:welcome:
There are a lot of cheap light bulbs that uses 5 mm LEDs. They usually have 24, 36 or some other large number of crap LEDs. stay away from those.
You may also ignore those that are rated 10 watt equivalent or less. Unless you need a night light.
You mentioned you worked at Lowes elsewhere so I pulled up the Lowes website. Searched for 'LED light bulb'.
The most important thing to watch for is colour/tint. Its a personal preference.
The Lowes website has the colour temperature under specifications.
2700°K - 60W light bulb,
3000°K - 100-150W light bulb,
3500°K - movie studio 250W+ light bulb,
4000°K - noon sunlight,
5000°K - cool white similar to most fluorescent tubes.
The 40 watt equivalent bulbs were introduced this past January. Some are on clearance as the 60 watt equivalents are coming out.
Should be $20 regular / $10 sale price.
They should use 6 watts (non dimmible) to 9 watts (dimmible) and give you 430-470 lumens.
The 60 watt equivalents should be around $25-$40. They should be around 800 lumens from 12 or 13 watts.
100 watt equivalents should be available beginning of next year.
The other thing about LED light bulbs is they are usually directional.
Notice the LED bulb on the right lights up the wall in front of it (top of the picture) better. The incandescent bulb on the left lights up all around. Notice how it lights up the bulb holder.
If you try to read a book under a table or floor lamp with an LED bulb you are out of luck. Need a desk lamp or reading lamp that points the bulb at the book.
There are other LED bulbs that are more omnidirectional.
The 2nd from the left with the egg yolk is better. The one on the right better still. But they are not available at Lowes at this time.
I had a cheapie no name bulb I bought about 3 years ago. It was rated for 20,000 hours. Died in 15,000 hours. 1 year 10 months 14/7 as my corridoor/night light. If I had ran it a more normal 6 hours a day (2 hours morning, 4 hours evening) it would have lasted just under 6 years. If I had used it 3 hours a day(1 hour morning, 2 hours evening it would have lasted over 10 years. I would not worry too much about a brand name bulb.
One important thing. LED bulbs need a lot of cooling. Do not use them in enclosed fixtures.
One more thing. LED bulbs are often a little bigger than incandescent bulbs and may stick out past the shades of desk lamps. If for desk lamps check the size.
