Cree A19 9.5w 60w 800lm 2700K for $13.97

[Qship1996]

The cree measured less in one position,and more than the "switch" bulb in the other position you tested according to your video.It has been noted many times here that the cree sends most of its light out the sides of the bulb,and less out the top of the bulb.....nothing new there,and actually a benefit if used in many outdoor fixtures which have a "base down" bulb position as you dont end up wasting light hitting the top of the fixture itself.

 

[BM_lol]

Found a pretty good review of new Philips bulb vs Cree bulb.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i6cWRu83Pl0

 

[electronupdate]

Thanks for pointing out the directionality.


The packaging on the Cree bulb stated "... so it looks and lights just like a traditional incandescent bulb" which is clearly not true... it's not a bad bulb for the money, but unlike onmi directional bulb like the Philips one has to think-ahead of where the bulb is going. I wonder how many customers will buy the bulb for the wrong fixture and be disappointed?


This bulb performs well in some types of fixtures but quite poorly in others, I took some more measurements:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1DuVDD8Nmc

The cree measured less in one position,and more than the "switch" bulb in the other position you tested according to your video.It has been noted many times here that the cree sends most of its light out the sides of the bulb,and less out the top of the bulb.....nothing new there,and actually a benefit if used in many outdoor fixtures which have a "base down" bulb position as you dont end up wasting light hitting the top of the fixture itself.

 

[wws944]

...This bulb performs well in some types of fixtures but quite poorly in others, I took some more measurements:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1DuVDD8Nmc

That is really a nice video. Thank you for taking the time to post it.

 

[BVH]

My Home Depot chose to bring in only the warm whites in 40 and 60 Watt Equivalents. Disappointed!

 

[Qship1996]

Ours initially carried the cool white version,but has since stopped stocking it.My guess, is many were returned for not liking the "color" of the light.They are marketing the bulbs to closely match the incandescants,which the cool white version certainly fails at doing.Interestingly the display includes 2 table lamps side by side,1 with a 60w incan and the other with the warm white 60w cree.....they look the same,but nowhere do they actually display the cool white version illuminated,and my guess is many picked it up by mistake,and returned it.

 

[idleprocess]

Ours initially carried the cool white version,but has since stopped stocking it.My guess, is many were returned for not liking the "color" of the light.They are marketing the bulbs to closely match the incandescants,which the cool white version certainly fails at doing.Interestingly the display includes 2 table lamps side by side,1 with a 60w incan and the other with the warm white 60w cree.....they look the same,but nowhere do they actually display the cool white version illuminated,and my guess is many picked it up by mistake,and returned it.

That's funny since the 5000k packaging has a blue halo (as opposed to the yellow halo on the 2700K), uses the standard "daylight" color description on the front, the standard energy facts label shows it to be a cool color temperature, and the biggest text on the interior reads:
This Cree bulb delivers a vivid, cool light for your home workspaces and outdoor lighting.

I'm going to be disappointed if it's not stocked any more since I have a few more light fixtures I'm considering for these.

 

[tickled]

That's funny since the 5000k packaging has a blue halo (as opposed to the yellow halo on the 2700K), uses the standard "daylight" color description on the front, the standard energy facts label shows it to be a cool color temperature, and the biggest text on the interior reads: This Cree bulb delivers a vivid, cool light for your home workspaces and outdoor lighting. I'm going to be disappointed if it's not stocked any more since I have a few more light fixtures I'm considering for these.

Does anyone know what the CRI rating of the 5000K Cree bulb is? For that matter what about the new 11 watt Philips A19 5000K bulb? I've seen around 80 CRI for the Cree and I've been unable to find anything for the Philips bulb.

 

[brickbat]

The packaging on the Cree bulb stated "... so it looks and lights just like a traditional incandescent bulb" which is clearly not true... it's not a bad bulb for the money, but unlike onmi directional bulb like the Philips one has to think-ahead of where the bulb is going. I wonder how many customers will buy the bulb for the wrong fixture and be disappointed?


