(no subject)

[ffutures]

Has anyone tried LED room lights? My sitting room needs a fairly bright central light - currently a 23W CFL lamp, equivalent to an old-style 100w bulb - but it's still a bit dim in the corners and takes a while to come on fully. I'm thinking of replacing it with something like a 25W LED lamp, allegedly equivalent to an old style 150W. What are they like in actual use? Do they have any annoying characteristics that would make them less pleasant than a CFL?

Comments

[jeriendhal.livejournal.com]

We've been gradually replacing all the CFL lights in our house with LED's. No downsides to their use, except for the more expensive price. The only thing you might want to check on is whether you want "warm" LED's, that project a similar light to old incandescent bulbs, or "cool" light, which project a brighter light like CFL's, but but might make you more alert than you want in the evening when you want to get ready for bed.

Savings in power bills is small, but measurable. Probably more so when you add in you're replacing bulbs less often.

[gonzo21.livejournal.com]

Do they provide a better quality of light than these useless CFL things?

[jeriendhal.livejournal.com]

Not sure what you mean by better quality. They keep our rooms well lit.

[gonzo21.livejournal.com]

I mean by it, I draw a lot, and need a bright light source for this. But the light I get off these CFL lights is quite dull and soft and yellow, compared to the brighter sharper more natural light I get off the few old-fashioned style lightbulbs I still have in the cupboard for my drawing lamp.

[resonant.livejournal.com]

The Cree ones have awesome light quality.

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

Cree?

[resonant.livejournal.com]

http://www.cree-europe.com/en/prodotti-prv-indoor.php

They have light bulbs that screw into a standard Canadian fixture too, but they're only rated for 120VAC - I don't know if they have one that works with 240VAC. They sell for the equivalent of 5 UK pounds.

http://www.creecanada.com/documents/led/led-spec-sheets/interior/A19%20Series%20LED%20Lamp%20Spec%20Sheet.pdf

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

Doesn't look like there's a UK version on that site, but I'll try a few shops.

[gonzo21.livejournal.com]

Cool, I shall look out for those. Thank you for the recommendation.

[nojay.livejournal.com]

Old-fashioned bulbs, by which I think you mean incandescent, are nowhere near being a "natural" light source. The colour temperature of 3000K is way down from sunlight (typically 6500K). Halogen bulbs are hotter and somewhat whiter but still not daylight. There's a reason Kodak used to produce different grades of colour and even B/W film depending on whether you were shooting daylight or interiors under incandescent lighting.

CFLs and fluorescent tubes produce light via phosphors pumped by UV from the mercury vapour discharge inside the tubes. The colour of light they produce depends on the phosphor formulation. You can get daylight CFLs with a much whiter light compared to regular home and office use bulbs but they cost more and you have to read the specs closely when you order them.

It's possible to get LED lamps with adjustable hues, mixing intensity of red, green and blue LED chips but they cost more and they tend not to put out a lot of light in total. Dedicated daylight LEDs or fixed spectrum lamps are a lot cheaper and can run up to the equivalent of 200W and more of incandescent lighting in a single bulb. Make sure they'll fit into the lamp housing though, the larger-output units tend to be odd shapes in order to carry up to a hundred individual LED chips.

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

Thanks - I was wondering what the spectrum was like, I think I'll go for the warmer LEDs which I think are 5700K

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

I personally prefer the yellower light, some CFCs have really harsh bluish light which I dislike, but is probably closer to daylight. They're the ones that give their colour temperature around 6000K

[fenchurche.livejournal.com]

We've replaced every bulb in our house with LED bulbs and absolutely love them. The more recent models have a much warmer light that seems to fill the room quite nicely. Just fantastic!

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

Good - sounds what I want, I'll buy a couple to try it out.

[lilfluff.livejournal.com]

So long as you avoid the absolute cheapest ones you should be fine. Bought some that were being offered on a deal at near-incandescent prices and while they were fine while they lasted they died nearly as quickly as incandescents. On the other hand the ones I've bought since those, even store brand, have been reliable and have been lasting and lasting.

You can even find ones in the middle of the price range that are rated for use with dimmer switches or in fully enclosed fixtures now.

Just, as has been mentioned a number of times already, keep an eye on the color temperature rating. If you mix lamps with wildly different ratings in the same room it is very noticeable. We learned that the hard way.

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

Any brand to recommend? Someone said Cree, are they good?

[resonant.livejournal.com]

Cree is great, but I can't find a 240VAC replacement bulb on their site.

Philips LED bulbs are pretty good too (I have several of those), and they DO make a version that will work in the UK:

http://www.lighting.philips.com/main/prof/lamps/led-lamps-and-systems/led-lamps/ledlamps/929000249141_EU/product

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

It looks like I'll need to replace the light fitting for the Philips lamps, they don't do them with the old bayonet fitting. I'll try a few shops first, see if there's someone else offering this fitting.

[resonant.livejournal.com]

There is a Swedish shop with outlets in the UK that sells LED bulbs that work with bayonet fittings. I have a few of theirs - the light is not as great as a Cree bulb, but is still better than a compact fluorescent.

http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/search/?query=LED+bulb

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

Thanks!