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Are LED light bulbs worth it?

Dave Farquhar Saving money July 4, 2017March 13, 2021CFL, Compact Fluorescent, curtains, home depot, home improvement, incandescent bulbs, led bulbs, lumen, lumens, philips, thermal curtains

I’ve been buying modern forms of light bulbs for almost 15 years now. So when someone asks me, “Are LED light bulbs worth it?” or “Do LED lights really save you money?” I can answer the question. I was more accepting of CFL bulbs than most, but I had some reservations about them. On the other hand, I really like LED bulbs.

LED light bulbs have saved me a lot of money over the years, and they have quite a few advantages besides the money they save you every month on your electric bill. I thought LED light bulbs were worth it five years ago, and I really think so now.

Dave Farquhar

David Farquhar is a computer security professional, entrepreneur, and author. He has written professionally about computers since 1991, so he was writing about retro computers when they were still new. He has been working in IT professionally since 1994 and has specialized in vulnerability management since 2013. He holds Security+ and CISSP certifications. Today he blogs five times a week, mostly about retro computers and retro gaming covering the time period from 1975 to 2000.

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Bathroom lighting ideas: bar vs fixture

Dave Farquhar DIY, Saving money December 15, 2016March 13, 2021led bulbs, lumen

When you’re looking for bathroom lighting ideas, there’s more to consider when looking at bar lights vs fixtures than just the up front cost. A fixture may look nicer, and it’s likely it can save you money in the long run. New light fixtures can solve flickering issues too.

Dave Farquhar

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Philips’ new LED bulbs are cheap but have caveats

Dave Farquhar Saving money April 27, 2015April 23, 2015CFL, led bulbs, lumen, lumens, lumens per watt, philips, receipt

Later this week, Philips will be releasing a new, cheap LED bulb at an introductory rate of $5 for a pack of two. They are 800 lumen bulbs, equivalent to a 60w incandescent in light output, use 8.5 watts to give off an impressive 94 lumens per watt, and have a color temperature of 2700K that’s comparable to a soft white incandescent.

Sound good? It ought to, but there’s a catch. Often there is.

Dave Farquhar

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Home Depot’s Ecosmart 40w replacement is a good $5 LED bulb

Dave Farquhar Saving money March 19, 2015April 15, 2017home depot, led bulbs, lumen, lumens, lumens per watt, receipt

So I took the plunge and bought a package of the Ecosmart 40w equivalent soft white LED bulbs last week. As long as you’re aware that it’s not dimmable–let me repeat that, it’s not dimmable–it’s a really good bulb, especially at $10 for a package of two, assuming no local subsidies.

For $5 each, you get 450 lumens of soft white light while consuming only 6 watts of power.

Dave Farquhar

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LED bulb longevity report

Dave Farquhar Saving money March 6, 2015April 24, 2017CFL, cfls, home depot, incandescent bulbs, led bulbs, lumen, lumens, philips, power savings, receipt

Now that I’ve had a couple of LED bulbs burn out, I can actually give an LED bulb longevity report.

I’ve been buying LED bulbs since 2010, and now I’ve lost three of them. It’s a little disappointing, but two of the bulbs were Philips 420240 bulbs, which are no longer on the market. The first 420240 failed completely within a couple of weeks of getting it, and I exchanged it for a Cree. The second 420240 lasted a shade over two years. Clearly the 420240 just wasn’t a very good bulb, and it accounted for my first LED bulb mortality.

My other failed bulb is one of the early 40W equivalents I bought at either Lowe’s or Home Depot in 2010 or early 2011. So I got about four years out of that one, which is better than Philips at least.

Dave Farquhar

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Compact fluorescent life expectancy

Dave Farquhar Saving money September 21, 2014December 10, 2016CFL, Compact Fluorescent, incandescent bulbs, led bulbs, lumen, lumens, lumens per watt, saving money

There’s a lot of talk about compact fluorescent life expectancy. I actually tracked my CFL lifespan. Here’s what I found.

I noticed this week that a compact fluorescent bulb in the kitchen had burned out, so this week I bought an LED bulb to replace it. I started writing the dates on bulbs back in 2008 so I could track how long they last. This particular bulb was dated 1-2011. So the bulb lasted 3 years, 8 months. That’s a lot better than a standard incandescent light bulb. I suspect I may have had CFL bulbs last less time than that, but I know I’ve had bulbs last longer, too. The most recent bulb I replaced prior to this one was from 2008.

If your CFL bulbs are burning out early, here are some tips. They work. Remember, my bulbs lasted three years or more.

I have about 16 CFL bulbs left in the house now, and I’ll continue using those until they die. I have around 28 LED bulbs. All in all I prefer LED; they give more lumens per watt, tend to reach full brightness faster, and generally give off a better quality of light, but the biggest advantage–an advantage they have over incandescent bulbs as well–is the complete lack of ultraviolet light so they don’t fade the paint on your walls or the stuff hanging on your walls. Supposedly they don’t attract bugs either, but that seems to not be entirely true. Still, cutting down on ultraviolet light and saving money are good things.

Dave Farquhar

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Cree releases a $20 100W-equivalent LED bulb–but do you want one?

Dave Farquhar Saving money March 13, 2014April 15, 2017CFL, lumen, lumens, lumens per watt

Cree joined Phillips in offering an LED bulb in the 1600-lumen class, suitable for replacing 100W incandescents. The Cree bulb costs $5 less than the Phillips competitor, in unsubsidized markets. (Many utilities subsidize energy efficient bulbs because it’s cheaper than building more power plants. Really.)

I own several Cree 60W equivalents and I’m very happy with them. They’ve been dependable, the price is reasonable, the quality of light is outstanding, they turn on instantly, and, believe it or not, they’re designed and built in the United States.

Now that Cree has four different bulbs at different ratings and three different price points, I weighed the pros and cons of each. Read more

Dave Farquhar

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The Feit Electric G25 LED globe from Costco

Dave Farquhar Saving money November 18, 2013November 15, 2013CFL, costco, home improvement, led bulbs, lumen, lumens

I spied a 3-pack of LED globe bulbs at Costco last week, priced at $20. This is a ridiculously good price on LED globe bulbs–typically I see them at $15 apiece at the home improvement stores. After verifying that, I picked up a package to try out on my next Costco run. While they aren’t the best LED bulbs I’ve seen, they’re easily the best deal I’ve seen on LED globes, and I’ll be buying more of them. Read more

Dave Farquhar

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Another month, another go-to LED bulb

Dave Farquhar Saving money May 28, 2013August 18, 2013amps, CFL, cfls, costco, home depot, incandescent bulbs, led bulbs, lumen, lumens, lumens per watt

LED lighting seems to change constantly. I read about Cree’s LED bulbs a good 12-18 months ago and they sounded too good to be true. In a way, they were, because you couldn’t buy them anywhere. The wait is finally over–they’re finally available, though only at Home Depot. I tried out their 800-lumen (60W equivalent), 2700K, 9.5W bulb, which currently costs about $13. It’s a good bulb that lives up to the hype.

Dave Farquhar

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