Halogens Preferred Over LED Replacements

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PaulJohnStark

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Most CFL and LED light sources have a CRI (Color Rating Index) in the mid 80's but Halogen Bulbs have a perfect rating of 100 (Agrell 102).

The Halogens I use for lighting the main room in my house, and for reading desk-lamps, can be bought at Batteries + Bulbs for about $1.75 a piece. They run at 43 watts but are the equivalent of the old 60 watt bulbs (Meyer).

Some new 60w equivalent LED bulbs feature 93+ CRIs such as the BlueMax™ 9w Dimmable LED but they can cost around $21.00 a piece ("BlueMax™ 9w Dimmable LED"). For that much for a single 93+ CRI LED, a consumer could buy a dozen 100 CRI halogens and have spares in case of breakage. As technology is ever improving the long life of new LEDs may outlast the high investment cost.

The BlueMax 16w G30 Globe 60w CFL costs around $12.00 each when bought in bulk, but still only have a 93+ CRI and I would rather have 6 or 7 halogen bulbs with perfect CRI for that money ("BlueMax 16w G30 Globe 60w CFL").

As mentioned, technology is always improving but for now, for my money, I would go with the perfect 100 CRI, 60w equivalent, halogen bulbs, because they simply have the highest quality of light, are cheap and will not outlast the initial investment, and if one breaks the replacement cost doesn't break the bank!


Works Cited
Agrell, David. "Understanding LED Lightbulbs." Popular Mechanics. 191.2 (2014): 100-102. Academic Search Premier. Web. 5 Apr. 2016. http://0-web.b.ebscohost.com.catalo...3987c4b78e@sessionmgr198&vid=6&hid=101&bdata= JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbG12ZQ%3d%3d#AN=94424560&db=ap
"BlueMax™ 9w Dimmable LED." Full Spectrum Solutions. 19 Apr. 2016. Web. 19 Apr. 2016. http://www.fullspectrumsolutions.com/full_spectrum_led_hd_bulbs_143_ctg.htm
"BlueMax 16w G30 Globe 60w CFL." Full Spectrum Solutions. 19 Apr. 2016. Web. 19 Apr. 2016. http://www.fullspectrumsolutions.com/14w_globe_674_prd1.htm
Meyer, Tom. Personal Interview. 26 March 2016.
 

bykfixer

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Welcome to the site.

I'm using some kryptons from Batteries + Bulbs in table lamps that require the round globe to hold the shade.

But will certainly try those halogens. Thanks for the tip.
(Gives me an excuse to buy some batteries for flashlights anyway)
 

SemiMan

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Most CFL and LED light sources have a CRI (Color Rating Index) in the mid 80's but Halogen Bulbs have a perfect rating of 100 (Agrell 102).

The Halogens I use for lighting the main room in my house, and for reading desk-lamps, can be bought at Batteries + Bulbs for about $1.75 a piece. They run at 43 watts but are the equivalent of the old 60 watt bulbs (Meyer).

Some new 60w equivalent LED bulbs feature 93+ CRIs such as the BlueMax™ 9w Dimmable LED but they can cost around $21.00 a piece ("BlueMax™ 9w Dimmable LED"). For that much for a single 93+ CRI LED, a consumer could buy a dozen 100 CRI halogens and have spares in case of breakage. As technology is ever improving the long life of new LEDs may outlast the high investment cost.

The BlueMax 16w G30 Globe 60w CFL costs around $12.00 each when bought in bulk, but still only have a 93+ CRI and I would rather have 6 or 7 halogen bulbs with perfect CRI for that money ("BlueMax 16w G30 Globe 60w CFL").

As mentioned, technology is always improving but for now, for my money, I would go with the perfect 100 CRI, 60w equivalent, halogen bulbs, because they simply have the highest quality of light, are cheap and will not outlast the initial investment, and if one breaks the replacement cost doesn't break the bank!


Works Cited
Agrell, David. "Understanding LED Lightbulbs." Popular Mechanics. 191.2 (2014): 100-102. Academic Search Premier. Web. 5 Apr. 2016. http://0-web.b.ebscohost.com.catalo...3987c4b78e@sessionmgr198&vid=6&hid=101&bdata= JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbG12ZQ%3d%3d#AN=94424560&db=ap
"BlueMax™ 9w Dimmable LED." Full Spectrum Solutions. 19 Apr. 2016. Web. 19 Apr. 2016. http://www.fullspectrumsolutions.com/full_spectrum_led_hd_bulbs_143_ctg.htm
"BlueMax 16w G30 Globe 60w CFL." Full Spectrum Solutions. 19 Apr. 2016. Web. 19 Apr. 2016. http://www.fullspectrumsolutions.com/14w_globe_674_prd1.htm
Meyer, Tom. Personal Interview. 26 March 2016.


CRI is NOT a measure of "quality" simply of how close it matches a black body radiator.
If you run your bulbs for any period of time, the electricity costs (and pollution) will far outweigh the LED cost.
 
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verdum

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What is the cost of 1 kW of electricity in your country ? I suppose you are from the USA ?
Just wanna to compare :)
For me the best way looks like I should use halogens in table lamps and custom built HI CRI led lamps as main light.
 

kingofwylietx

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I'm in the USA, specifically, Texas. 1kW hour is right about $0.11 US.

