# Are Incandescent light bulb's still "the-go-to bulb"?



## llmercll (Aug 27, 2011)

Hello!

I've been reading about CFL and LED lightbulbs and wondering if any of these are worth it, at this point, over just using regular 60watt incandescent bulbs. I've heard these bulbs last significantly longer, and use less power, with the offset of a higher upfront cost. I've also heard mixed theories on the safety of CFLs and mercury. I also see that LED lightbulbs are being released, but are they any good? Using less energy is great, but not at the cost of inferior lighting or mercury related illness, IMO.

I'd appreciate some responses =)

thanks!


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## oldwesty4ever (Aug 27, 2011)

The Philips 12.5w AmbientLED is a pretty good bulb, it is indeed as bright as a 60w incandescent. However it is still very expensive and the odd appearance may not look good to some in fixtures, it depends on ones preference. CFLs do have problems with smoking out at end of life, especially in enclosed fixtures and when operated base up (where the heat from the tube is concentrated on the ballast). In my opinion CFLs are not very good, they have a spikey spectrum, they can cause a mercury problem, and they can pose a fire risk in certain situtations. Supposedly CFLs can reduce mercury pollution in areas with coal fired power plants, but it doesn't apply to areas with few to no coal fired power plants, such as California. Here in CA, CFLs can increase mercury pollution. Very few are recycled.

If LEDs are too expensive, but you still want to save at least a little energy, you can buy the new incandescent energy savers such as the Sylvania Halogen Supersaver and the Philips Ecovantage. They are available at big box stores. A 43w halogen incandescent bulb is as bright as the old 60w inc, and it has a nicer, slightly whiter light. These bulbs meet the minimum energy efficency standards. Best of all, the halogen capsules in both the Sylvania and Philips lamps are USA made (Sylvania assembles finished bulbs in USA and Philips assembles theirs in Mexico with capsules shipped from the USA).


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## Ken_McE (Aug 27, 2011)

llmercll said:


> I've been reading about CFL and LED lightbulbs and wondering if any of these are worth it, at this point, over just using regular 60watt incandescent bulbs. !




Depending on your circumstances, yes.



> I've heard these bulbs last significantly longer, and use less power, with the offset of a higher upfront cost.


This can be true. The bulb has to be appropriate for the situation.



> I also see that LED lightbulbs are being released, but are they any good?


As screw in retrofits for hundred watt bulbs, they're working on it. As designed from the ground up LED fixtures they're good.


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## LEDninja (Aug 27, 2011)

For normal A type bulbs the 100W bulbs are banned from stores next January followed by the 60W and 40W. So you won't be able to go to them any more. (In Europe 100W bulbs have already disappeared for over a year.)

Don't buy online. They are usually a generation old and more importantly do not have a safety UL listing (or equivalent). Also they have unreliable numbers. Often 200 lumens or less is claimed to be equivalent to 40W.

40W equivalent LED is ~$10 (on sale) to about $25. 400-500 lumens warm white.
60W equivalent LED is ~$40. 800-850 lumens warm white.
75W equivalent LED is ~$40. 1100 lumens warm white.
100W is coming.

I do not like cool white. They are too white. I like slightly warmer tints.
I do not like the tint of the remote phosphor (egg yolk) Philips LED bulbs. Too orange. (Too much remote phosphor produces a more even tint in all directions but removes too much blue.)

A lot of LED bulbs are directional. In table/floor lamps the light goes up towards the ceiling. So if you need to read a book below the lamp you need reading lamps that point the bulb down.

I have some old luxeon bubs that ran 3 years 24/7 before I gave them away as newer brighter bulbs became available. The replacement lasted 1 year 10 months 24/7 (15,000 hours, bulb was rated 20,000 hours but it was in a closed top pendant lamp).

LED bulbs (CFLs too) need ventilation to keep them cool. Enclosed fixtures not recommended. That includes recessed lighting. There are specially designed LED bulbs for recessed lighting.

It might be a good idea to take inventory of the lamps in your house, and let us know the different types you have.
Different solutiosne for different types.