This bulb performs well in some types of fixtures but quite poorly in others, I took some more measurements:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1DuVDD8Nmc

Nice video. But I'd contend that Cree is correct in stating "looks and lights just like an incandescent bulb". I say this because, although you clearly show a measurable difference in your green reflector desk light, a 20% reduction from the 60W incandescent isn't going to be noticeable to a lot of observers' eyes. That, and the Cree was pretty much identical to the incandescent in the other fixture.

So, Cree certainly departs from their competitors regarding directionality. For me, when I want a lamp that's directional out the front, I'd not have been using a conventional A-lamp in the first place. It's also worth noting that a conventional incandescent A-lamp is also directional, much like you measured for the Cree, as shown in Fig. 13 here: http://tinyurl.com/b65hr49

 

[Kitchen Panda]

As usual Cree is setting the bar with some reasonable numbers..

I was in Mansfield Ohio a couple of weeks ago and had some time to kill one evening, so I checked out the local Home Depot. I saw the Cree display and thought "Hey, we don't have *that* back home!" First I saw "$13.97" and thought "That's pretty good for an LED bulb" but what really sold me was the *dimmable* feature. So, I bought 5 of the warm white bulbs and got to try them out when I got home a couple of days later.

I was extremely pleased with the bulbs. I put four in a bathroom fixture to replace four 100-watt incandescents - hoping that my wife wouldn't notice the dimmer light. To my surprise the bathroom seemed brighter than before. It turns out the bulbs we had were rated for 6000 hours, and according to the Standard web site, these 100 watt bulbs were only putting out about 660 lumens each. So, the Cree lamps were a 20% increase in lumens, at 1/10th the power. I compared Cree and incandescent side by side in this fixture and I couldn't tell the difference in color.

The Cree LEDs worked well on our Lutron "Diva" dimmer, which also has two MR16 pot lights on it; well, one of the MR16s is now a $30 LED since the halogen burnt out about a year ago. The other halogen is still hanging in - the contrast between LED and incandescent is very distinct when dimmed, as the halogen becomes a little orange spark while the LEDs stay white.

However, I do notice a little buzz from the Cree LEDs on the dimmer...it's not very loud and is drowned out by the sound of the exhaust fan.

Yes, there's a dark end to the bulb if you're looking right at it, but if you look at the light shone by the bulb, there's no "hole" in the illumination.

Some people comment on the rubberized globe; well, you have to clean bulbs every once in a while anyway and I doubt the coating is going to attract more dust than plain glass.

I put another in my reading lamp - again, changing out a 6000 hour 60 watt, gives me more light. This lamp is within 12 inches of my clock radio and I do hear a little hash on local AM stations when the bulb is on; but if I move the lamp away the hissing goes away.

I don't notice any flicker from these lamps.

So, the first 5 were a roaring success. Then a couple of weeks later our local Winnipeg Home Depots started advertising the bulbs. I picked up a whole bunch more - now all the dimmable A19 bulbs upstairs are Cree LEDs, and I've changed out 15 bulbs for LEDs. I bought a couple in 5000K as well - one of these had the globe separate and I exchanged it for another. The 5000 K lamps make the 2700s look really yellow.

I noticed the bedroom is a lot brigher with these - again, I removed some 6000 hour 60 watt incandescents, which only put out (according to the catalog) 430 lumens when new. So, we have almost twice as many lumens on 1/18th the power.

Sure, it's 80 CRI but the bulb is as "white" as any incandecent, and I imagine the CRI of a 6000 hour bulb isn't anything great either.

This evening my wife was checking the ads in the kitchen and I noticed she just had the Cree LEDs on -whereas before we'd also turn on the MR16 pots for reading. Any one of those pots now uses more power than the 2400 lumens hanging over the kitchen table. So, we'll save even more power if one fixture does the job that formerly took the kitchen pendant and 9 MR16 halogen pots.

Now, if I could just replace all the MR16s for less than $25 a piece, I could make a huge dent in our monthly hydro bills.


