Lights of American was one of the better designers of CFL's. They had a patent on the tri-phosphors coating to improve the light output.

I used lots of their circular 150 watt equivalent in the beginning and kept a date on the transformer when I switched bulbs. They met or exceeded the 10K hours as advertised by my estimate in most cases. I still use them in the garage today since they are rated at 2200 lumens and use 30 watts. The ratings on some of their bulbs have increased or decreased at times for some reason. I assume they have been retested at the time of production. I have some models that have different ratings for the same model number. The original circular at Walmart long ago was for less than $10.

http://www.esplighting.com/2630c.html

Some of my friends bought the cheap CFL's at Lowes and Home Depot and had lots of failures.

I still use their compact (Model 2342) 45 watt CFL's that puts out 2700 lumens. Sometimes the LED's don't put out the light needed for the application. When I learned that they planned to switch to LED products, I stock piled their lights for future needs.

The LED's work great in outdoor fixtures.

Just purchased 4 FEIT candelabra base ceiling fan LED bulbs a week ago and 1 of them is already half burned out and flickering.

I have had problems with every brand of LED I have tried including Sylvania and Phillips.

I am all for LED's and there minimal power consumption vs incandescent but the quality control is not where it needs to be on these things.

.

quote:

Originally posted by maxxpower:
Just purchased 4 FEIT candelabra base ceiling fan LED bulbs a week ago and 1 of them is already half burned out and flickering.

I have had problems with every brand of LED I have tried including Sylvania and Phillips.

I am all for LED's and there minimal power consumption vs incandescent but the quality control is not where it needs to be on these things.

.

I agree, quality control needs to get better among some of the brands. However, I rememember having lots of incandescents burnout the first time I turned them on, or shortly after changing them too.

quote:

Originally posted by 41:
I started using the Walmart Great Value brand which were around $2.40 for the 60 watt equivalent. I have had only one failure in about six years out of about 19 total. I also use the LED's in outdoor fixtures.

I still have compact bulbs in areas requiring 150 watts.

They have paid for themselves by the additional electric bill savings and I am starting to make a profit. Where do I pay the income tax??

I starting using the compact bulbs sold by Lights of America back in the early 80's. It would be interesting to know how much I have saved. The first compacts I had were some GE's which look like antiques compared to the LOA.

LOA still makes compacts but their website only shows LED fixtures. One of LOA best compact was the 42 watt with 2000 lumens which is still available and makes a good reading light.

http://www.esplighting.com/2342.html

I purchased some Great Value LED bulbs a month or two ago. One of the bulbs quit after only a few hours. I called the toll free number on the back of the package and complained. The representative was very helpful and informative. She said the bulbs were actually from one of their third party vendors. I just received and spent the $20 gift card they sent. So far, that's the only bulb that's quit.

quote:

Originally posted by BuckRogers2000:

She said the bulbs were actually from one of their third party vendors. I just received and spent the $20 gift card they sent. So far, that's the only bulb that's quit.

That probably explains some of their LED's with different packaging and price for the same output.

I was slow to look at LED's due to the price/benefit. I bought several of the 40 watt and used them for about a year. Both were in outdoor fixtures controlled by a photocell.

I was just in Walmart and they had four of the 60W LED's for $4.97. That is $1.25 each which is the lowest price I have seen.

And, today, another Cree bit the dust. I bought the Lowe's brand to replace it and the other three in our dining area. They had been the soft light ones and now they are Daylight and I can actually see as I eat in the evenings.

Wish I'd done that originally, but I'm usually way behind the times.

Bob