Cree A19 9.5w 60w 800lm 2700K for $13.97

sigsour

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I got one now
tegavesa.jpg


Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2
 

slebans

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What a smart move by Cree!
Since the bulb is dimmable, warrantied for 25K hours, 84+ l/w and certified for indoor/outdoor use - we finally have a LED bulb that can begin to compete against CFL bulbs. Mind you the first cost is still too high. Unless you are running this bulb in excess of 8 hours per day, the resulting payback is still more than 8 years compared to a base CFL. Still, instant On, dimmable, no mercury, long life and a good price should make this bulb a winner with the early adopters and perhaps the upper edge of the mass market.
 

wws944

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Looks like there are three in the series:

* 9.5w, 800 lumen, 2700k, $12.97
* 9.0w, 800 lumen, 5000k, $13.97
* 6.0w, 450 lumen, 2700k, $9.97

CRI is 80, at least for the 2700k versions. Guess they aren't using their Truewhite technology on these?
 

tgferg67

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Looks like the Philips L-Prize 60w equiv dropped in price to compete.
I noticed it's $14.97 at home depot.
 

wws944

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CEO Chuck Swaboda sez it is made in the US too: [video]http://video.foxbusiness.com/v/2205072016001/led-light-bulbs-that-cost-less-than-10/[/video]

I'm in for a few. :)
 

slebans

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Looks like they are using a whole bunch of XT-E or XP-E high efficiency white LEDs in the bulb.

Picture of the bulb without its glass can be seen for example in this article.
http://www.geek.com/articles/gadget...ent-and-lights-like-one-for-under-10-2013035/

Thanks for the link to a very good(and positive) article. The author states the bulb uses 20 XP-E LEDs.
Since the required Bin of XP-E sells in quantity for around $1.60 -well- Cree must get a very good discount from itself.

I do have one concern voiced by the author of that article. He mentions the bulb has a tacky exterior surface over the glass bulb. He pointed out that this could be a possible concern for trapping dirt etc. The article states the tackiness is caused by a coating Cree applied to make the glass globe shatter proof. If this is accurate then the bulb's usefulness could be restricted, particularly with outdoor use or dusty households. We need comments from actual users of the bulb. It is hard to believe that Cree would release a bulb that would not function in a normal environment.
 

jtr1962

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I question whether using glass is a good design decision here. One of the selling points of LED bulbs is that they're unbreakable. As for using 20 XP-Es, they have to be using the bottom of the barrel as far as bin goes but this is understandable given the price point. I'm figuring each LED is being driven at less than 0.4 watts. That should translate into 15% or 20% higher efficiency than driving at the one watt level, which in turn means probably 115 or 125 lm/W in warm white, even using the worst XT-E bins. Actually more because I'm sure junction temperatures are well under 85°C at that drive level. Despite that, the bulb as a whole is getting 84 lm/W, implying optical and driver losses of greater than 25%. That seems kind of high to me. You can design dimmable 120 VAC drivers with about 90% efficiency. That still leaves us well above 100 lm/W. So optical losses are over 15%? I know the goal here is to get something which "looks like a bulb", but most of the time bulbs are hiding in fixtures or behind lamp shades. I think the light distribution would have been similar just using a clear plastic globe, and Cree could have been above 100 lm/W. Don't get me wrong, this looks like a nice product, and I'm sure I'll pick up the 5000K version at Home Depot, but I think they could have done even better. I wouldn't expect them to use anything except the lowest bins given the price, but I think they could have taken the crown for the world's first production 100+ lm/W A19 retrofit with a few minor design changes. I think a clear globe with a removable diffuser might have made more sense. If looking like a bulb is important, you leave the diffuser on. If not, take it off and get 10% to 15% more light.
 

jtr1962

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Thanks for the link to a very good(and positive) article. The author states the bulb uses 20 XP-E LEDs.
Since the required Bin of XT-E sells in quantity for around $1.60 -well- Cree must get a very good discount from itself.
Actually the lowest bin XT-Es are going for roughly $1 each in 1000s at Mouser. Given that both Cree and Mouser are making money at that price level, I would expect the production cost to be substantially less than that. It wouldn't surprise me if it costs Cree under $0.25 each to make XT-Es. So that's $5 for the LEDs, probably $2 for the driver, maybe another $2 for everything else. $9 for Cree to make, maybe they split the profit 50-50 with Home Depot with a wholesale price around $11.50 or so. Just guessing of course, but that's how these things usually work.
 
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bose301s

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Actually they gave all the employes one today. Made in Durham, NC

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2

So you work for Cree as well. I would have had mine today but I was of since I worked the weekend. Where do you work?
 

slebans

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Actually the lowest bin XP-Es are going for roughly $1 each in 1000s at Mouser. Given that both Cree and Mouser are making money at that price level, I would expect the production cost to be substantially less than that. It wouldn't surprise me if it costs Cree under $0.25 each to make XT-Es. So that's $5 for the LEDs, probably $2 for the driver, maybe another $2 for everything else. $9 for Cree to make, maybe they split the profit 50-50 with Home Depot with a wholesale price around $11.50 or so. Just guessing of course, but that's how these things usually work.

I used the Cree PCT to play with different XP-E bins before my original post. At 90% efficiency for both Power and Optical, using 20 LEDs, I needed to select one of the highest XP-E bins to arrive at the bulb's posted specs. I do agree with you that the public LED prices on any suppliers web site are nowhere near the actual cost of the product. If I remember correctly, Cree's average product margins ran into the mid 40s before the drop to the 30s last year.
 

bose301s

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I used the Cree PCT to play with different XP-E bins before my original post. At 90% efficiency for both Power and Optical, using 20 LEDs, I needed to select one of the highest XP-E bins to arrive at the bulb's posted specs. I do agree with you that the public LED prices on any suppliers web site are nowhere near the actual cost of the product. If I remember correctly, Cree's average product margins ran into the mid 40s before the drop to the 30s last year.
There is no way the bulb is using XP-E, has to be a misprint in the article. XT-E is MUCH cheaper than XP-E and also has more output, I am 99.999% sure it's XT-Es in there.
 

slebans

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There is no way the bulb is using XP-E, has to be a misprint in the article. XT-E is MUCH cheaper than XP-E and also has more output, I am 99.999% sure it's XT-Es in there.

I just went back and re-read the article - the author did mention "high voltage" so I would agree that is must be XT-E High Voltage. Also the bottom of the LED package in the article's photo matches that of the XT-E not the XP-E.
 
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