I've had really good luck with the Sylvania 60 watt replacement bulbs. They're a $1 each if you buy the 24 pack at Home Depot. I did my mom's entire house with these, and half of my own house...…..They say they're non dimmable, but I've used them in a dimmer and they worked as well. They have a 4.7 star rating on HD's website.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Sy...Pack-74765/303629965

quote:

Originally posted by jimmy123x:
I've had really good luck with the Sylvania 60 watt replacement bulbs. They're a $1 each if you buy the 24 pack at Home Depot. I did my mom's entire house with these, and half of my own house...…..They say they're non dimmable, but I've used them in a dimmer and they worked as well. They have a 4.7 star rating on HD's website.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Sy...Pack-74765/303629965

Thanks for the recommendation, but I’m looking for reliable bulbs that mimic 100W incandescents, not 60W. I checked the 100W Sylvanias on HD’s website and while the specs sound ok, I noticed that none of the user reviews were older than late June of this year. That’s not nearly long enough to get a good idea of their reliability. In addition it sounded like those reviews were all written by the same one or two people judging by how similar they all read. Still searching!

My opinion is that LED is great for indicators (control panels, for instance) and stinks for household/task lighting. Like a warm campfire, there's nothing like a good, inexpensive incandescent bulb.

But noooo! On the premise of energy efficiency, we get LED bulbs that cost more to make, are far worse ecologically to dispose of, and don't give as nice a light. Bizarre.

ETA: they're not good for use in the ice/water dispenser on my fridge, either, lasting only a few days.

I replaced all the incandescents in my house with Halco brand lamps.

Only one failure in 5 years so far, it was a replacement BR30 style in one of my downlights.

quote:

Originally posted by tsmccull: Thanks for the recommendation, but I’m looking for reliable bulbs that mimic 100W incandescents, not 60W.

I would try the Walmart Great Value LED's. I noticed several days ago that the 75 and 100 watt had come down in price and were $2 and $3 respectively.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Gre...ight-4-Pack/53017078

Thanks 41, I may give those a try. At least if they fail I just need to drive down the road a short distance to replace them instead of going to the trouble of shipping them back.

TRUMP to the Rescue!

The Trump Administration is rolling back regulations requiring higher energy efficiency standards for light bulbs that were set to go into effect in January 2020.

Among the reasons he gave regarding the decision, Trump indicated "People said what's with the light bulb? I said here’s the story, and I looked at it: The bulb that we're being forced to use — No. 1, to me, most importantly, the light's no good. I always look orange,"
____________________

Donald Trump Defends Bringing Back ‘Better’ Incandescent Light Bulbs

https://www.breitbart.com/poli...descent-light-bulbs/

Breitbart.com
9 Sep 2019

President Donald Trump on Monday defended his effort to keep incandescent light bulbs in the United States.

“They were forcing you to buy lightbulbs that cost a fortune, so I signed something a couple of days ago that gives you the right to use the incandescent light,” he said. “Much less expensive.”

The president spoke about light bulbs during a political rally in Fayetteville, North Carolina, in which he highlighted his administration’s dramatic regulation cuts to boost the economy.

Last week, the Trump administration rolled back Barack Obama-era requirements for energy-efficient bulbs which threatned to phase out incandescent and halogen bulbs by January 2020 in favor of fluorescent or LED bulbs. Even Bush-era Republicans voted for and supported phasing out the cheaper bulbs in favor of more modern expensive bulbs that use less energy.

Trump commented that he looked better under incandescent lighting.

“I’m not a vain person … but I look better under an incandescent light than these crazy lights that are beaming down on me,” he said.

He ridiculed the new light energy-efficient bulbs for having dangerous toxins and gasses in them.

“If a bulb breaks, it’s considered almost like a waste site …the new bulbs, they’re very dangerous with all of the gasses,” he said, referring to the labels that warn consumers not to break the bulbs.

He explained that the rollback of the regulations would allow consumers to choose whether they wanted the new bulbs or not.

“You’re going to hopefully buy the new ones, but you can buy the old ones too, and you can save a lot of money and you can even look better,” he said.

quote:

Originally posted by tsmccull:
Every time I buy some led bulbs to replace 100W incandescents, a decent percentage of the leds typically die long before their advertised life. I’m sure the led chips are still fine, but the electronics in the base of the bulb that drive those leds are not. Almost all of the manufacturers say just to return the bad bulbs and they’ll replace them, but it costs more to ship the bulbs back than they’re worth. May as well return to using my stash of incandescent bulbs so I don’t have to worry about premature failures!

That is all.

Give the manufacturer a call. Whenever my CREE or GE LED bulbs die I call the warranty line and they send me a replacement. They don't require me to send the failed bulbs back.

we've been in our place for just over 3 years - within the first two months nearly every incandescent or florescent bulb went out. I started replacing with dimmable LEDs (at that time some of the non dimmable ones had an obvious delay when turning on). In those three years I've only replaced two LED bulbs - both in the bathroom fans. I'm guessing the high number of on/off cycles and vibration/moisture caused those to fail a bit prematurely.

I've installed soft white Feit bulbs almost exclusively - on sale at Menards they're only $3 more for a 4 pack over traditional incandescent bulbs.

