Switching to LED bulbs.

Thread Starter

Brevor

Joined Apr 9, 2011
297
Hi everyone,
I will be switching over to LED light bulbs. The brands I see available in stores are Cree, Sylvania, Feit, Phillips, Westinghouse and a few others. It would be helpful to me if anyone would care to share there experience as to which brands are or are not dependable.

Thanks.
 

mcgyvr

Joined Oct 15, 2009
5,394
I recommend NOTHING expect CREE 4 flow as a replacement for typical household incandescent/CFL bulbs..
NONE are better IMO..

All bulbs in my house are CREE... Prior to the 4 flow design there were some "issues" with the adhesive failing on the glass connection so avoid any old stock of non 4 flow design..

Note:.. Depending on usage it can take quite a while (if at all) to have a return on investment still so run the numbers first unless you are mandated for some reason to switch..
LED bulbs can also be quite "electrically noisy" due to their low cost... "get it done" power supply designs..
I've seen issues of garage doors not responding,etc... that have been tracked down to LED fixtures in the house.
I've heard others "sizzling",etc...
I've had CFL's (compact fluorescents) burst into flames also..

When the sale is on you can pick up a CREE 4flow for ~$1.97 at Home Depot due to rebates.. (Typically they are 2 to 5 times that price)

In general... all "quality/well-know" brands should be fine now... Avoid any "off brand" ones for sure..
 

wayneh

Joined Sep 9, 2010
17,496
Lowe's is selling a very cheap Utilitech brand of LED bulb and I got a couple of them on sale over the holidays. They're fine so far and one notable surprise was how nice and bright they are, and of course the instant-on. It's not like the letdown we all experienced from CFLs, which never seemed as bright as you expected.

But if I had to guess, the Cree products from HD are going to be superior. I'm planning to get some next time they go on sale.
 

ronv

Joined Nov 12, 2008
3,770
Lowe's is selling a very cheap Utilitech brand of LED bulb and I got a couple of them on sale over the holidays. They're fine so far and one notable surprise was how nice and bright they are, and of course the instant-on. It's not like the letdown we all experienced from CFLs, which never seemed as bright as you expected.

But if I had to guess, the Cree products from HD are going to be superior. I'm planning to get some next time they go on sale.
I have a bunch of floods in the kitchen and office. Converted them to Cree from Home Depot about a year ago. I saved one label for the guarantee. :rolleyes:
Love em.
 

hp1729

Joined Nov 23, 2015
2,304
Hi everyone,
I will be switching over to LED light bulbs. The brands I see available in stores are Cree, Sylvania, Feit, Phillips, Westinghouse and a few others. It would be helpful to me if anyone would care to share there experience as to which brands are or are not dependable.

Thanks.
For your home or for equipment?
 

tcmtech

Joined Nov 4, 2013
2,867
I found some zilotek 60w equivalent LED bulbs at Menards a few months ago in a two pack for under $3.50.

Extremely impressed with them so far! Their 3000K bulbs are a dead match for standard 60 watt bulbs and their 5000K are super bright white like a daylight color rated bulb should be. They are also instant on unlike a few of the bigger more expensive name brand bulbs I have bought are and have a 100 lumen/watt rating which is higher than any other cheap and most more expensive bulbs I have found.

They get my vote for best cheap and efficient LED bulb to hit the market yet. :cool:
 

mcgyvr

Joined Oct 15, 2009
5,394
Lowe's is selling a very cheap Utilitech brand of LED bulb and I got a couple of them on sale over the holidays. They're fine so far and one notable surprise was how nice and bright they are, and of course the instant-on. It's not like the letdown we all experienced from CFLs, which never seemed as bright as you expected.

But if I had to guess, the Cree products from HD are going to be superior. I'm planning to get some next time they go on sale.
From my experience...Utilitech is JUNK... I've tried them in the past and the lifespan was very short.. First dead one I cracked open had horribly bad/ugly cold solder joints..
I didn't even bother attempting to repair that.. Into the trash they went..
Cree 4flow 4 the win :)
 
We have the Feit from Costco in our kitchen recessed lighting. The 12 recessed cans are mixed with CFL and incandescent. The Feit LEDs are brighter, nicer cone of brightness and add less heat (if you put your hand near each). All brands are improving on a monthly basis. Retailers getting returns are leveraging them to get improved models from the manufacturers. Big box stores make the mfg take the returns plus pay an inconvenience fee. Mfgs have to get better or die. I've had the Feit for 2 years and they are perfect like I am sure most brands sold at big retailers are by now. Any claims of poor quality should also be accompanies by the date of the event.
 

tcmtech

Joined Nov 4, 2013
2,867
Unfortunately no I have not seen any higher equivalent wattage LEDS that were not outrageously expensive.

I wanted to convert my yard light over to a higher wattage LED but anything with a 200 watt equivalent or higher has a nuts price tag behind it. What I did end up doing was putting 7 cheap light sockets in the main diffuser assy so I could use seven of the cheap Zilotek bulbs instead.

Worked great though visually it has a comparable light output to a 200 watt metal halide while only using 56 watts. :cool:

It should work as a good long term harsh condition test for the LED's too. ;)
 

Thread Starter

Brevor

Joined Apr 9, 2011
297
Thank You to all of you for your input. I picked up 5 60W equivalent bulbs from Home Depot for $4.95 ea. I like them already. And thanks tcmtech I plan to get a few Zilotek bulbs from Menards to try out. I will probably try some Feit's also.
 
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