally, if you do want to buy a lot of them, do this trick... apply for a home depot credit card. The HD card gives you 10% off of light bulbs every day, and you also get 10% off of your first purchase, and they let you combine the discounts. So they start off at $49.97 and you get 10% off of that making it 44.97, then another 10% off making the final price 40.48... which is an amazing price for good LED bulbs. Plus HD offers 0% interest for 6 months or 12 months (depending on the current promo) for purchases over $299, so you can take a while to pay them off. Just remember that one of the 10% discounts is only good on your first purchase with the card, so buy one bulb seperately to try it, then if you like it and want a bunch get the card and buy them all at once.

The only other thing I'll point out is that I tried some of the other EcoSmart LED bulbs and was not impressed. They're not Cree bulbs and they're also 3000K instead of the 2700K that this downlight is. I wouldn't have expected 300K to be much of a difference, but they're much bluer and harsher than the 2700K downlights.

Good luck,
Brett

 

Make sure you check the color temp of the CFL you buying. I found some with 3800k, they look very nice. As far as LED for the home, I have not seen any bulbs that are reasonably priced, as well as they still do not put out lots of light. If they do, they are way too expensive...for now!
I am waiting.....waiting...waiting.....

 

I've been bit by the LED bug, and have replaced many throughout my home. At Home Depot, I purchased many of the Philips 3W candle bulbs, some EcoSmart A19 8.6-watt bulbs, some Philips 12-watt A19 Ambient LED bulbs (the funky yellow ones), and some Lithonia outdoor LED security lights. I also purchased some Feit Electric 16-watt PAR38 bulbs at Lowe's.

I am pleased with all the bulbs, especially the Par38's, which are amazingly bright. The interesting thing is that I measured the actual power consumption of every type of LED bulb I purchased with a Kill-a-Watt meter and they all measured fewer watts than advertised, which is an even greater benefit!

I also purchased some specialty LED bulb sizes from various websites and have been pleased so far.

I only wish even more bulb-size options were available. Awaiting the day when I can replace all those linear and bayonet-style halogen bulbs with LEDs.

My only concern is about the quality of some LED bulbs on the market, especially since many are likely made in China. That's probably holding me back from going all-out LED right now.

 

My local Home Depot was running a special on LED lights, so I took the plunge. I replaced 5 lights so far - 4 in the kitchen - 1 in the stairway ceiling fan. So far the only problem was 1 malfunctioning LED in the kitchen after a week, got it replaced for free. I use the Sylvannia brand.

Hopes this helps,

DBCassidy

 

I tried a Sylvania dimmable flood light and ended up taking it back.

The problem was that the light was very focused. It was like shining a flashlight toward the floor whereas you want the light spread throughout the room.

BrettS, does the EcoSmart E26 have a similar "spotlight" effect? How hard was it for you to remove the old canister lights?

I saw the bulb you describe at Home Depot and may consider trying it if the "spotlight" doesn't mess things up.

 

I've never tried the Sylvania bulb, so I can't really compare it to that, but I don't think it has a spotlight effect at all. The light might be slightly more concentrated than an incandescent bulb, but not much. I have 5 cans in my kitchen in an X formation and the light is evenly spread throughout the kitchen. I don't notice any hot spots at all.

Not hard at all... it was maybe a 2 minute operation at each can, and most of that was moving the ladder into place.

 

Had to check out the link provided by BrettS cause we have been looking for LED lighting for our cans and found the following review at the HD site that answers boulder bum’s question …
________________________________

This is a great LED, January 28, 2011
By Discus from Wall, NJ

“I’ve tried about 8 different LED’s in my ceiling cans now. This is probably the best for general lighting. Most other bulbs I have tried are more of a spot light. This LED has a very wide angle of lighting. It’s as bright as a 65 watt BR30 bulb that I had in the next can for comparison. The color is almost identical to an incandescent bulb. Not yellow like some LEDs can be. But this 2700K color was my only problem. I prefer the color of a halogen bulb. So if you are looking for the color of an incandescent bulb and general lighting to light up a room, then this LED is perfect. It’s also a very easy install.”
________________________________

The other reviews stated that they were getting them on the east coast for around $20. That seems unfair. Guess I will have to wait for a sale or find them online somewhere cheaper.

Looking forward to trying them myself.

 

I have a couple and there great but most of the lighting in my house is automated by X10 and you can't run LED lights on that system. They just endlessly blink.

 

LED rope lights are reasonably priced. I have one on the deck and one in my daughters room for ambiance (she loves it). They were about $15 for a 20' rope as I recall, and use something like 6 watts. Can't recall if I got them at Home Depot or Lowes.

Be careful when buying rope lights--most of them are incandescent, not LED. Gotta read the label carefully.

 

Do check your new bulbs' packaging to see if they're recommended for use in cans. Unlike incandescents, LEDs don't throw off their losses by radiating infrared in all directions. What losses they have do have occur at the diode junction and have to be extracted by thermal conduction -- through the bases of the individual LEDs and thence to a heat sink -- which can only be the bulb base in a screw-in replacement. The problem is not that you will burn your house down, but that the heat will build up in the base of bulb (where the electronics are) and reduce Mean Time Before Failure.

 

Home Depot just got in a complete line of LED lights from Lighting Science Group.

I bought one to test, a BR30, 14 watt, 800 Lumens, 75 Watt replacement, flood light.
It is awesome. Color is 2700K.
Cost was $29.97

Here are the details, I will post pics later if I can.


ecosmart LED Bright White
BR30
409 440 Home Depot SKU

74340 00111 UPC

2700K
800 Lumens
14 watts
Lumens Per Watt (Efficiency) 57

Color Accuracy 80

25,000 Hours Life
23 years (Lasts)
5 year warranty

 

Pic side by side with regular flood light.

 

Some more pics

 

Some box pics

 

Final box pic

 

Holy Crap! Thirty to Fifty bucks each! Yeah, I'll hold off for awhile. LoL!

 

Still too expensive. I don't really like CFL although they are throughout my house. I am hoping to be able to go to LED for future bulbs and not buy anymore CFL. CFL have a long warm up time and seem delicate.

 

I actually prefer the latest Phillips over the EcoSmart. But they are both very good compared to the first generation of LED can lights.
As for price, yes they are pricey up front, but the lifetime cost (considering they last for decades) is much cheaper than old fashioned bulbs or cfls.

 

Way too high for regular use ATM. Late last year Menards had some 60-watt equivalent CFL's for about 14 cents each. I bought nearly 60 of them. Those will last for who knows how long, but long enough for LED's to come down to a sensible price point.

I do, though, have one LED low output bulb over the cats' boxes in the basement that is on 24/7. That one was about $9.