Do you still use incandescent light bulbs?

BillSWPA

Enlightened
Joined
Dec 27, 2011
Messages
670
Location
Southwest PA
Yes.

I have only found one LED 50-100-150 Watt equivalent 3 way bulb, and it costs $50. It will take me a long time to recoup that cost in reduced electric bills.

Putting an LED bulb in my garage door opener interfered with the signal from the remote when the bulb was lit.

CFL bulbs contain mercury, and I have young children. Taking a risk of one breaking would make no sense.

Many of the bulbs in my house are LED, but my wife prefers the way incandescent lights look.
 

CoveAxe

Enlightened
Joined
Jun 10, 2014
Messages
245
Yeah, but not many. It's been years since I've bought a normal incandescent bulb. I've just been replacing them as they burn out. At this point they are mostly in sockets that are only used sporadically. I still have quite a few CFLs remaining as well.

I was still buying G25 bulbs for my bathroom though because it was only a few weeks ago that I found a suitable LED replacement bulb.

Other the bulb in the oven and under the microwave, I should be completely LED in a year.
 

smokinbasser

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Sep 19, 2003
Messages
1,193
Location
East Texas
I still have quite a few incandescents that have resisted the call of the dead hotwires and continue to light the house. As they give up the ghost they get upgraded to cfl lights. one cfl has been on 24/7 duty for close to 2 years lighting my vehicle and surroundings. No kids here except for visitors. It's just a matter of time before I go to LED lights for the house. I have one hotwire maglight and one LED maglight, all the rest of my hand lights are LED powered.
 
Last edited:

cland72

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Nov 23, 2009
Messages
3,276
Yes. I only use warm CFL in family rooms where I know the light will be on for an extended duration. I have two LED bulbs: one in my bathroom, and the other in a lamp in the front window that is on for hours at a time, each day, on a timer.

the rest are incandesents because they are inexpensive, and usually only operate in short bursts which is bad for CFLs (from what I understand). i'm too cheap to replace everything with LED.
 

recDNA

Flashaholic
Joined
Jun 2, 2009
Messages
8,761
I do because I have found longevity claims of compact fluorescent bulbs to be ridiculous. I've never had one last longer than a year in a regularly used fixture. I guess they're ok in lights you rarely turn on.
 

CoveAxe

Enlightened
Joined
Jun 10, 2014
Messages
245
CFLs are highly dependent on many things like how you install them or use them day to day. I used to put CFLs in my bathroom lights until I saw how quickly they burned out from being switched on and off so often for just a few minutes at a time. The CFLs in my floor lamp that I only turn on once a day for several hours at a time are on their 6th or 7th year or life. The way CFL works makes it impossible to offer a clear lifetime figure for all use cases. LED is quite bit better in this regard, but not completely immune.
 

poiihy

Enlightened
Joined
Mar 6, 2015
Messages
245
This thread is weird... Because just a few days ago I posted a poll thread with the exact title on BLF, and the text on this thread looks like it was copied and pasted from BLF. Oh well, I don't care, I'd probably ask the same question here anyway.

Most bulbs we use are CFL or LED, only incandescent bulbs regularly used are in refridgerator and microwave. Then there are a few incandescent bulbs in lamps never used but that is it.

Most of the bulbs we use often are LEDs, and the rest are CFL.
We got tons of CFLs (dirt cheap lawl!!).
 

TEEJ

Flashaholic
Joined
Jan 12, 2012
Messages
7,490
Location
NJ
I think I only have LED left. Due to the shift work, essentially, some lights run 24/7, and, most are on dimmers to boot....so CFL's struck out.

The hardest to replace were some candelabra style that went into some chandelier style lights...as it was very difficult to locate teeny-based versions that put out about the same lumens as the incans they replaced.

I got pretty close though, and the quality of the lighting has been great.

Back when running incans, bulb changing was a constant chore...SOMETHING was always burned out...because there are so many lights.

Since going 100% LED, I only changed ONE, total, in the past year, and that one was bad the day it went in...so, I'm not sure how to count it (Flickered on install, took it back)

The electric bill dropped precipitously too, which was nice.
 

Eagles1181

Newly Enlightened
Joined
Jan 27, 2010
Messages
179
Location
Texas
I am running mostly incandescent lights. We are currently in a rental, but looking for a place to buy. Don't want to donate a bunch of LED lights to the landlord when we move out, and I don't like the way CFL's look. Once we buy, we are planning on going completely LED.

Eagle
 

CoveAxe

Enlightened
Joined
Jun 10, 2014
Messages
245
I am running mostly incandescent lights. We are currently in a rental, but looking for a place to buy. Don't want to donate a bunch of LED lights to the landlord when we move out, and I don't like the way CFL's look. Once we buy, we are planning on going completely LED.

You could always do what I used to do in this situation: take the bulbs with you and put the old incandescents back before you leave. I used to do this in college when CFLs were ~$5 or more each. If you are paying for the electric, then I would highly recommend doing this as you will definitely save a noticeable amount of money on your bill.
 
Last edited:

Anders Hoveland

Enlightened
Joined
Sep 1, 2012
Messages
858
Do you still use incandescent light bulbs?
Why?
I'm glad you asked this question, and the answer is absolutely YES !!!

It's not for lack of having tried countless LED bulbs though. I just find the light from incandescent to be much softer and easier on my eyes. In addition all the 2700K LED bulbs I have tried have poor color rendering—almost unacceptably so for my home. The light is kind of eerie orange-colored with a slight unnatural purplish tint. For some strange reason I seem to have some trouble focusing my eyes under LED lighting, it is a little uncomfortable and straining after a while, and things do not seem to be as "in focus". I suspect it has to do with the unique spectral distribution of wavelengths.