Bill

 

[made in china]

Y'all keep mentioning buzzing when dimmed. That reminds me, most of my incans buzz too. Some of my incans are even louder than the LEDs I do have, however none of the lights, incans or LED buzz too loudly. Stuff buzzes when you start chopping up it's power source.

 

[brickbat]

Y'all keep mentioning buzzing when dimmed. That reminds me, most of my incans buzz too...

Ha. Exactly - those guys at Cree think of everything - not only does it "look and light just like an incandescent", it also sounds like one!

 

[idleprocess]

Finally installed the Cree's (5000K), which happened to coincide with the a new ceiling fan. Impressions are kind of mixed. I prefer the light color to the cheap 13W CFL's they're replacing, but the brightness seems a bit off and the distribution is different (likely a function of the LED bulbs vs CFL's and the entirely new fixture). My perception of one vs the other is probably a bit off - I rarely used the previous lights for many months (cat swatted at the dangling motor speed bead chain hard enough for it to get caught up in the fan - which proceeded to reel the entire chain up into the motor housing, where it soon ground to a halt), so my sense of how it performed might be a bit off. I'll get used to it soon enough - suspect that putting the CFL's back in would result in similar different-than-I-remember light distribution.

Of course, now I have 3 old CFL's (N:Vision - so awesome that Home Depot dropped them as a house brand after about a year) and 3 new CFL's (no-name pack-in's from the fan) gathering dust...

 

[VegasF6]

Bought two of the 9.5w models today and put them in the bedside lamps, replacing the utilitechs that have been in there since before Christmas. Base down configuration, open lamps, no dimmers or any such thing. Unfortunately one died within an hour or so. I thought the wife had turned it off but several hours later when she told me her lamp wasn't working I realized it was still on. Upon removing the bulb the base was still a bit warm to the touch.
Side note, what's the purpose if the silicone coating?

side side note: despite the thread title I paid $12.97

 

[crazyk4952]

if the silicone coating?

This is a shatter-resistant coating. I accidentally tested this feature and it did keep the glass shards from going all over the place.

 

[VegasF6]

I am surprised they used a glass envelope.

 

[brickbat]

What's surprising about that? Glass is cheap, never yellows, easily frosted, and has good transmissibility. It's only down side is it breaks if you drop it, but people are rather accustomed to that 'feature' in light bulbs, I'd think...

"...looks, lights, buzzes, and breaks just like an incandescent..."

 

[BLH]

I got a six pack of the 60 watt 2700K Cree's.
All six worked fine electrically.
The Cree QC department missed some physical problems on one of them and I will have to return it.
The glass envelope is not round. Kind of bulged out on one side.
The E26 socket on the bottom. Was not crimped onto the base just soldered. So it can be rotated.
The plastic housing for the electronics is not tight and also warbles.

 

[crazyk4952]

The Cree QC department missed some physical problems on one of them and I will have to return it.

One of the 60 Watt warm ones that I bought had drips from the anti-shatter coating on the white fins. I am sure they are getting these out as fast as they can and have overlooked some quality problems.

 

[Anders Hoveland]

The heat sink looks way too small for the 60 watt replacements.

Yes, but the aluminum scaffolding to which the LED chips are attached does have plenty of direct contact with the air inside the bulb. That certainly must help cool it. If you want to think about it this way, much of the heat sink is actually inside the bulb. This may be one of the reasons they went with a glass bulb rather than plastic, because glass is more conductive of heat. Would not want the air inside the bulb to get too warm.

Soft-white is better than frosted. Frosted looks like a 50 year old bulb. Anything is better than looking at the near point source of power LEDs in operation.
Maybe the people who remember using them, is the audience Cree is hoping will buy these.
Too much heat for 60 watt versions, silicone glass retention film is unnecessary if the dome was plastic.

I think going with the semi-translucent frosted glass was an appropriate choice. The frost is enough to diffuse the light (and direct some of the light upwards), but at the same time one can still get some appearance of the inner illumination of the bulb, that the light is coming from the center. They were probably trying to make the appearance reminiscent of a filament bulb. In contrast, most other designs of LED bulbs would not be able to achieve this, which is why their diffusor shells are much more opaque.