# L.E.D Lightbulbs



## dc300a (Apr 4, 2011)

I have been looking into LED lightbulbs for my home one to save money, but also lower my power needs. My eventual plan is to go off grid and the more I can cut, the better. 

My question is, does anyone here have experience with LED bulbs? 

Are they worth the cost? 

Are they as bright as incandescent bulbs? 

Responses are appreciated.


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## SlobberToofTigger (Dec 27, 2011)

All I buy anymore. With that said in general they are not as bright as incandescent or florescent bulbs and cost way more. On the bright side they put out significantly less heat and draw a lot less energy. In a year or two they will get down to a price point where they are competitive with florescents. I buy them for the reduction in heat and power consumption with the full understanding that I will never get my money out of them at the current price point.


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## mosquitomountainman (Jan 25, 2010)

We live off grid and use only lo watt flourescents or LED. We like the LED best.


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## Caribou (Aug 18, 2012)

I got mine when Costco had a sale. We pay about $0.60/Kwh. I don't know if these will pay for themselves or not. I reduced one fixture from 200W to 20W and have plenty of light. When the price goes down I will purchase more.


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## SlobberToofTigger (Dec 27, 2011)

I should probably also mention that on the 12v side they compare very nicely from a light output perspective with regular 12v incandescent bulbs and sip juice at an astonishingly low rate. I have replaced almost every 12v bulb I own with a LED.


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## cowboyhermit (Nov 10, 2012)

Yeah, with 12v or any other dc source they are absolutely the best. 
When it comes to household AC they are only now coming close to compact florescent in an economical sense. They are better at spot illumination than the rest, has been harder to get a good traditional bulb to perform and be priced competitively.


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## hiwall (Jun 15, 2012)

All bulbs in my motorhome are switched to LED. I saw some LED household bulbs in Home Depot the other day for $12.99(on sale). That is about as low as I ever seen any.


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## LincTex (Apr 1, 2011)

SlobberToofTigger said:


> I have replaced almost every 12v bulb I own with a LED.


My back-up power system in my home is 12VDC, and all lighting on that circuit is LED. The choices of bulbs are many. Also, all of the lighting around my chicken coop area is all 12vdc LED's.
http://www.preparedsociety.com/forum/f16/how-wire-leds-12875/#post157277

I have CFL's on the 120 volt circuits.


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## Viking (Mar 16, 2009)

We missed out on a really good price on PAR 30 65 watt equivent LED's at $10 and a few pennies at Costco. Stopped at Costco yesterday and bought two BR 30 65 watt LED bulbs for $15.99 each. Not that we need it but these are dimmable. We are gradually switching from CFL's to LED's. We've used CFL's since they first came out and over the years have had mixed results, some have lasted a long time, others failed in a week or less, and very often as the bulb aged their light output would drop significantly, often taking far longer to get to full brightness. We have three 12 VDC powered fluorescent lamps in our motorhome which we found actually have a high current draw as well as really disturbing AM radio with their oscillator driven high voltage system. I will probably change them to a strip LED lamps in the future. An electrician friend told me years ago he had run across information that things that have a transformer in them like computers use (CFL's have ballasts which are basically a stepup transformer), if they are in a circuit that has a number of other transformers may set up an electro-magnetic rhythm that can spike current draw above breaker and wire size ratings. I'm sure one would have to have a lot of lamps on a same circuit to do this but it's something to think of.


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## pawpaw (Dec 21, 2011)

As usual, I have a cheap take on matters. My hi-output tactical LED flashlight multiplies light with lenses, much like your glasses magnify what you're trying to see, so I got to stewing on doing the same with ordinary objects lying around. I've even got a lamp for task lighting I've fashioned using an old $1.00 plastic lens I robbed from a 7" magnifying glass. Simply pointing the lamp at a semi-gloss white wall will reflect enough amplified light to bathe a whole room in soft, highly usable light. I'm now working on a ceiling-hangable one made from a plastic whole-page reader lense which costs $2.00. Coleman makes a circular 'Tent Pole' LED light for camping which I fully intend to turn a whole-room ceiling lamp which can be carried from room to room as needed. Lenses are a fabulous light multiplier for any wattage LEDs.


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## kejmack (May 17, 2011)

Caribou said:


> We pay about $0.60/Kwh. I don't know if these will pay for themselves or not. I reduced one fixture from 200W to 20W and have plenty of light. When the price goes down I will purchase more.


Unbelieveable! I pay $0.14/KWH and I thought I was getting ripped off. Of course, Texas has its own grid that is independent of the rest of the country so that might be why.


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## cowboyhermit (Nov 10, 2012)

I think he is in Alaska where power is very expensive but they have other benefits.


