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The Biggest Thing Since the Light Bulb

creebulb.com

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Re: The Biggest Thing Since the Light Bulb

#41

Post by vl »

ars wrote: post #14

Hmm, actually beats a CFL - although not by much, the CFL uses 11 watts, this uses 9.5. But the CFL costs $1, this costs $13. It lasts 3 times as long, but still - unless you really need great color accuracy (i.e. CRI), I can't see myself buying this. (I'm comparing to a CFL with the same warm color temperature.) Edit: CRI of 80! That's worse than the CFL I'm comparing it to! Why would anyone want to buy this? The sm…

LEDs go to 100% brightness instantly, unlike CFLs, which is very convenient for many applications (closets, corridor, garage, etc.).

But at this price point it's already about different convenience - not having to deal with replacement. Regular lamps go out and then you have to replace it, it's a hassle - stockpiling different nominations, opening fixtures, disposing old lamps. With LEDs you just put them in and forget about it. I basically replace all bulbs that go out with leds if fixture allows it because of this.

Re: The Biggest Thing Since the Light Bulb

#42

Post by ars »

nwh wrote: post #33
ars wrote: post #14

Hmm, actually beats a CFL - although not by much, the CFL uses 11 watts, this uses 9.5. But the CFL costs $1, this costs $13. It lasts 3 times as long, but still - unless you really need great color accuracy (i.e. CRI), I can't see myself buying this. (I'm comparing to a CFL with the same warm color temperature.) Edit: CRI of 80! That's worse than the CFL I'm comparing it to! Why would anyone want to buy this? The sm…

I would hope that an LED wouldn't melt its way through my apartments fixings like the compact fluorescents have.

LED is worse. All the heat stays in the fixture. With CFL most of it is emitted together with the light.

Re: The Biggest Thing Since the Light Bulb

#43

Post by riffraff »

ars wrote: post #16
gt565k wrote: post #12

Hah... the light bulbs today are the biggest scam ever. Light bulbs made 100 years ago are still working today, because the materials used, more precisely, the filament, was made out of a lot more durable materials. However, companies quickly realized that if ligh bulbs lasted so long, no one would buy new light bulbs. If you have not seen the light bulb conspiracy, please watch it on youtube. http://www.youtube.com/…

Nonsense. You can trade long life for energy efficiency. That's all. After some tweaking and market testing people settled on the current balance. The old stuff is just not very efficient, that's why it lasts so long - nothing stops you from doing that today, just derate the bulb, use a bulb intended for a higher voltage (or put a dimmer on it).

> After some tweaking and market testing people settled on the current balance.

FWIW, old style incandescent lightbulbs have effectively been banned in europe, australia, brazil and other places for years, and will be such in the US next year, IIRC.

While I think that is overall a good thing it's not exactly an invisible hand thingy.

Re: The Biggest Thing Since the Light Bulb

#44

Post by rosser »

I can't find any information on the CRI (color rendering index) of these particular bulbs, but Cree was making a bulb a couple years ago that was rated over 90, which is generally considered excellent. If these are comparable, they're a fantastic deal, particularly given the warranty.

Re: The Biggest Thing Since the Light Bulb

#45

Post by ars »

adinb wrote: post #30
ars wrote: post #14

Hmm, actually beats a CFL - although not by much, the CFL uses 11 watts, this uses 9.5. But the CFL costs $1, this costs $13. It lasts 3 times as long, but still - unless you really need great color accuracy (i.e. CRI), I can't see myself buying this. (I'm comparing to a CFL with the same warm color temperature.) Edit: CRI of 80! That's worse than the CFL I'm comparing it to! Why would anyone want to buy this? The sm…

no mercury hazard - you don't have to vent your house and worry about mercury exposure if a bulb breaks.

In my entire life I've broken exactly 1 CFL - and I was a kid at the time.

And you don't have to vent your house, that's an urban legend. The mercury is elemental mercury which isn't very toxic, and extremely poorly absorbed on top of that.

(The toxic mercury is organic mercury. Some elemental mercury will be converted, which is why people worry about it - but it won't be converted in your house.)

