LED vs squirly q bulbs

RayP(MI)

Well-known Member
Happened into local hardware couple days back. They had a display of 60 watt replacement LED light bulbs for $1 each. Limit 10. So I got 10. Used them to replace out a set of 60 watt replacement spiral flourescents In the feed alley in the barn. WHAT A DIFFERENCE! Far brighter. Flourescents are 13 watt, rated at 900 lumens, LEDS are 9 watts and 800 lumens. Now, I have no idea why but LED bulbs are several magnitudes brighter. If they don't fade with age they will be a far better replacement. I don't expect a drop in my electric bill, but then, I didn't see any significant difference with the flourescents either. Went back and bought a bunch more to replace out the ones in my living areas. Tired of living in a cave.
 
I hated them squiggly bulbs yukkkkkkkkkkkkkk especially if one were to break you need to get the dudes in the hazmat suits to clean up lol. I was at a General Electric engineers lighting conference once yearssssssssssss ago in NELA Park Ohio and they spoke of the future of LED lights and we horse laughed them. So bright so long lasting so efficient yayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy my RV is full of them. We studied how many footcandles were required in certain work areas and were surprised to observe in the summer bright sunlight the light meters were pegging over 10,000 footcandles NOW THATS BRIGHT as 100 is good enough in a drafting room if I recall correctly???? And as production increases they will get even cheaper........... Of course some diehards will still prefer incandescent or mercury vapor or HID or halogen etc and that's fine by me, to each their own. Like so many engineering decisions there are tradeoffs and application preferences and color rendition above and beyond mere Lumens/Watt efficacy.


John T

John T
 
The next big fad in light bulbs is the "Internet of Things", where the smart bulb connects to your router and talks to the world. I don't think much of that idea.

However I did pick up some semi-intelligent LED bulbs that turn themselves on when you walk near them; pretty handy for places where you are only passing through or might have your hands full like the basement entry. They also turn themselves off after a time if you aren't moving around so I wouldn't want them in a normal room. Might try them in a couple of closets though.
 
I have the fluorescent type in my horse barn and hate them due to low light when cold out but I have tried the Halogen type bulbs that are said to last a long time but they go bad in just a month or so. As for the LED lights I have yet to find any of them for under $10 each which is far to much to pay for a simple light bulb
 
Don't know why they were so cheap, but apparently a local utility had something to do with it. Probably some sort of promotion. Yeah, LEDs have been in the 7 to 10 dollar range. Kind of prohibitive for a whole farm or home change out. One dollar is a no brainer. Don't expect to see a change in my electric bill, but more light is a big bonus.
 
Ya the bulbs might pay for them self's over say 2 -5 years if your lucky but ya will not see enough to know it is even there. I also do not like many of them because of lack of heat being put out which in some places is a good thing. Hard now days to find a light bulb to use in a house brooder and in my brooder a heat light is to hot so the good old 6o watt incondenstent(sp) bulb worked good but are getting super hard to come by
 
Bought some 4' LEDs at rural king for around $20. Hung them in the barn and never had any trouble even when it's cold.
 
It appears the Halogen and incandescent lamps are of lesser quality now.

Same thing with magnetic ballasts and nicad batteries.

The mfgs. have moved on to better things, not maintaining the old production lines, buying the cheapest materials they can source, as they know one day either the government or natural selection will shut them down.
 
I recently bought a four-pack of 60 Watt-equivalent 8 Watt actual daylight LED bulbs, Philips brand for $7.99 and I don't think they were even on sale. They are becoming very reasonable, put out excellent light, and should last a long time.
 
I'm talking abut the new halogen bulbs that look liek the old filament type bulbs and they do not seem to last long when placed in a barn
 
The jury is still out on the actual life of LED light bulbs. Check back in 10-15 years and tell us how yours are doing. :) Seriously, while it is true that the LED emitter chip can last 50,000+ hours, the internal power supply components typically have a much shorter life. Especially the really el-cheapo brands. I mean, they have to cut cost somewhere to offer the bulbs so cheaply and the internal power supply components are a good place to cheap out.

