No more twisty bulbs for me! I’ve installed a new LED lighting system for my home that beats twisty bulbs in every way. It has been awhile since I discussed technology here, so this will be an interesting diversion for many readers.
I’ve always been a fan of alternate energy and improved energy efficiency, and I don’t just write about it like some people we know, I do things about it. I try out new things, I do the work. Longtime readers of my blog know that I’ve done two solar power projects, drive an electric car for my local short distance jaunts (I have two now, a really sharp new model, but that’s another story). I’ve put a 10KW solar array on my home, plus a 125 KW solar array on one of our local schools when I was a school trustee. I’ve retrofitted my home with CFL’s in some places, as well as installed timer switches on many of our most commonly used lights. I live in an an Energy Star rated home. However, I’ve not been all that pleased with the lighting that came with the house. Now I’ve changed the largest wattage draw of lighting in my house from incandescent to LED lighting.
No matter what you think about the veracity of global warming claims, there’s really not much of an argument anyone can make against improved energy efficiency as a way of reducing all emissions, not just CO2. Literally, CO2 sucks all the oxygen out of the energy efficiency issue. The goals of full spectrum pollutant reduction can also be accomplished via improved energy efficiency, and with much less rancor, in my opinion.
I’ve never liked the twisty fluorescent bulbs, even when practically given away. They are slow to illuminate, don’t live up to manufacturer’s lifetime claims, and contain toxic mercury making them a disposal hazard. Watts to like?
Up until now, I hadn’t liked the color temperature of the light that LED bulbs had put out. They were mostly a harsh blue-white. Now, that’s been solved.
So that was my weekend project, improving my energy efficiency. It was painless, fast, and the result was fantastic.
The problem: 5 recessed incandescent lighting fixtures each with a 65 watt bulb for a total draw of 325 watts. My kids leave the hallway lights on constantly as it is the most trafficked area of the house.
The solution: swap in LED recessed lighting fixtures at 12 watts each for a total draw of 60 watts
A liberal professor friend in the bay area (who also happened to be best man at my wedding) turned me on to these new recessed incandescent fixture replacements from a company called CREE Lighting. I was impressed the first moment I saw the light they produced. It was warm, not harsh, and even better, it worked on a dimmer control.
The neatest trick with these lights is that they combine yellow and white LED’s in a matrix to get a color temperature that is 2700K or 3500K (your choice) which makes them give similar light to incandescents. Here’s what they look like inside:
Besides making less heat through lower power consumption, They also seal against the ceiling better than incandescent recessed lighting fixtures which are essentially open to the attic.
Here is what it looks like outside:
I bought one for my office immediately, to put directly over my desk, replacing a 75 watt flood in a recessed fixture. It worked out great, so I decided to do my entire house hallway of 5 fixtures.
Here’s the details on this new technology:
Product Description
The LR6 is a downlight module for new construction and retrofit that installs easily in most standard six inch recessed IC or non-IC housings. The LR6 generates white light with LED’s in a new way that enables an unprecedented combination of light output, high efficacy, beautiful color, and affordability. U.S. Patent # 7,213,940 issued. Numerous patents pending.
Performance Summary
• Utilizes Cree TrueWhite™ technology
• Nominal delivered light output = 650 lumens
• Nominal input power = 10.5 Watts
• CRI = 90
• CCT = 2700K or 3500K
• Dimmable to 20%
• Three Year Warranty
Cree TrueWhite™ Technology
• A better way to generate white light that utilizes a patented mixture of unsaturated yellow and saturated red LEDs.
• Tuned to optimal color point before shipment.
• Color management system maintains color consistency over time and temperature.
• Designed to last 50,000 hours and maintain at least 70%
of initial lumen output.
Construction
• Durable die-cast aluminum upper housing, lower housing, and upper cover.
• Integrated thermal management system conducts heat away from LED’s and transfers it to the surrounding environment. LED junction temperatures stay below specified maximums even when installed in attic insulation with temperatures exceeding 60 degrees Celsius.
Optical System
• Proprietary optical system utilizes a unique combination of reflective and refractive optical components to achieve a uniform, comfortable appearance. Pixelation and direct view of unshielded LED’s is eliminated.
• White Lower Reflector balances brightness of refractor with the ceiling to create comfortable high-angle appearance. Works with refractor to deliver an optimized distribution that illuminates walls and vertical surfaces increasing the perception of spaciousness.
