Fluorescent vs. LED Comparison: Flood Lights and Buyer's Regret
Ok, so the energy-wise reader will already know some of the classical down-sides and complaints about CFBs. They are too dim, they don't have instant on (some do), the color of the light is wrong (some bulbs have identical spectra now, actually). As nothing beats personal experience, here's mine.
As you can read in the main site, we decided to try two LED bulbs for the indoor flood lights over the fireplace. Two 150 watt incandescent bulbs used to light up the spot, and the entire room. With a dimmer, it was no problem to turn it down and bit, but in this household-wide experiment of green-sizing our energy budget, two 4-watt LED bulbs sure looked interesting and those incadescents had to go.
At the same time, I ordered a 3-pack of indoor/outdoor floods. In our driveway, we had the classical motion-detector flood light (again, 2 150-watt incandesent bulbs) and, higher up a 2-bulb flood on a switch.
Report on the 2.5-watt LED Floods.
The immediate impression of the LEDs, at night, by themselves was (1) the color was blueish, which was kind of neat, and (2) These small bulbs are too dim for much use as room lighting. That is not to say that if I had purchased larger diameter, higher-watt (6-watt) LED bulbs, perhaps they would work as room lighting. LEDs will last for 20 years, so I guess we'll have to wait to find out! Actually, they function nicely as little spotlights on the photographs and knick-knacks on the mantle.
Of course, I should have known that a 4-watt 80 Lumen bulb would be too dim. To help the reader understand why I should have known, here are some quick conversion tables between watts and lumens for incadescent bulbs and CFBs
Incandescent Bulbs CFB, Magnetic Ballast CFB w Electric Ballast
Watts Lumens Watts Lumens Watts Lumens
25 220 5 220 15 900
40 495 7 400 18 1100
60 855 9 550 20 1200
75 1170 13 860 25 1750
100 1680 18 1160
26 1700
(Source: Office of Energy Efficiency, Canada.)
So we're dealing with 80 Lumens, which is not exactly a 25 watt equivalent!!!
PROS: Much lower wattage, expect a major savings in the electric bill. These bulbs can run 12 hours a day for 365 days for $4.
CONS: Too dim in recessed lighting for room use. We may try adapter/extenders to bring the bulbs forward. These are available at any hardware store and serve to allow you to plug into a light socket. The effect will brighten. We could coat the inside of the recessed lighting with highly reflective silver paint as well. As they are, the bulbs change the function of the indoor spots to make them truly spots. We now use 1 or 2 CFP lamps for room lighting. LESSON: Pay attention to Lumens! The company also offers a 5-watt LED light bulb, they claim is a 75 watt equivalent from the same company. Actually by this table, that bulb only provides 400 lumens, somewhere between 30 and 40 watt equivalent.
CONCLUSION: I would probably prefer CFB spots to these particular LEDs. I may repurpose the LEDs elsewhere in the house, say as a closet light or under-the-range lamp. Or I may just adjust this minor aspect of our lifestyle. In the future I will consult these tables for a reference.
Report on the Indoor/Outdoor Flourescent Floods.
We sometimes leave the switched outdoor floods on (accidently) overnight. So it made sense to put 2 of the 3 bulbs in the switched flood fixture, and 1 in the motion-sensor fixture.
PROS: Lower wattage, saves money.
CONS: It's January. I waited til nightime to test both sets. The CFBs are not instant-on; it takes 3-4 minutes before they warm up. Other than that, there are no qualitative differences between the CFB spots.
CONCLUSION: Most homeowners use outdoor spots for guests coming in. We always put them on well before the guests arrive anyway. I'm very happy with this set of bulbs. They only cost $20. Next month I may order a 15-watt single pack. to replace the other bulb in the motion sensor.
If you found this useful, please feel free to leave a comments. Bidding on my soon-to-be famous 2.5 watt LEDs begins at $50 per. 