I'm not saying the cheap LED bulbs are not beneficial... you still get instant on in the cold, low power consumption, low heat generation, daylight equivalent light, etc. But buying them for long life may be a disappointment.
 
I think you are really exaggerating the amount of mercury! I understand the amount in one bulb is about equal to a serving of fish from a Canadian lake, and I bet you would eat them! We have been using them for about 15-20 years and only recycled about 3, and never broken one. We bought some for .25 each and have a surplus of them and now that led's are getting so cheap I would like to switch.
 
The big difference between the nearly identical watts size and lumens numbers and the perceived brightness could be the color temperature of the bulbs. The 6500K "daylight" temperature bulbs appear much brighter to my eyes than same size standard 2700K "cool white" temperature bulbs.
 
Well in my area so far I have yet to see any thing priced at a price I will pay
 
I'll try and remember that but Menard's is 25 miles form me so I do not get up that way often
 
LEDs work great. That is just a simple response. Now I have maybe 1/2 dozen of 5hem here and there around the place and all are fine. At work they were putting them all over the place. A problem showed up with the earlier type. The bulb needs to stand up like a table lamp bulb. The power supply in the base got too hot. The newer cheeper ones are holding up much better. They have also installed a lot of the 4 foot tubes all over the place. VERY NICE light from them. Electronics ALWAYS start out expensive and then the cost crashes. The absolute top of the line LED 55 inch flat screen four years ago was $2,2oo. Today a unit of 400% higher resolution and even better picture quality is around 700. Figures.
 
I think you can buy 60w equivalent for about $1 apiece now, if you have a $ tree or a .99 store they have them. I'm going to get some 100w equivalent when I get home for my garage at the cabin, they will cost a lot more, but the power company has a rebate. I bet that bothers them to subsidize me to use less electricity!
 
Old, where do you shop for bulbs ? Menards and Walmart have been selling 800 lumen LED's for nearly a year for less than $1.50 each. True value hardware has them for around $1.75 for the last few months.
 
I have got my place 95% LED and most have been for four years. The only LEDs that didn't hold up were from Wal mart and are all gone now.
 
And I'm also curious to see how they age after a long-term dose of spikes & surges...welders, big air compressors, and so on. I do like 'em, btw.
 
I have some of the wifi controlled bulbs and really like them. You can control them from a smart phone. I have 2 in a lamp in my living room. My son set them up and he can operate them from also. I have balked to him on the phone when he was in his shop working. He is working out there alone. I have had him signal me by turning off my light when he leaves the shop and goes to the house. You can set the bulbs up on a schedule to turn off and on if you are way from home.
 
I did the same thing and replace some of the squirrely fluorescents with '100 watt' 'bright white' LED's. Like you said, it was the difference between night and day. It was so good I did the same thing you did and got more of them for the house, and other areas in the shop. I love them.
 
"I think you are really exaggerating the amount of mercury" Of course lol, likewise you don't really need the dudes in white hazmat suits. I still never liked them darn squiggly bulbs grrrrrrrrrr

John T
 
I have 4' fluorescent light fixtures in my basement shop and some fancy ones in the house. Maybe 25 or even 30. I have been following the LEDs discussed herefor quite a while now and it seems like a good idea and the best replacement bulbs are the ones where you eliminate the ballast. But the cost of the LED replacement bulbs still seems high. How much can one expect to pay for such a bulb? Is the cost down now? Do Lowes or Walmart have them? I still have a few new spare fluorescent tubes around, but it seems like soon the LED benefits would make them worth it. But it it is like $10 a bulb that would buy a lot of electricity.
 
GET RID OF ANY CFL ( Squirly Q) bulbs you are using!! THEY ARE A FIRE HAZZARD!
Heard about this and inspected the ones we had in place. Almost every one of them showed signs of overheating at the base where the tubes come out. From slightly brown to charred chunks!! And the were still working so unless we knew to look they would have continued to get worse. A couple would have started a fire for sure in a dusty location like a barn. Get rid f them and go with the LED Bulbs. They have been great so far.
 
Been using the led's a good while now and I like them. The light is much better, energy used is about the same, and so far I haven't had to replace any. The cfl's would last anywhere from 2 month's to a year before they died & cost me more for each one to boot.