Electrical System
• Integral, high efficiency driver and power supply. Power factor > 0.9 Input voltage = 120V, 60Hz
• Dimmable to 20% with certain incandescent dimmers (reference www.CreeLEDLighting.com for recommended dimmers)
Regulatory and Voluntary Qualifications
• Tested and certified to UL standards. Suitable for damp locations.
• Utilize GU-24 base for new construction projects in California or other areas where high efficacy line voltage sockets are required.
• Exceeds California Title-24 high efficacy luminaire requirements.
• ENERGY STAR® qualified Solid-State Lighting Luminaire.
Full Spec sheet here
The company has a savings calculator here
Installation was easy. I’ve photo documented it below. If you are interested in reading how, here is the installation manual in PDF form, and more info here.
FIRST and most importantly: turn off your a/c circuit breaker that supplies power to the lights.
The box:
The contents:
The top with special socket:
One of the five incandescent flood lights to be replaced:
Beginning disassembly, take out the bulb, pull down the trim ring:
Squeeze the spring clips and pop them off:
Cut the wires off the existing socket:
Install the wire splice block:
Add the new socket and crimp the splice block:
Socket installed:
Final step, all it takes is two twists. I couldn’t hold the camera and do this so I’m relying on diagrams. Twist the socket onto the fixture, push the fixture into the hole and twist until it locks into place:
New LED fixture installed:
Can you tell which ones are the incandescent floods and which one is the LED light?
The one in the foreground is the LED lighting. It puts out more light than the floods it replaced, and uses 1/5th the energy.
All done, three in the main hall, one in each side hallway are not shown:
Want one? Get them here from a company that operates in my town, called Lighting Direct:
UPDATE: I got called away before I could finish this post, so here’s a few more points on why I’ve done this swap.
1) I’m usually an early adopter of technology, this is something I’ve been looking forward to. But it is not for everybody yet.
2) I bought a 5 pack, so I got 20% off. You can call the company at the link listed above and ask for similar discounts. There’s also other sources online: here, here. Some commenters have asked about screw in LED models, here’s one also based on CREE’s patented LED illumination engine.
3) In California, I won’t be able to buy incandescent bulbs soon. This was my way of beating the state mandate on my own terms.
4) These have an advertised life of 50,000 hours. I figure if they log 8 hours per day, I’ll get 17 years out of them. They’ll pay back long before that.
5) CFL floods aren’t that cheap either, and from experience I only get 2 years out of them. For example I can buy a CFL flood at my local ACE Hardware for $14.99 plus tax. If I have to replace it every 2 years, I’m into some significant cash and significant disposal issues in a few years. Even with the higher cost of the LED units, I see myself as still being ahead in the long run and I’m not generating mercury toxic waste.
6) These lights are sealed, so there’s no air leakage to/from the attic. This should help on heating/cooling issues since when the wind blew above 15mph I could feel air being blown into the old recessed lighting fixtures. Not anymore. It will keep dust and attic insulation fibers out of the house also.
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Something not mentioned is reliability and safety. Incandescent light bulbs are dirt simple, consisting of a single resistor (filament) across the mains supply. They are inherently safe because a failure results in the filament opening and removing itself from the circuit.
I mention this because my house nearly burned down due to electronic ballast failure in my garage fluorescent light fixtures (48″ or 1.2m). Silicon invariably fails “shorted” but the ballast design was such that it caused a soft failure; the current wasn’t sufficient to blow its internal fuse. This resulted in significant heat dissipation on the ballast printer circuit board. The ballast caught fire and melted through the plastic covering. The fixtures were recessed into the ceiling, there were soot marks on the ceiling and a puddle of molten plastic on the floor. The rafters and house could have caught on fire.
These were 50W fixtures and it happened on a hot summer’s day. LEDs require a regulated current so I’m guessing the electronics is a high-frequency line voltage buck regulator configured as a current source via a feedback network. That places several silicon devices across the mains inputs.
My day job? I design sub-1kW servomotor drives and amplifiers. I had all the electronic ballasted fluorescent light fixtures replaced with transformer ballasted ones at my company. At home I prefer the warmth of incandescent lighting and like knowing they won’t kill me while I sleep.:-)
REPLY:Lights don’t kill people, ballasts do. No argument there, but what to do when incandescents are outlawed? Will only outlaws have incandescent? – A
Thanks for this information. I recently bought a LED light for over the kitchen sink and it only uses about 5w of power. I like it but it has a bluish tint to it. I wasn’t aware that you can get these LEDs with more realistic light color.