Another problem is that most of my lamp fixtures that are left on all the time—the place where LED would justify its cost—would require 100 Watt equivalents. And for LED that is hard to find and substantially more expensive. Most of these bulbs would not even fit into my lamps because of the very wide diameter of the cooling fins.

I have an unusual skin sensitivity so CFL (with the twisty spiral tube) is completely out of the question for me.
 

markr6

Flashaholic
Joined
Jul 16, 2012
Messages
9,258
Yes.

- No affordable 3-way, high CRI that I know of
- No high CRI 100w equivalent
- Not worth switching out incandescents that only get used a few minutes per year. I'll use my side garage light maybe 1 minute here and there. Same with the 3 attic lights.
 

broadgage

Enlightened
Joined
Nov 23, 2007
Messages
445
Location
Somerset UK
All line voltage lights in regular use are now either fluorescent tubes, CFL or LED, mainly the later.
Fridge and microwave bulbs are incandescent.
Still got a few 12 volt 25 watt incandescent for seldom used emergency lights, in theory they will be replaced with LEDs when they fail, but at a few hours use a year they should outlast the installation.
Still got of couple of 12 volt 17 watt incandescent reflector lamps in use for backup lighting as well.
 

lightwater

Newly Enlightened
Joined
May 17, 2012
Messages
38
Location
Sydney
Fridge & oven (2 globes), range hood 2 CFL. In general about 2/3 LED & 1/3 CFL. A couple of clear glass incandescent halogen globes as the light fitting & the cast light looks far better.

Installed a decade ago four 4mm diameter x 30 cm CCFL under kitchen cupboards to light bench top (7 watts for all four). Pretty sure they are still as bright as the day I installed them. Where as, strip LED after 3 years is less than half as bright according to light meter.
 

MattPete

Newly Enlightened
Joined
Aug 16, 2013
Messages
117
You betcha I still use incandescents (albeit the energy saving infrared-reflecting halogens, such as the Philips Ecovantage or the GE Reveals).

To me, it makes no sense to replace a closet lightbulb with a LED. Or a garage light. Or the lights in my childrens' bedrooms (oldest is age 6). They are on so little, it wood take me decades to recoup.

I did replace the BR30s and Br40s with LEDs in my kitchen, family room, and basement, as they are on up to 10 hours a day.

What about other rooms, such as bathrooms or dressing areas? Sorry, but current CRIs are just too low for me to use in those applications. SORAA is coming out with BR30 in Q3, so maybe I'll have an option in the next year or two (60% of my lights are BR40s, 30% are BR30s, and the remaining 10% are a mixture of A19s and candelabra).
 

PhotonWrangler

Flashaholic
Joined
Oct 19, 2003
Messages
14,432
Location
In a handbasket
The only incandescents here are in the fridge and the microwave. I'll probably replace the fridge bulb with an LED lamp when it burns out. Swapping out the microwave bulb isn't worth the effort for me.
 

kingofwylietx

Enlightened
Joined
Feb 26, 2010
Messages
446
Location
DFW, TX
Yes! I bought GE Reveals for our formal dining room, because...frankly...it makes the space more comfortable and the food looks better.

Our home is only 2 years old, the builder used CFL's in every fixture. I have replaced all of them with LED (except the ones where I used the GE's) and sold those bulbs as a box deal for $5. That was mostly because I didn't want to throw them away, they were practically brand new. Now, someone else got a screaming deal on some energy saving bulbs.

I know the microwave and stove vent hood have incans. We bought a new fridge for the house, it came with LEDs.

I like LEDs, but incans look much better in the formal. They just have a comfortable vibe and you can't beat the CRI.
 

poiihy

Enlightened
Joined
Mar 6, 2015
Messages
245
Yes! I bought GE Reveals for our formal dining room, because...frankly...it makes the space more comfortable and the food looks better.

Our home is only 2 years old, the builder used CFL's in every fixture. I have replaced all of them with LED (except the ones where I used the GE's) and sold those bulbs as a box deal for $5. That was mostly because I didn't want to throw them away, they were practically brand new. Now, someone else got a screaming deal on some energy saving bulbs.

I know the microwave and stove vent hood have incans. We bought a new fridge for the house, it came with LEDs.

I like LEDs, but incans look much better in the formal. They just have a comfortable vibe and you can't beat the CRI.

Yeah. Many times I miss incandescents. I think that paying the price for higher quality light from incandescents is sometimes worth it.

Actually, if you live in cold environments and need a heater, incandescents are actually a good option and you don't gain anything with using more efficient lighting. Incandescent bulbs are mini heaters and are actually very efficient. 80% of energy comes out as light (although most is infrared) and the rest is heat. (The "inefficiency" people talk about is actually "inefficacy"). So your incandescent light bulbs help heat your home.

This is the opposite in hot environments though.
 

CoveAxe

Enlightened
Joined
Jun 10, 2014
Messages
245
Actually, if you live in cold environments and need a heater, incandescents are actually a good option and you don't gain anything with using more efficient lighting. Incandescent bulbs are mini heaters and are actually very efficient. 80% of energy comes out as light (although most is infrared) and the rest is heat. (The "inefficiency" people talk about is actually "inefficacy"). So your incandescent light bulbs help heat your home.

If you have gas heating, this actually isn't true. I crunched the numbers for my area (Indiana) once, and it turned out that electricity costs ~3-4x more than gas to generate the same amount of heat. This makes sense, seeing as how gas being burned directly is going to have much lower loss then conversion from heat to electricity and back to heat again. So yes, you can help heat your home with incandescent bulbs, but you're paying a premium to do so. You actually would save money with LED/CFL in this case.

There is no cost penalty only if you have electric heating, and if you ignore how much the incandescent bulbs hurt you in summer with the AC running.
 
Last edited:
Top