Where to buy LED bulbs?

[s-one]

Hi all,

I'm looking for a cost effective place to purchase my LED bulbs for many parts of my house. Looking at Home Depot, Lowes, Walmart, Amazon.com and some of the other online retailers I'm just not sure where's a good place to buy. I guess probably looking into exactly which bulbs I need to purchases than hunting down for the best price is were I should start but is there a particular place you all are buying from? I want to replace candelera(sp), ceiling fan (dimmables), recessed lights (dimmables), bathroom mirror bulbs etc.. .just a lot I want to replace.

thanks kindly!

 

[Lynx_Arc]

Start reading reviews, right now the LED replacement "bulb" market is in its infancy it is not a good time to swap everything for LED at all but there are a few instances LEDs would be fine. The cost for LED bulbs is way too high for higher lumen output bulbs and chandelier type LED bulbs haven't been reviewed here but in the stores they look to have low lumen outputs and efficiency is not encouraging either just matching CFLs with costs.... ugh.
My advice is to use CFLs for most but chandeliers... hold off on the chandeliers till better bulbs come out with better emitters in them. Research LED lighting patterns to match bulb placement. They have some that look good in drop down or ceiling lights but for table lamps they might not be acceptable. Dimmables could be an issue for sure research carefully. non standard bulb sizes like bathroom mirror bulbs.... forget it for now the ones for those are crummy 5mm LEDs.... they won't last a year without dimming like mad.
In other words LED bulbs for hard to get to bulbs, heavy usage low output lights (60w or less) for now IMO.
Read very carefully the efficiency... bring a calculator to do a lumens/watt on them as many don't surpass CFLs... but they want 4-20 times as much for them they won't save you a dime in use.

 

[deadrx7conv]

Like CFLs, some LED bulbs do not dim too well.
Don't get your hopes up on the LED bulb labels as you'll probably need new dimmers.

LED turn on full power quickly and don't have the slower warmup of a CFL.

Halogens can be used in some places and can be 1/4 to 1/3 less wattage than a normal incan.

My recommendation is to buy them where you can return them. Stick with local hardware or departmant stores. In some locations, they'll work just fine. In others, you'll want a CFL, halogen, or regular incan.

Most of the candelabra LED bulbs are pathetic. I've seen a couple on ebay in the 4 to 5 watt range that might be acceptable. But, don't expect to replace 40 or 60w E12 bulbs with anything LED yet.

 

[LEDninja]

:welcome:

There has been a major change in the affordable reasonable brightness LED bulbs at the major hardware stores this year.
I bought Philips 7W 155 lumens last year. CAD$40.
I bought Philips 8W 410 lumens this year. CAD$25.
Philips 9W 470 lumens currently in Home Depot Canada's catalog. CAD$25.
All 3 are listed as 40W equivalent!!!
The online stores are still selling out of date bulbs from last year. For once it does not pay to shop online. You are most likely to get the dimmer bulbs.
And stay away from the Hong Kong/China online/ebay sites. NONE of their bulbs have the UL/CSA/ETA listing that they meet minimum North American safety standards. A badly built flashlight simply does not work. A badly designed or built fixed lighting bulb can burn down your house. And a lot of those bulbs are 5000°K cool white to 6500° cold white.

At the $10-25 range you get 40W (CFL 9-11W) equivalents.

-Finally! A decent LED bulb for $10 (review) 7.5 watts, 430 lumens.
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?313596-Finally!-A-decent-LED-bulb-for-10-(review)

-EcoSmart A-19 40 watt LED (<$20 Home Depot) 8.6W 429 lumens.
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?284926-EcoSmart-40-watt-LED

-Zetalux 2 standard (~$20 Earthled.com) 6W 300 lumens.
-Zetalux 2 pro (~$35 Earthled.com) 7W 450 lumens.
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?307285-Zetalux-2-standard-and-pro
-There is a picture of the Philips 8W remote phosphor bulb at the bottom of the '2nd post'. (CAD$25 Home Depot Canada) 8W 410 lumens.

At the $40 range you get 60W (CFL 13-15W) equivalents.

Philips 12w Teardown (~CAD$40 Home Depot Canada) 12W 800 lumens.
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?308557-Philips-12w-Teardown

New EcoSmart 60 watt equivelent A-19 LED bulbs
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb...uivelent-A-19-LED-bulbs-75-watt-R30-eqivelent

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How much cooling airflow is in your recessed downlights? LED and CFL bulbs do not like hot environments/enclosed fixtures.

LED 'bulbs' specially built for downlights are Cree's LR6 and CR6.
Hacking the LR6/CR6 Lighting Modules
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?289164-Hacking-the-LR6-CR6-Lighting-Modules
Cree LR6 vs. CR6 including color temp?
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?312165-Cree-LR6-vs.-CR6-including-color-temp

If there is airflow through the cans you will probably get away with a reflector CFL or LED equivalent.
Trying out the new Home Depot EcoSmart LED BR30 bulb
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb...out-the-new-Home-Depot-EcoSmart-LED-BR30-bulb

-----

For chandelier bulbs:
Philips decoled 3 watt dimmable chandelier bulb
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb...ilips-decoled-3-watt-dimmable-chandelier-bulb

 

[s-one]

Omgosh that was so helpful Ledninja. Unless you know exactly what you're looking for the various differences its hard to choose and save money. I'm not sure about the airflow in my recessed lights but I think they are pretty standard type cans that are closed. And excellent idea about local stores and returnablity. Thank you!

 

[purduephotog]

Hacking the LR6/CR6 Lighting Modules
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/...ghting-Modules

Just a comment here- these are installed in air-tight IC (insulation contact) cans. They still rock 🙂

I am waiting to see the new Cree LMR4 modules that are 1000 lumen- and what their pricing is. If they're significantly cheaper than the DR1000 units then I will swap out the CR6 units with them.

 

[LEDninja]

I'm not sure about the airflow in my recessed lights but I think they are pretty standard type cans that are closed.

Just stay with the Cree CR6/LR6. They have a huge 6" bottom to radiate heat down into the room. There are other models such as LR4 for the smaller potlights and one with the GU24 base required by California law as well as brighter versions already listed by purduephotog.

 

[s-one]

Ok perhaps I'll look into cr6 for hallways and look into the lmr4 for the kitchen. Thanks.

 

[purduephotog]

Ok perhaps I'll look into cr6 for hallways and look into the lmr4 for the kitchen. Thanks.

You can check out Polar-ray.com too- I had good luck there. Decent prices but it seems across the board its pretty constant.

 

[jcp]

I just found a 9watt bulb from a vendor who sells LED products at a local flea market for $24 here in Northern California. The box is labelled 850lumens. I'm thinking that's optimistic although I dont have any way of measuring it. The light seems brighter than a 20w CFL i replaced with it. (although that CFL was about 3 years old).

 

[Steve K]

I am waiting to see the new Cree LMR4 modules that are 1000 lumen- and what their pricing is. If they're significantly cheaper than the DR1000 units then I will swap out the CR6 units with them.

Being the clueless person that I am, I just stumbled across the LMR4 (in one of the trade magazines). Not a bad design.... Cree even has some videos on youtube to provide an overview. I see that Digi-key has the 700 lumen version available for $55, which seems like it might be a hard sell considering what an equivalent CFL sells for (although the LMR4 is a complete fixture, and not just a bulb).

Should be interesting to see how the market and products develop.

regards,
Steve K.