And as far as I’m concerned, we should skip fluorescents and go right to LEDs.
Light shines on more problems for Pachy:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/environment/climatechange/7182567/Dr-R.K.-Pachauri-Indian-climate-chief-endures-attacks-at-home.html
vigilantfish (18:58:07) :
OT – anyone notice the dreadful AUDI ad during the Superbowl? AUDI sure misread the national mood, with AUDI’s car getting the nod from the Green Police. Up to the end I thought that the ad was spoofing green fanaticism, but it actually ends up with the AUDI driver getting the nod from the Green Gestapo.
______________________________________________________________________________
I was watching with my football mate, a great friend from back east, a Connecticut Yankee and liberal, of course.
He was amused by my strong reaction to the Audi commercial, telling me to relax, they’re trying to be humorous. I informed him that it was anything but humorous, given the huge numbers of intolerant, tolerance-preaching liberals who actually “feel” we need eco police.
The crowning moment was the last shot as I saw “Bridgeport Police” painted on the side of the cop cruiser. I looked at Len and said, “I do believe Bridgeport is in Connecticut.”
He about spit up his drink; gotcha! The commercial sucked the southernmost part of a north-bound horse, btw.
I wouldn’t hold your breath on the 50,000 hours with the Cree light. I work for an LED light fixture manufacturer and like most LED lighting companies Cree is making claims they probably will not be able to back up. That goes for standard lighting companies as well. Thermal management is the issue with LED’s and stuffing them up into a ceiling with this particular fixture will cause the life to diminish.
REPLY: Maybe, but in the 30 years I’ve been working with LED’s I’ve never had a single one burn out on it’s own. Even if I got 1/3 less from these, I’d still be happy with them. -A
I’ve looked at different packaging of LED lights and they are presently still price prohibitive. CFC’s are harsh and annoying in some aspects but in my location where you are heating 8 months of the year it is hard to justify a 60 dollar LED light bulb. If it would keep the comfort hounds from howling for AC for the 2 months of the year it would actually come on, that would be something … however the best tool for that is the off switch on their means of reading WUWT.
Anthony, did I understand you correctly to say that they have an LED Edison screw in base version that would work for lamps as well as overhead can lights? I certainly am electrically challenged and wouldn’t want to risk doing the fix you have suggested (although it’s certainly a capital idea). I don’t have any recessed lighting in my house; I have one overhead can fixed to shine in my living room. I don’t use it very often. I have LEDs installed underneath my kitchen cabinets and they work quite well, I like them a lot, as well as an LED night light. All of my other lights are either twisty or halogen bulbs, and they have lasted me for at least three or four years so far – I’ve only had to replace one since I bought them.
REPLY: check the links in the article for the screw base versions
Well, I have no problems with the CFLs. I’ve never broken one, maybe some off brands take a long time to get to brightness, but I haven’t had to change a bulb in 4 years. And we use the Daylight bulbs in some spots, nice bright lighting. When they have an LED that’s cheap and that will fit in an existing outlet, I’ll give them a try.
One of the commenters posted bad numbers for lumens per watt. Rough numbers that look right to me are ~10 lumens/watt for incandescent and ~100 lumens/watt for flourescent. I’ll believe higher numbers for LEDs when I see them. It looks like they’re starting to get into the low range for flourescents.
I recently remodeled a medium-sized (< 400 sq ft) room. I put in IC cans with airtight inserts. I use incandescents mostly because of the dimmers. One benefit of running incandescents in the winter is that the lighting will maintain about a 30-degree F differential with no other heat source, and that's with a 20-foot glass wall. Yes, I used energy-efficient glass and plenty of insulation.
I haven't tried dimmable CFLs – I'm nervous about the "works with most dimmers" bit. Anybody have experience with these?
I agree with len about the winter effect on the economics. I sit here in my office with a 900 watt electric space heater with a thermostat. It dawned on me how stupid I was for using a CFC in my lamp so I replaced it with a three-way 150 watt incandescent. The light is better, and I suspect there is no net energy increase.
Come summertime there may be a difference, but with the increased daylight, there’s a whole lot less need for artificial lighting.
The true gains wont be made until all new installations use LED lighting…and they stop with the MASSIVE amount of copper required for housing construction. Think about it… your entire lighting circuit for that hallway is now at least 10 times oversized.