I'm much happier with the LED bulbs than I ever was with the shit compact florescents.

I've had some trouble with my LEDs, too. Funny thing, Crees!

The only brand that hasn't worked almost forever as they claim. and, of course, Home Depot says it's a manufacturer's warranty now, not theirs.

I'm just trying to move on without buying anything that says Cree on it.

Bob

quote:

Originally posted by vthoky:
On the premise of energy efficiency, we get LED bulbs that cost more to make, are far worse ecologically to dispose of, and don't give as nice a light. Bizarre.

First off, LEDs are insanely efficient. They draw hardly any current. As far as " far worse ecologically to dispose of" not true. You may be thinking of Florescent bulbs that have mercury.

Lastly, LEDs come in all kinds of colors. Look for one in the 3000-4000 range to get that warmer yellower look you like.

Have had many issues with CFLs. Some issues w/ LEDs but not as bad; but then haven't proliferated too much either. Also, had a contractor install them w/ warranties so he probably chose something decent.

The problem is probably not the technology as much as it made in PRC shit. We need to get mfg out of PRC.

quote:

Originally posted by straightshooter1:

I'm just trying to move on without buying anything that says Cree on it.

Bob

This.
This.
and This.

I'm not sure what brand(s) I've bought, but having replaced all the bulbs in the house with LED 10 years ago, haven't had any problems.

Did you guys that have failures have them in enclosed fixtures? I know some LED bulbs have a really bad heat problem, and it basically makes the plastic brittle if it is too hot too long.

CFLs were shit from the very start.

I've used all kinds of LEDs in clients homes, haven't heard of them crapping out.

They make them cheaper... so they're cheaper!

My first LED bulb I bought cost me $35.00!
And it wasn't very bright, like a 15w equivalent. But I put it in a lamp in my living room and left it on, 24 hours a day for... 15 years maybe? I finally stopped using it because I wanted a brighter light in that location (it had become dimmer than when new and some of the diodes had given up) But it still worked when I tossed it.

Now they're dirt cheap, sold cheap because they're made cheap.

quote:

Originally posted by jimb888:

quote:

Originally posted by vthoky:
On the premise of energy efficiency, we get LED bulbs that cost more to make, are far worse ecologically to dispose of, and don't give as nice a light. Bizarre.

First off, LEDs are insanely efficient. They draw hardly any current. As far as " far worse ecologically to dispose of" not true. You may be thinking of Florescent bulbs that have mercury.

Lastly, LEDs come in all kinds of colors. Look for one in the 3000-4000 range to get that warmer yellower look you like.

Yes, my statement about the disposal applies more to the fluorescent than the LED, perhaps, but I'd venture that the old-school incandescent is still more recyclable than the LED -- it's just metal and glass, right?

And yes, LEDs are insanely efficient. But the "light quality," for lack of better term right now often stinks. Bright? Yea, verily. Good? That's questionable. Are LEDs great over the workbenches at work, or in my little pocket Streamlight? Darn right, they are! Do I enjoy reading a book when there's an LED in my lamp? No stinking way, get me the incandescent.

But that's just my opinion... I could be wrong.

quote:

Originally posted by vthoky:

quote:

Originally posted by jimb888:

quote:

Originally posted by vthoky:
On the premise of energy efficiency, we get LED bulbs that cost more to make, are far worse ecologically to dispose of, and don't give as nice a light. Bizarre.

First off, LEDs are insanely efficient. They draw hardly any current. As far as " far worse ecologically to dispose of" not true. You may be thinking of Florescent bulbs that have mercury.

Lastly, LEDs come in all kinds of colors. Look for one in the 3000-4000 range to get that warmer yellower look you like.

Yes, my statement about the disposal applies more to the fluorescent than the LED, perhaps, but I'd venture that the old-school incandescent is still more recyclable than the LED -- it's just metal and glass, right?

And yes, LEDs are insanely efficient. But the "light quality," for lack of better term right now often stinks. Bright? Yea, verily. Good? That's questionable. Are LEDs great over the workbenches at work, or in my little pocket Streamlight? Darn right, they are! Do I enjoy reading a book when there's an LED in my lamp? No stinking way, get me the incandescent.

But that's just my opinion... I could be wrong.

LEDs hurt my eyes even the warmer temperatures. Also a number of them strobe, imperceptible to most, but for me super annoying.

They do help pay my mortgage though. Been on 30+ calls for dead light bulbs in last 18 months or so. "Did you try changing the bulb?" "No it's a LED they are good for 30 years, I know it's not the bulb." "No they are not, do you have a spare bulb?" "Yes" "Problem solved." "So do I still have to pay since you didn't actually do anything?" "Yes."

quote:

Originally posted by Skins2881:
"So do I still have to pay since you didn't actually do anything?" "Yes."

Classic.

They should have tried the phone support option.

These LED bulbs cost about $1 each nowadays. I used to save the packaging and receipt to warranty them out if they went bad, now I just throw them away. Not worth the aggravation for a bulb that cost like a dollar.

CREE’s are crap. I’ve never gotten more than a year out of them before they start to flicker. I’ve slowly gone back to incandescents.