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EDIT
Take a browse through the Fixed Lighting sub-forum. Most home lighting is discussed there.
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/forumdisplay.php?89-Fixed-Lighting


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## llmercll (Aug 27, 2011)

Thanks a lot for the replies!

I like warm white too, it has a "homey" feel to it. I'm different with my LED flashlights though, I like them to be true neutral white.

Why are LED lightbulbs being banned from stores?

Also, the lights in my house are either on the ceiling, or in a lamp on a desk/table. The exception being my kitchen lights, which are Fluorescent tubes.

Thanks!


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## Wrend (Sep 3, 2011)

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Are Incandescent light bulb's still "the-go-to bulb"?

Click to expand...

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No, we use the little warm toned florescent coiled "60W" equivalent ones now mostly.


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## LEDninja (Sep 4, 2011)

llmercll said:


> T
> Why are LED lightbulbs being banned from stores?


 OOPs me bad for not being clear.
*incandescent* lightbulbs will be banned from stores. Most of the factories making them have already shut down.

Most of North America is running out of electricity generating capacity. No new nuclear power plants have been built in the USA since 3 mile island. Coal powered plants are not replaced due to low sulfur rules to prevent acid rain. Oil prices have gone from $20 a barrel to $80 a barrel and sometimes much higher. Wind and solar is not very reliable (windless days, night).
Meanwhile people are buying 54" TVs instead of 13". 200W home theater surround systems instead of transistor radios. High powered home and business computers. Plug in hybrid and electric cars are coming.

One of the solutions is to conserve energy. Energy Star appliances. Time of use billing to encourage people to shift heavy electricity use like doing he laundry to the weekends. Some 20% of electricity use is for lighting. CFL and LED bulbs can reduce that 4:1. So you use 15% less energy and cut your electricity bill by 15% if you switch. 
To encourage the switch inefficient common lightbulbs are banned. Specialty incandescent lightbulbs are still allowed. Some newer incandescent (Xenon with IR reflecting envelope) can meet the new standards.

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LED lightbulbs are getting brighter and less expensive.
5-7 years ago 40W incandescent equivalents are $54 to $99.
At the beginning of this year many are <$20. 60W equivalents are ~$40. 100W equivalents are due out beginning of next year.
A 60W equivalent is expected to be ~$15 next year.

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Both LED and CFL do not like heat trapping enclosed fixtures. CFLs do not like being installed upside down.

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Many LED bulbs are directional. So you may need to change to new lamps more suited to them especially reading lamps.


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## xul (Sep 4, 2011)

And the US consumes 25% of the world's resources while being only 5% of the world's population. If we did 25% of the world's work this might be excusable.


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## VaporLok (Sep 9, 2011)

CFLs are a better solution, both economically and environmentally, than incandescent bulbs, which ultimately result in greater mercury exposure than CFLs, because they consume more power and require more power generation. Since mercury is a byproduct of burning coal, coal-fired power plants are a larger source of mercury pollution than the mercury content in the CFLs. Although CFLs do contain a small amount of mercury, with a proven packaging configuration and proper disposal, CFLs can be used effectively without releasing harmful mercury vapor. 

While a variety of containers are marketed for transportation of fluorescent lamps and CFLs, many don't provide sufficient protection against mercury vapor emitted from broken lamps. Using a proven packaging design is vital to ensuring the safety of people who handle these lamps, as well as maintaining their green benefits. Read about a recent study that tested several packaging configurations here: http://vaporlok.blogspot.com/2010/05/layers-of-protection-packaging-used.html If a bulb breaks, consumers can learn more about clean-up procedures here: [FONT=&quot]http://www.epa.gov/cfl/cflcleanup-detailed.html[/FONT]


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## NeonLights (Sep 9, 2011)

In our house we've switched a lot of the standard bulbs to the relatively inexpensive curly CFL bulbs, but the promise of long life hasn't been realized. I write the date each CFL bulb was installed with a Sharpie on the base of the bulb, and we've gotten as little as 6 months out of several of them, and I don't think any have gone longer than 1 1/2 years.


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