Here in Tassie you must have any electric fittings done by a handyman passed by an electrician.If improperly fitted lighting caused a fire,your insurance company would not pay out.Of course when something is done under a green agenda(why else the foil?),all regulations go out the window.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/property/roof-insulation-turns-houses-live/story-e6frg9gx-1225827643226
I love the lighting,and I hope you will publish any cons that may crop up.
“PaulH from Scotland (14:21:44) :
I lived in Auckland from 1995 to 2005 and I couldn’t believe how cold most houses got in the winter.
I had thought that moving from chilly Scotland to the warmer North Island of New Zealand would be a temperate blessing.
Wooden houses + minimal insulation + no central heating. Brrrrr!
Perhaps that’s the reason Ugg boots came about?”
I lived in Wellington until 2005, but Wellington is much much colder (Home to the Brass Monkey Cafe) than Auckland. House contruction always struck me as odd. Most houses the walls are ~125mm thick, typically uninsulated. Inner dry wall (GIB Board) 10mm, 100mm air gap standard wood construction, plus exterior weatherboarding, ~15mm.
Fortunately my house was newer and insulated but it was rather large requiring a 26Kw log burner to heat it. The house was located in a region that had the most expensive electricity prices too. I learned to like low voltage lighting.
I have my house wired with X10 light controllers, so CFL’s are a real problem for me.
I’m intriqued by L.E.D. lighting, as it seems it might be a better fit for my switches.
I’ve actually replaced most of the lights in my house with dimmable CFL’s and cold cathode bulbs – which are rediculously expensive. This was a few years ago. Dimmable CFL’s take a long time to heat up and get to full brightness, and they are not as reliable in X10 circuits as incandescent. (I used to work for X10, and they make complete crap, so sometimes you have to work with the stuff to get it to work properly – but with patience, they are capable of working fairly reliably).
I’ve heard to stay away from LED for X10 – but things may have changed since I heard that advice. I do have some CREE flashlights, and those LEDs are amazing, so I can imagine they might perform pretty well.
You have to pay close attention with the calculator on that site, because it lists incandescent bulbs at $5.40, with a life of 2000 hours. Real light bulbs are much cheaper than and last more like 5000 hours, so the calculations are not accurate. Also, without having seen one, I don’t know if a 12 watt LED is a good direct replacement for a 65 watt bulb, or a 100, or a 40, but when I put in 40 (with 0 cost for the fixture, because I already own it), it was saying it would take on the order of 8 years to pay for itself – at which time, realistically, you might expect a fairly good likelihood that some of the LED filiments, or even possibly the driver have failed (the LED’s have multiple filaments, so more likelihood of failure – and the driver circuit may also fail).
In the real world, its going to take much longer to pay for them – but I think as they become more widely used, the price will go down – and they’ll be less Mercury in cans of Albacore Tuna too…
Lighting? I use the sun….stupid.
Did anybody here in the USA catch the Audi ad during the superbowl? ECO police running wild – it was pretty frightening! The worst part is I can see how we might end up like that.
Keep the recipes! I have returned so many CFL because they die early. I started long ago with the GE Circlelight. First one lasted 8 years still using the second one after 7 so they work good. Sylvania are really bad. Had more of those die than all the other brands combined. Home Depot takes the burnt out ones so you don’t contaminate the land fill and eventually water with mercury.
I like the idea of LED but they have to be much cheaper before I’ll buy. I work on a basis of using what I have until it dies then replacing it with something more efficient. The best design I’ve read about so far is the liquid filled (inert) by Hydralux. Solves the heat and directional nature of LED lighting with one elegant design!
Oldseadog (14:30:48) :
“Remember that in G.B. only a qualified Electrician is authorised to carry out this work – Brussels has banned all electrical DIY.”
I don’t think that’s correct, unless the regulations have become even more stringent in the last year or so. Electrical work in a kitchen or bathroom must be certified by a qualified electrician – even something as simple as changing a light switch or light fitting. That doesn’t mean you can’t do it yourself, but if you do you need to get someone in to inspect it and issue a certificate (or you can just do it and ignore mindless petty regulations). For other parts of the house ordinary DIY electrical work is fine.
Personally, I’ve never had a problem with the color temperature of CFL’s. My brother has a few “daylight” CFL’s that are supposed to produce a more “natural” color temperature, but their light seems off to me. I do recognize that it’s a matter of personal choice and know several people who don’t like CFL’s color.