I have LEDs in all our fixtures except the formal dining room. That room isn't used often, so I'd never recoup the cost of switching to LED in there. Beyond that, the switch has a dimmer and I really like the incandescent light in that room...it's very comfortable (especially at lower levels). The incandescents in the formal are halogen, I think they consume around 43 watts for putting out equivalent lumens as an old 60 watt bulb.
 

fyrstormer

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BREAKING NEWS: Old people prefer quality light.
If you consider light that contains only trace amounts of blue to be "quality", sure. The fact that halogen lights have a 100CRI rating is irrelevant if the spectrum balance sucks. You know what else has a 100CRI rating? Lava. It's light comes from heat alone, therefore lava has a 100CRI rating, but I sure wouldn't want to use that light to read, work on stuff, or anything else involving actually seeing clearly.

I like the extra blue light from LED bulbs. I can actually see properly without getting splitting headaches. And now that they're selling LED bulbs with 90CRI ratings, I can have high efficiency, a blue-spike, and excellent color rendering all at once. And they last far longer than any incan ever could.
 
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CoveAxe

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Not OP, but I'll answer anyway:

citation needed

CRI is a measure of how well a light spectrum matches a black body radiator. Incandescents and lava both fit the black body light curve extremely well. So OP is correct to say that lava has a CRI of 100 (or very very close to it).



I think OP meant in terms of a practical light bulb. The centennial bulb is so dim that it's effectively useless for anything other than decoration.
 

nbp

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Most of the trolling going on is from other members as far as I can see. If you don't have anything useful to add, well, you know what mom always said. :ironic:
 

harro

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The led replacement bulbs are fairly popular in AUS. where our power costs are around $0.35AUD per kwh ( about $0.30USD ). We also replace our old 4' fluro tubes with the led options. A "proper" incan lightglobe s no longer available here, apart from a few decorative styles. The only option, if you want incan, is halogen ( bayonet or edison screw bases ).

:mecry:
 
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Most of the trolling going on is from other members as far as I can see. If you don't have anything useful to add, well, you know what mom always said. :ironic:

OP still has only 1 post. Or I should say one that was deleted and then restored apparently for a class...

There have been almost 2 dozen DOE articles on color in the past year. My point was someone took the time to cite links, called a specific brand product, and then disappeared.

http://www.ledsmagazine.com/article...olor-metrics-for-characterizing-lighting.html


http://energy.gov/eere/ssl/events/webinar-understanding-and-applying-tm-30-15
 
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nbp

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If it was trolling or spamming it was a pretty milquetoast attempt. Don't worry so much. :)
 

JoakimFlorence

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Halogen has superior light over LED, especially if we are not talking about the higher CRI LED lights.
That being said, there are many situations where light quality and optimal color rendering are not extremely important. Probably in many places using reflector lamps, LEDs make more sense; they don't need to be constantly replaced and use less energy, so it works well leaving the lights on all the time.

There is one thing I have to say though. When I'm sitting back relaxing, or writing paperwork, 3000K halogen can sometimes seem a little glaring on my eyes. Normally I might prefer just to go with a slightly lower color temperature (if I can find it, usually the "longer life" halogen bulbs), but if that wasn't an option I might just go with 3000K LED. When you start getting that tungsten filament extra hot it starts putting out a lot of short wavelengths, not the same "soft easy on the eyes" light anymore.

I just can't go with LED bulbs in the living room. They suck out all the color from the room!
and I haven't been able to find "high CRI" ones that will work (put out enough light, put out light in all directions, that will be able to fit in the lamp, etc)

I have replaced the lamp in the entryway with LED, only because it gets left on all the time, and before the bulbs kept burning out and the lamp is high up and hard to access, but I have noticed a loss of color in this part of the house; the surroundings seem a little drab and greyish now. It's noticeable.
 
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SemiMan

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Halogen has superior light over LED, especially if we are not talking about the higher CRI LED lights.
That being said, there are many situations where light quality and optimal color rendering are not extremely important. Probably in many places using reflector lamps, LEDs make more sense; they don't need to be constantly replaced and use less energy, so it works well leaving the lights on all the time.

There is one thing I have to say though. When I'm sitting back relaxing, or writing paperwork, 3000K halogen can sometimes seem a little glaring on my eyes. Normally I might prefer just to go with a slightly lower color temperature (if I can find it, usually the "longer life" halogen bulbs), but if that wasn't an option I might just go with 3000K LED. When you start getting that tungsten filament extra hot it starts putting out a lot of short wavelengths, not the same "soft easy on the eyes" light anymore.

I just can't go with LED bulbs in the living room. They suck out all the color from the room!
and I haven't been able to find "high CRI" ones that will work (put out enough light, put out light in all directions, that will be able to fit in the lamp, etc)

I have replaced the lamp in the entryway with LED, only because it gets left on all the time, and before the bulbs kept burning out and the lamp is high up and hard to access, but I have noticed a loss of color in this part of the house; the surroundings seem a little drab and greyish now. It's noticeable.


Anders Hoveland, why are you posting under 2 different names?
 

nbp

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This thread has run it's course and I'm closing it. Please refrain from commenting on Moderator actions and bannings. See the CPF rules if you have questions.
 
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