Walmart's "Great Value" LED bulbs

Anyone have any experience with these? They just started showing up in my local Walmarts. They're UBER cheap compared to most of these other LED lamps I've seen sitting on the shelves. I picked up a 12w 650 lumen PAR30 lamp for $15. So far it seems to be trucking along nicely.

I've been using more than a dozen 5w (40w) blunt-tip candelabra bulbs with great success.

In the picture below, the Philips bulb is rated 3.5W and 180 lumens. The Great Value is rated 5W and 300 lumens.

Wal*Mart's is cheaper ($11 vs $16) and brighter.

They also have a 4W/200 lumen version.

Other choices are dimmable or not dimmable, daylight (5000K) or soft white (2700K).

While the cooler version of this bulb color is not rated for more lumens, it lights the room noticeably brighter. Based on my personal comparison, the lumen rating is probably based on the light output of the bright white version and they label the soft white version the same.

EngrPaul said:

While the cooler version of this bulb color is not rated for more lumens, it lights the room noticeably brighter. Based on my personal comparison, the lumen rating is probably based on the light output of the bright white version and they label the soft white version the same.

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I think this is quite likely, based on my experiences with other LED bulbs. It seems many companies make a line of a certain shape of LED bulbs, and whoever is labeling the packaging does not seem to be aware that the different color options have different lumen amounts. or perhaps they just label them all the same to make it less complicated

In terms of the distribution of light with these bulbs, it is quite nice. I cannot speak for the light quality or color, but the light distribution is good. I saw some of these bulbs in a Stockholm hotel lobby, looked quite decorative and nice. I would not use them as a main source of light, however.

Anders Hoveland said:

I think this is quite likely, based on my experiences with other LED bulbs. It seems many companies make a line of a certain shape of LED bulbs, and whoever is labeling the packaging does not seem to be aware that the different color options have different lumen amounts. or perhaps they just label them all the same to make it less complicated

In terms of the distribution of light with these bulbs, it is quite nice. I cannot speak for the light quality or color, but the light distribution is good. I saw some of these bulbs in a Stockholm hotel lobby, looked quite decorative and nice. I would not use them as a main source of light, however.

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For the same lumens, a cool white LED will be perceived as brighter than a warm white version even though they measure the same. I thought the Walmart lights were Energy Star in which case the measurements should be pretty much accurate and the warm and cool ones would both have been measured.

Semiman

Anybody see any UL/CSA/ETL labelling on the bulb?

I have noticed in the past cheap Chinese LED bulbs have 2 major errors. Because they do not have internal labs to actually measure things they make educated guesses.
- Lumens are calculated or worse the highest number is copied from the LED manufacturer's website. (Worst case is the 900 lumen SSC-P7 flashlight even after SSC revised the max output to 800 lumens.)
- Power is LED power, not line power. A 5 Luxeon 1 LED bulb is often quoted as 5 watts. 5 Luxeons use 6.25 watts at 350 mA. Add in 85% efficiency of the supporting electronics and the 5 watt bulb is over 7 watts.
(Hint: UL won't test LED bulbs for safety until input power/output lumens is tested by a UL approved lab.)

Philips has a 4 watt 320 lumen candle bulb on HD.ca (post bulb on HD.com). Unfortunately it only has an E26 base (E14 230V in the amazon.co.uk).
I think Philips is waiting to clear their 3W 180 lumen old stock before releasing the bulb with a E12 base. Meanwhile the factory that makes the old Philips bulb continue making variations of them and selling them to Walmart.

UL listed for Canada and USA
Shows up on the packaging and the bulb.

RoHS Compliant.

Has a high power factor (confirmed at 95% by my kill-a-watt)

Made in China.

Looks like they have it online now. In-store purchase only though.

Soft white example:
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Great-Val...Value-LED-Deco-Light-Bulb-Soft-White/25524357

Daylight example:
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Great-Val...light-LED-Deco-Light-Bulb-Soft-White/25524360


I tried both versions in my office fan light which has candelabra sockets. The glass on the fan light is amber-ish. The 40W soft white GV's are not quite effective enough for me, while the 40W daylight is just fine. They are better than 60W CFL's they replaced, which were soft white.