I’ve been waiting patiently for LED technology to mature in the home-lighting arena. I’m waiting for E27 bulbs (the ones that use the standard base used for most incandescent/CFL fixtures) that actually have lumen output comparable to regularly used incadescent/CFL bulbs. I’ve only seen 3-4 watt LED bulbs with an output of ~400 lumen, the equivalent of a 40w incandescent. When E27 LED’s with a 800 lumen output (60w incandescent) or 1700 lumen output (100w incandescent), I will start buying them.
“_Jim (14:19:18) :
Only one question: How are they on producing RFI/EMI?
From 100 kHz up through at least 2 Meters (148 MHz)?
This includes LW (Longwave: 100 – 500 kHz), the AM Broadcast Band (535 –1705 kHz), SW (Shortwave: 1.8 – 30 MHz, Low-VHF (30 – 54 MHz) into High VHF (150 MHz) frequencies …
.
.
REPLY: They are encased in a metal, grounded enclosure. EMI is pretty low as a result. – Anthony”
Sorry just had to comment 🙂
The grounding of metal enclosures is a requirement from the National Electrical Code (NEC) and/or the local adoptions from the Authority Have Jurisdiction (AHJ) in your area. It could even be a requirement from the UL 1598 “The Standard for Safety of Luminaires” which the device was evaluated to (Sorry I am not familiar with this particular standard to know for certain).
While there maybe a limited benefit when it comes to suppressing radiated energy in certain directions with this enclosure I doubt that it is doing much in the way of suppressing all the energy that could be escaping from the device. If there is RF radiation being emitted from these devices it would come from two different structures, 1) conducted energy that has coupled onto the wires that feeds the device that could then act as a source of Electrometric Interference (EMI) once that energy has exited the enclosure using those wires or 2) RF energy could exit the same end as the light. There are methods of reducing the amount of unwanted energy escaping these two structures, (filtering and shielding). A power line filter is most likely being used but I doubt there is EMI shielding on or in the lens, but without taking one apart it is just a guess on how they achieved conformance to the applicable radiated emissions standards and without testing one of the devices on how well they met those same requirements.
The best indication of the amount of unwanted RF energy that is generated by these devices is found on the second page of the data sheet, URL: http://www.creeledlighting.com/downloads/LPN000001-LR6_RevH.pdf. It is the FCC Class B warning statement for un-intentional radiators from 47 CFR Part 15B for digital devices operating in a residential environment.
Bill
Al Gore’s Holy Ghost (13:47:38) :
I walk five miles to work and fives miles back in the evening. I do all my shopping on foot too.
“UP HILL BOTH WAYS”…Monty Python
Mariss Freimanis (19:30:16) :
…. My day job? I design sub-1kW servomotor drives and amplifiers. I had all the electronic ballasted fluorescent light fixtures replaced with transformer ballasted ones at my company. At home I prefer the warmth of incandescent lighting and like knowing they won’t kill me while I sleep.:-)
REPLY:Lights don’t kill people, ballasts do. No argument there, but what to do when incandescents are outlawed? Will only outlaws have incandescent? – A
—
Black market – incandescents will not be eliminated. They are too simple, cheap and quite adequate for many uses. An African friend of mine used to rebuild burned out bulbs. They loosened the bases, replaced the filaments, resealed them, evacuated the bulb with cheap vac pumps and reused them in simple sockets.
Ok, a bit extreme, but true. Here in “civilization” we probably will demand top of the line rebuilds, or new. What’s with criminalizing light bulbs? It’s simply incredible that this is taking place!
Natural gas. Coal. Nuclear (fission & fusion (now > break-even), big central plants and new modulars (first to be installed in 2013). Oh yeah, windmills and solar, too. Energy shortage? What shortage? Prices are low and no shortage should be imminent, except as a result of social-engineering overdrive.
I’m about as frugal as you can get and very much appreciate and pursue efficiency of all kinds. Just don’t try to con me with CO2, or “Green” garbage. The Law is another concern and sometimes it becomes symptomatic of society gone insane. This is such a case (and GHG legislation is still in the running – did you hear the Prez at the SOTU?).
Just as Anthony suggested violating the GB law against non-union light fixture installation the masses and other innovators will also pursue their own paths.