Now if they would start making the 150wt reasonable I could replace the basement lights as well!
 
Menard's is 25 miles one way form me and as for Wal-Mart I almost NEVER go there I do not like buying at China Mart
 

I tried the compact flourescents. They have a very short life, so I gave up on those. LEDs seem to be about the same. Some of them have a long life, most do not. I'm going back to just plain, old incandescant light bulbs. Some of those have a short life also, but the low cost makes it acceptable.
 
"And I'm also curious to see how they age after a long-term dose of spikes & surges...welders, big air compressors, and so on. I do like 'em, btw."


Do you have any opinion about a "whole house " surge / spike protectors ability to tame some of those big spikes to increase the life of solid state stuff like the LED power supplies ??
 
I was an "early adopter" of LED bulbs and have had great success with them.

We installed some $$$$ PAR LED floods high up at the front of the church a number of years ago, and they have been GREAT.

The daughter of a parishioner that is a good giver/helper to the church is an architect, and spec'ed a "color temp" of 3000ºK for them, and we were advised to get the some for the high hanging chandeliers that have failing coiled florescents in them now.

For some reason, those particular bulbs are a bit hard to find, even on the 'net. (At least for me.)

I was at a Lowe's store today, and they had a couple of choices, different brands and prices.

The warranty varied between 3 and 5 years, vs. even the cheapy coiled florescents having a 10 year warranty, go figure?
 

"GET RID OF ANY CFL ( Squirly Q) bulbs you are using!! THEY ARE A FIRE HAZZARD!

I agree with you, I've seen many that were discolored, or worse, as you say, and have seen a couple actually arc and smoke.

I wonder if there will be any similar issues with the LED's, but it wouldn't surprise me.

The "curlys" have a power supply in the base that makes HIGH voltage AC to light the tube, the LED's have a switching power supply that converts the incoming AC to LOW voltage DC, and I'll bet there'll be an odd nasty failure as those age, as well.
 
LEDs have one big advantage over CFLs and incandescents. Their life is not shortened by frequent cycling. Like anything, I am sure there are some poor quality LEDs out there. I have been using for 7 years now with no failures except one I caused. I screwed in a 12 volt LED into a 120 volt socket and it popped. I cannot blame that failure on the LED.

As far as CFLs being a danger? Seems doubtful to me and I've had many go bad. If they are installed in a proper fixture, they should not be able to produce a fire no matter what they do unless there is a bomb hidden inside one.
 
yeah, everyone is going LED. However, don't believe the "will last years and years" BS. Had a light fixture go out at the farm where we keep our horse. Owner asked me to change the bulb. Tried to open it up and couldn't. Turns out it was an LED fixture. The fixture was bought new at HD and installed about 3 months prior. Had to replace the whole fixture. So instead of buying a $3 or $4 bulb, had to spend $25-30 on a new fixture. (I went with an incandescent). So much for LEDs being cost effective. :roll: Guy at work had similar experience. As another poster said, the LED will last a long time but it's another story with the electronics.
 
I think I saw on one box that they were not to be used below 14 degrees. I have one in my garage door opener. It hasn't had any problems yet, and it has been below 14 for sure.
 
I bought one led bulb maybe 5 years ago when they first came out. I think it was like $ 13.00 then but I wanted to try it in our entry way. Normal bulbs didn't last and the CFL bulbs didn't last to long either. It's a pain to replace the bulb in the fixture so I wanted to see how long it lasts. So far it has lasted the longest by far of any other bulb I have had. Will probably start using them more now that the price has come down.
 

Leave the compact fluorescents on the shelf and purchase the A21 style of LED that is available with an equivalent limits to a 125-150W incandescent. There are "corn cob" LED lamps that fit in outside yard lights and do everything a 250W mercury vapour or 250W metal halide can do.
 
I've used and liked LED since they came out. I used the CFL's but never cared for them had many failures. The leds I've had one fail. All the others are still going strong. I've put several in my garage/workshop to replace traditional florescent's and the leds are much brighter and light in even subzero temps.

I'm a believer.
 

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