Cree to sell LED downlights at Home Depot

Gather App
Candle Power Forums

Help Support Candle Power:

'About frickin time. I've asked ours several times. I even talked to the manager about opening up a couple of LED lights to put them on a display so people could see what they're getting.

I just ordered my first one from Polar-ray. I need to test can spacing and whether or not it'll work- then order the remaining 15... sigh.
 
Got mine! I have been waiting to see how this looks in action. Here are some preview pictures.

imag0177.jpg


imag0178k.jpg


imag0179c.jpg
 
I received my first LR6-DR1000 last night. I'll be honest- I was a little underwhelmed.

I had been hoping to bypass cutting off the Edison connector and installing the whip so I pre-ordered 9 Edison-GU24 converters. Short story? It's about 1" too long now. I guess I'll be cutting it off and hope to remove the lights when I move.

The DR1000 puts out decent amount of light (I only ordered 1) but it wasn't nearly as bright as t he 65 watt reflector bulbs I typically use.

I also looked at the seam between the lighting module and the rest of the heat sink- and it looked like they didn't mate well- there was a very large gap around, which makes me question the manufacturing tolerances. At 120$ a pop that's a bit of a downer.

I'll get 3 more to install in this room and when it comes time for the next room... I may just end up putting in 2x as many fixtures and using the CR6 units. I'm hoping CREE will start making them in 'neutral' color as well, but from conversations with them they lose the efficiency rating the cooler they go (since by design they use saturated red and yellow LEDs).

Love to see photos when you're done!
 
In an old thread http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?p=3118325, I asked about thoughts for replacing these:

imag0161q.jpg


In these, I have 26W CFLs (100W equiv) and I always feel like they just aren't bright enough. There are four of them in a room that's 20'x24'.

In one corner, there's a 6" Downlight which faced the wall to light up pictures. I was able to remove that fixture and put the Cree/Ecosmart light in place of it. I then was able to remove the CFL next to it, since they were so close, it's my "test" so I can compare.

My wife then immediately called a friend who installs can lights and asked when he could come over and replace all of ours. My young son when asked said the cree light was much brighter. I feel it is too. The idea that we can once again dim these is a plus. I had to remove the dimmers to put the CFLs in.

I think they are going to work great for my situation. When i can figure out how to get some good photos of it in action, I will share. At $90 for the LR6 I was not ready to go forward, but for $50 for the Ecosmart version of the CR6, I'm ready.
 
The DR1000 puts out decent amount of light (I only ordered 1) but it wasn't nearly as bright as t he 65 watt reflector bulbs I typically use.
Click to expand...

I'm telling ya' the thermal constraints of these retrofits is going to end up killing the product industry before it even starts. Plus, if the light quality is that low there's some skepticism that this isn't 'upgrade' path for some of Crees better lights.

As a performance contrast, Evilc66 has been building and selling his own nicely done PAR 38s, and he's getting around 21watts with carefull attention to thermal. However, the lights here have to contend with the ceilings and bulk heads. If you're wroking with just a drop ceiling, or have some good space above your ceiling, then there's no reason we can't crank up the lumens.
 
Hmm...I suppose if I had a suitable rectifier I could run really long strips of 5mm LEDs in-series without even needing a transformer.

However, a PnP solution would be ideal, since it's going in my dad's house and I don't want to have to drive over every time something isn't working right.
 
fyrstormer said:
Hmm...I suppose if I had a suitable rectifier I could run really long strips of 5mm LEDs in-series without even needing a transformer.

However, a PnP solution would be ideal, since it's going in my dad's house and I don't want to have to drive over every time something isn't working right.
Click to expand...
Yes, there is a simple circuit to do that. See this post. If you have a specific number of LEDs in mind, I can give you component values.
 
I will see what I can do, it’s a little intimidating :)
The light source seems to be much more concentrated behind the diffuser. I don’t think it has nearly the number of LEDs that the LR6 has.
 
lostsoul01 said:
I will see what I can do, it’s a little intimidating :)
The light source seems to be much more concentrated behind the diffuser. I don’t think it has nearly the number of LEDs that the LR6 has.
Click to expand...

Appreciate it.

I'm not sure what models are out there. Hence the interest- especially since HD only seems to be carrying the CR6s... which are only 2700K.

I also note that all of CREE's units to polar-ray were sold out... which means perhaps a production cap?
 
Here are some images. First, I tried to show how the two lights compare. I know you can't tell from the photo, but they are very similar. Sitting under the cree light feels much brighter.

I cannot figure out how to get the lens removed without breaking off those tabs. I'm still trying to think of what to do next.

The dark grey bottom housing is plastic. The entire white part is metal, which I imagine works as part of the heatsink. It's connected to that silver base. The leds must be right on the other side of it.

I've plugged this in a table lamp and let it run for hours, it does not even get warm!

dsc04436r.jpg


dsc04503s.jpg


dsc04502b.jpg


dsc04500w.jpg


dsc04501q.jpg


dsc04499c.jpg
 
Hi, its a nice enough package, but I can tell you already that setup will never hit even 10K hours with that driver arrangement. Those caps are only rated to 1 - 2,000 hrs unless Cree has done something special in the use of them.

I really wish that the market would stop imagining that everyone likes 2700 K, low CRI lighting. I will take 4000 - 5000 K broad spectrum anyday.
 
I got a desk lamp from ikea, it has a LED bulb rated at 290 lumens, 2700K. Are the emitters in these things any good, or are they just super cheap/inefficient? I really like the color.
 
HarryN said:
I really wish that the market would stop imagining that everyone likes 2700 K, low CRI lighting. I will take 4000 - 5000 K broad spectrum anyday.
Click to expand...
+1.

That's been my major pet peeve with CFLs for years. I had hoped we wouldn't make the same mistake with LED but I guess I wished for too much.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Back
Top