Re: The Biggest Thing Since the Light Bulb

#46

Post by Cthulhu_ »

mullr wrote: post #5
ck2 wrote: post #3

This is huge if only because a LED bulb company finally put its warranty where its mouth is. Every other bulb, ie. the expensive Phillips bulb, only gives a 3-4 year warranty I'd definitely give this a try @ $10 It's also dimmer compatible which is a big plus for me with X10 control, CFL cannot dim. If this bulb does not operate for 10 years (based on 6 hours per day / 7 days per week of normal consumer use) from dat…

I wonder what the expected warrantee redemption rate is for these things, for all of them that fail. Say you had it for 5 years and it failed. If it was me, I'd just go out and buy another one. Perhaps a different brand, but I probably wouldn't think that far ahead. For something at this price point, does anybody really USE the warrantee?

And that's exactly where they're going here; offer a long warranty and easy returns, while producing a product that's cheap enough (definitely in 5 - 10 years) that people won't actually bother with it. It's what happens with mainstream consumer electronics; 3 years warranty, sure, but would you return a $30 machine to the webshop you got it the cheapest to claim that three years later?

Re: The Biggest Thing Since the Light Bulb

#47

Post by ars »

vl wrote: post #41
ars wrote: post #14

Hmm, actually beats a CFL - although not by much, the CFL uses 11 watts, this uses 9.5. But the CFL costs $1, this costs $13. It lasts 3 times as long, but still - unless you really need great color accuracy (i.e. CRI), I can't see myself buying this. (I'm comparing to a CFL with the same warm color temperature.) Edit: CRI of 80! That's worse than the CFL I'm comparing it to! Why would anyone want to buy this? The sm…

LEDs go to 100% brightness instantly, unlike CFLs, which is very convenient for many applications (closets, corridor, garage, etc.). But at this price point it's already about different convenience - not having to deal with replacement. Regular lamps go out and then you have to replace it, it's a hassle - stockpiling different nominations, opening fixtures, disposing old lamps. With LEDs you just put them in and forg…

All the CFLs I have (except for 6 very very bad ones) go to full brightness instantly (or close enough that I can't tell the difference). (I use those bad ones in a bedroom fixture where the slow start is actually a feature. Made by Feit Electric - don't buy that brand.)

So if your CFLs are slow buy better ones. Walmart has good ones.

A CFL will last about 8,000 to 10,000 hours - I have to replace maybe 1 bulb a year in my house.

Re: The Biggest Thing Since the Light Bulb

#48

Post by ars »

asmosoinio wrote: post #35
ars wrote: post #14

Hmm, actually beats a CFL - although not by much, the CFL uses 11 watts, this uses 9.5. But the CFL costs $1, this costs $13. It lasts 3 times as long, but still - unless you really need great color accuracy (i.e. CRI), I can't see myself buying this. (I'm comparing to a CFL with the same warm color temperature.) Edit: CRI of 80! That's worse than the CFL I'm comparing it to! Why would anyone want to buy this? The sm…

How much do you pay for electricity? Over 10 years, the difference probably makes this cheaper, even with such a small difference. 2.5 Watts, 6 hours/day, 300 days/year, 10 years, 0.13 USD/kWh [2] => 7.2 USD saved in electricity [1] Count in the replacement CFL prices, 3 USD vs 13 USD, and the costs are pretty much equal. Point being: Electricity is the biggest cost. [1] right?: https://www.google.com/search?q=2.5*6*…

Your math is fine except it's 1.5 watts, so savings of $4.88.

Use wolfram Alpha with units and you can be sure: http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=1.5+watts+*+%240.13%2Fk...

But the thing is I don't trust the hour ratings, not on CFLs not on these. So I'd rather pay the smaller amount upfront and not gamble.

Re: The Biggest Thing Since the Light Bulb

#49

Post by bemmu »

These are probably available everywhere, but since moving to Japan I found some motion-detecting LED light bulbs. Now when coming home or walking down the hall at night the light turns on automagically. Saves both time and energy.
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