User Reviews

Having switched all my bulbs to CFL, I was looking for a new direction in terms of green lighting alternatives. I've been a proponent of the CFL as stop-gaps mentality ever since learning of their mercury content. I assumed with their low-cost, CFL lights would be a natural progression away from the antiquated incandescent varieties commonplace in our homes.

After visiting ecogeek.org and learning of the LED light phenomena, I was hooked and began investigating possible replacement of all my CFLs to LEDs. Owing to their inherit greeness-low power usage, no mercury, long lifespans-I was hopeful my quest would be met with success. My first foray into the realm of LED lighting was with the purchase of this light bulb.

To those new to the realm of LED lighting, there are two main types: LED light engines, and individual LEDs amassed together (such is the case with this bulb). The advantage to the individual LEDs being amassed, is that they are lower cost and produce next to no heat. Since these bulbs are made with individual LEDs, each with a very directive light output of 30 degrees, clever lens design helps to disperse the light into a >120 degree range.

These bulbs are best used for application where you wish they can point in the general direction of, say a painting or the floor (if mounted in the ceiling). They will not provide a near uniform 360 light output. I have mine in the basement ceiling fixture in the laundry room area. The light output is comparable to a 25-30 watt light. I believe this LED bulb is rated at 1.8 watts. The CFL I replaced with this LED bulb was rated at 14 watts (or 60 watt equivalent). I sacrificed a little on brightness, but save a great deal of power usage.

With a projected lifetime of 50,000 hrs+, even running at 24 hrs/day, this LED bulb will last 5.7 years. At 12 hrs/day, you are looking at an 11 year lifespan, for one bulb! At $0.10 kW/hr, you are looking at a lifetime cost of $9 for electricity costs and roughly $16 for the bulb. For the comparable CFL, that would be a lifetime cost of ~$85 assuming 5 CFL bulbs with a lifetime of 10,000 hrs each. The Incandescent would be around 4 times that of the CFL (taken over 50,000 hrs).

The upfront costs may look daunting, but they do save money over their lifetime. Well worth the investment.

This was one of the first LED lamps I bought, back in 2007.  I got both the Warm White and Daylight White versions, from besthomelighting.com.  This is the 36-LED version by the way, not the 18-LED version.

Quantitatively, my Watt's Up wattmeter reads them both at 2.2 watts, C Crane claims 1.84 watts and besthomelighting.com says 3 watts.  Output-wise, my integrating sphere gives a reading of 33 for the Warm White and 36 for the Daylight White.  Compare that with some 40-watt incandescent bulbs I've measured ranging from 175 to 215, pick an average of 195 to be 400 lumens and those readings equate to 68 and 74 lumens.  C Crane claims 60 lumens and besthomelighting.com says 100/120.  Luminous efficacy would seem to be somwhere around 32 lumens per watt.  Something in the range of 6-8 watts would be my guess at an incandescent equivalent.

Qualitatively, the light this "bulb" puts out is not consistent, the dimples on the plastic diffuser seem to create bright/dark variations visible on surfaces close to the light.  That diffuser does give the light a wide, 180-degree beam angle, which is lacking in most LED lamps.  My feeling is that you will be hard-pressed to find a good application for this bulb, it will be relegated to such duties as hallway night light, refrigerator light, or the occasional bedside reading/task light at best.  60-80 lumens is not enough to do more than provide just enough light to see by in the dark.