Anthony – a very good post for a new product. New tech always needs discussion and LEDs are some of that. I’ve been using some CFLs a lot for 2-3 years and haven’t replaced any, yet. They work fine for me, and cheaper than Tom’s et al’s bulbs, but the warm-up is annoying. I didn’t/don’t like the toxins but figure I’ll just leave them on my local Ohio/U.S. Representative’s doorstep when they expire. By then the LEDs will be cheaper, or something else will come into vogue. Personally, I’m going to stock up on more incandescents, too.
Just don’t tell me I have to, or can’t use genetically modified or (non) irradiated seeds or food, or what kind of light bulbs I can/can’t use without dead certain evidence and my agreement. There are ways of dealing with tyranny. I wish the IPCC debacle would get more MSM coverage, but thanks to evolving tech and inspired souls like our own Anthony Watts the void is being filled! Here’s an early Happy Valentine’s Day wish for ya big fella! Ya know, it’s fantastic being able to get a little giddy in light of the AGW meltdown in progress. However, challenges abound, but first:
How ’bout those Saints, eh? It’s good for the Delta, and good for the repeating sand-bagging Hoosiers (Brown’s fan – remember ’07).
—–
Just feeling good after talking with my two sons – graduating seniors in engineering & molecular physics. Both will be published w/one briefly going soon to the PR of China the other multi-published and a presenter at the last APS conference. In spite of the great and varied challenges confronting us all these days it is so important to support our youngsters ambitions to strive to expand our knowledge and accomplishments. Anthony, you, Steve, Ross, Roy, the Rogers, et al are such inspirations to us – thanks, again.
I owned two houses in NZ in the Rangatikei in the early part of the decade. Yes, insulation was poor — but the cost of buying property was easily 1/10th of what I would have paid for the equivalent home in the U.S. The $140,000 or so I saved on the purchase price went a long, long, long way toward paying for any extra energy costs relating to the lack of central heating.
In fact, it may have been more energy efficient to not have central — when we retired for the night, the only room heated was the bedroom we slept in, instead of the whole house (one of those electric, oil-filled things that look like an old timey water radiator was enuf).
One of the overlooked reasons for the high cost of real estate prior to the recent big crash was the high costs required in the U.S. relating to energy efficiency when building a house. The payback on expensive energy-saving devices like solar and LEDs is very long, and many of us cannot afford the upfront costs required. When this stuff is mandated, as it is in California where I live, the cost of housing is pushed out of reach of all but the rich.
To be practical, LED cost would have to be comparable to where CFLs are now, which in our area is almost as cheap as buying incandescent were a couple years back. If LEDs costing $80.00 a pop are mandated in the future, I’m going to back to start a bee colony, harvest the beewsax and make candles!
Incidentally, have been using CFLs extensively for a couple of years now. I can’t imagine why some commenters are getting greenish light and flickering, unless they have voltage problems with their power supply. Slow brightening, yes, but not enough to bother. I like the white light much better than the old yeller incandescents, easier to read by, see by.
I was surprised when I first saw a “white” LED flashing on a bicycle.
LEDs only produce one frequency of light, but the development of the blue LED enabled a phosphor coating to be applied that absorbs blue photons.
The phospor coating then re-emits photons over a range of wavelengths, aka, “white.”
Anyway, combined with an electronic transformer rather than an iron-core, they are very cool, literally. I have several 12v/3w MR16s that cost around $10 each.
You can also buy a “Remote Controlled Color Changing (Million Color) LED Bulb” for a relatively small price, if you get bored with “white.”
Let Us Run Some Numbers.
The Cree at Amazon:Cree LED Lighting LR6-GU24 White 6
12W
$80.00
50,000 hours
Amazon GE CFL:GE 47478 15 Watt (65 Watt equivalent) Energy Smart Floodlight 6 Year Life R30 Light Bulb
15W
$6.25
10,000 hours
For 50,000 hours You pay $31.25 capital
In 50,000 hours you save 150,000 Wh or 150KWh. Price difference $48.75 against the LED. If your electricity costs less than 32.5¢ a KWh The CFLs are a better deal.
On new construction or when replacing a fixture the cost of the fixture enters the picture. Then figure out what it is worth in time and hassle changing bulbs more often vs installing a fixture.
My advice to cheapskates? At 10¢ a KWh wait until you can buy one for $45 or less. A couple of CFLs should see you through.
Those are the economic issues – roughly. As Anthony points out there are other considerations. And thank you Antony for being an early adopter. It will help bring the price down to one I can afford.