New Cree bulbs!

[oldwesty4ever]

Cree redid the entire line. See here:

http://creebulb.com/

I must say that I laugh at them for reducing the rated life of the 100w equivalents to 15,000 hours. Cree was worried about the major manufacturers selling LEDs rated at 10-15K hours.

 

[iamhacked]

Is there going to be anything better than this from the major manufacturers this year? Or is the Hyperikon bulbs ok as well?

 

[brickbat]

Yeah - I saw the Cree announcement. A little disappointed. Cree's first offering several years back seemed to break some new ground. At the time, it was a good value, had decent efficiency, decent CRI, etc. And, at least initially, was US-made. These new ones seem like a me-too item. I just don't see much here that's new.

I suppose Cree has done their marketing homework (at least I hope so), and despite my 'meh' impression, it could be that these are a success in the market. But, I'm not really sure what niche they're aiming for. The specs on these aren't exactly stellar in terms of efficiency, CRI, or efficiency, and the physical design looks an awful lot like the majority of their competitors. Knowing Cree's past offerings, I doubt it'll be the lowest price one on the shelf. So. I'm puzzled, and not expecting much.

 

[MichaelW]

Who would have thought Cree would be an also-ran?

 

[mattheww50]

Cree redid the entire line. See here:

http://creebulb.com/

I must say that I laugh at them for reducing the rated life of the 100w equivalents to 15,000 hours. Cree was worried about the major manufacturers selling LEDs rated at 10-15K hours.

Given that the longest my 4 Cree 100 watt equivalent ( I bought two, both have been replaced under warranty, both of those have failed, and I asked Cree for my money back, which they eventually did refund the purchase price) lights has lasted is about 1000 hours, I'd say it is only partial admission of failure.

 

[oldwesty4ever]

Saw the new Cree bulbs at a nearby Home Depot. They put in displays where you can compare Cree, Philips, and Ecosmart color wise and how well they dim. I found the Crees have a slightly higher red content than the others, but still a very small difference. The Ecosmart dimmed as well as the Cree, the Philips didn't. The new Cree B10s dim awful, at the lowest setting they flickered, and emitted a nearly monochromatic amber color.

I took one of the new Crees out of the package and found it to be pretty heavy, unlike the paper light 4 flows.

 

[idleprocess]

And, at least initially, was US-made.

I recall that Motorola pulled this stunt with the original Moto X Smartphone. A significant bullet point in the marketing spiel was "Final assembly performed in the United States". This lasted for perhaps 2 years then was quietly dropped, coincident with the sale of the Motorola Mobility division.

The cynical side of me wonders if these initial spurts of "Made in the USA" are a calculated strategy. The initial marketing helps to form a positive image in the customer's mind - an association that may stick beyond their initial purchase. There are likely also a tax benefits to the strategy where the company convincingly invests in domestic production for some up-front credits then gets to claim a loss when it's wound down within a few years and sent offshore.

 

[brickbat]

I don't think it's necessarily a "stunt". I design electronics for a living. Starting manufacturing in the states is a common practice - easier to iron out the bugs here than in China...

 

[idleprocess]

I don't think it's necessarily a "stunt". I design electronics for a living. Starting manufacturing in the states is a common practice - easier to iron out the bugs here than in China...

I've got more thoughts on this subject, but it would derail the thread.

 

[martinaee]

I wonder how good these are. Several years ago I would have thought their line with the "visible" heat-sinks on the outside base would last forever, but a number of them I've had in the 800 lumen range failed. I think one or two would stop working when they got too hot and some would flicker badly. Kind of insane... If it needs a bigger heat sink just put it on. I don't care about looks most of the time. I just want the bulb to last forever like it has the potential too with good emitters/electronics/heat-sinks.

 

[bose301s]

I don't think it's necessarily a "stunt". I design electronics for a living. Starting manufacturing in the states is a common practice - easier to iron out the bugs here than in China...

This is exactly what it was for Cree, I actually toured the bulb plant in RTP and it was cool, very very low tech and manual though. Cree had never done anything like that before so they brought what was basically a large pilot operation online in RTP so the engineers could be right there to iron out the links etc and once that was on its way they moved everything to Mexico for the cheap labor and now I believe they're being made in China for the even cheaper labor.

 

[oldwesty4ever]

I found the new Cree bulbs still flicker, abeit subtle. I thought most new generation LEDs phased that out? GE came out with a new line of high definition LEDs such as the "Relax" soft whites. They actually rendered my skin better than the new Crees.

 

[KXA]

I'm actually quite disappointed at the trend of current Edison based LED bulbs. As the technology improves, we as consumers have lower and lower quality to choose from. I liked the original Crees and had no real issues with them. Now when I'm at either Lowe's or HD, all I see is product that will not part me from my money. This reminds me of how CFLs were sold and received by the general public 20 + years ago. Back then, most people wanted to stay with their incandescents. I'm afraid that this could happen again.

 

[jthj]

I noticed they don't say you can use them in enclosed fixtures anymore. I still think this is a major issue for LED lighting as enclosed fixtures are pretty common. We recently built a house and I actually made a concerted effort to avoid enclosed fixtures which wasn't that easy...... most were enclosed if they weren't pendants. And in our closet and pantry the lighting guy ended up calling me after I selected some semi recessed stuff saying that local building code doesn't allow a non fully enclosed fixture in a room who's purpose is storage (closet and pantry). I ended up going with a surface mount integral LED for the pantry b/c it's a small enough room that was fine. For the closet I just had to go with a standard style enclosed fixture supporting 3 bulbs to have enough light. The light bulb and light fixture people really need to start talking to each other!

 

[iamhacked]

Asked Cree Canada when it's coming to Canada... got this reply :laughing:

Thanks for your email and your interest in Cree bulbs. At this time there are no plans to introduce the SA19 bulb in Canada at Home Depot Stores. However, the standard Cree 4Flow bulb will be available.