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## musketjim (Dec 7, 2011)

Our rec. cabin is off the grid and one of our light sources are DC LED bulbs. We put them into goose neck lamps that you can buy for a few bucks. Snip the end off the power cord, strip the wire and install alligator clips. You can then use the square 6V batteries. The goose neck allows you to aim the light as needed for reading or whatever. The whole setup is very lightweight and portable. The bulbs are expensive, but extend battery life. Next experiment will be to leave light on to see how long battery will last. Waste of 1 battery but it will give me definite data on battery life:dunno:. We've been using the same battery for 2 years intermittently so I'm not sure how long they last and how many I need to procure.


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## SlobberToofTigger (Dec 27, 2011)

Average price per KWH is .127 cents in the US. In the EU the average price is .25 cents per KWH.


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## LincTex (Apr 1, 2011)

kejmack said:


> Unbelieveable! I pay $0.14/KWH and I thought I was getting ripped off. Of course, Texas has its own grid that is independent of the rest of the country so that might be why.


9.4 cents per KWh (flat rate, 24/7) with a 2 year contract with StarTex energy. TXU was 17 cents... TXU is also wanting to charge more per KWH during peak demand times now that everyone has smart meters.


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## LincTex (Apr 1, 2011)

musketjim said:


> You can then use the square 6V batteries.


You might want to consider a small SLA 6 or 12 volt battery that can be recharged. They use them in "EXIT" signs that will stay lit when the power goes off, as well as emergency lighting in stairwells (looks like two small headlights) that come on when power goes off.

A lot of companies replace these every two years whether they need to or not. It's a waste of money... but cheaper than a lawsuit if someone falls down the stairs.

If you can find a place that will sell you (or let you HAVE) their old batteries you could save a fair bit of money. A small solar panel can be used to recharge them.

Also, Most auto salvage yards will sell their batteries at core cost. I have bought a dozen or so over the last 8 years and only got one dud... I was only out $8. All of the others charged up fine and lasted several years. One has been in my truck 7 years now, best 8 bucks I ever spent!


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## fondini (Mar 18, 2012)

I have replaced 8 60 watt lamps, 6 65 watt recessed can lamps with LED lamps and can trims. My total output for those was $400. 
The first months electric bill was $50 less with same usage.
So it will take less than a year to recoup my money, then 10-15 years of saving assuming projected life span is correct.
I love em.


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## MountainKing (Jul 26, 2012)

masterspark said:


> A hint to anyone using CFLs or LEDs in an enclosed fixture or mounted inverted. They don't like the heat. Enclosed fixtures don't ventilate and heat rises so the inverted mount directs the heat to the base of the lamp where all of the electronics are.


Do LEDs create much heat? I have down mounted, inverted LED floods in enclosures, and I thought they didn't create much heat at all? Or is there heat in the base? That would explain the radiator fins on the back I suppose...

MK


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## SlobberToofTigger (Dec 27, 2011)

Here is my highly unscientific test dune with an IR thermometer. All bulbs were not enclosed hanging from a ceiling fan.

Led 75W equivalent = 107f
Fluorescent 60W equivalent = 176f
Incandescent 60w clear = 244f


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## cowboyhermit (Nov 10, 2012)

Led's don't produce much heat for the amount of light they put out, that is where the efficiency comes from, but it is very concentrated in one spot/led. The reason they have fins and heatsinks in general is because heat degrades the diodes over time and also because of the "driver" components in the base (AC units in particular). Old fashioned light bulbs aren't affected by heat in this way but they produce much more of it. For cfl's it is mainly the transformer in the base that gets damaged by heat.


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## bigdadvrod (Feb 25, 2013)

dc300a said:


> I have been looking into LED lightbulbs for my home one to save money, but also lower my power needs. My eventual plan is to go off grid and the more I can cut, the better.
> 
> My question is, does anyone here have experience with LED bulbs?
> 
> ...


DC...my part time job away from the fire department is working in an electical supply warehouse . We sell the LED bulbs, but the price scares people off. They're definately spendy, but if you look at the overall picture, ie; most are 50,000 hr bulbs...use MUCH less energy, up to 75% less, less heat buildup...the cost isnt quite as scary. Yeah, you'll definately pay for them, but they're probably the last bulbs you'll ever buy in your lifetime. Just my .02


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## LincTex (Apr 1, 2011)

bigdadvrod said:


> Most are 50,000 hr bulbs...


I think the Quality dept in China that makes them is getting lax... I have had two expensive LED bulbs fail now. I believe the fault has been in the switching power supply that takes 120 VAC down to "whatever" DC voltage they run on.

The 12 volt DC bulbs have all been trouble free.


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## bigdadvrod (Feb 25, 2013)

LincTex said:


> I think the Quality dept in China that makes them is getting lax... I have had two expensive LED bulbs fail now. I believe the fault has been in the switching power supply that takes 120 VAC down to "whatever" DC voltage they run on.
> 
> The 12 volt DC bulbs have all been trouble free.


I will definately agree with you on that one, linc


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