I bought a 2-pack of LG LED bulbs from Costco for $16. They aren’t as good as the bulbs I bought at Home Depot in 2010 or the ones I bought at Lowe’s last year, but for the price difference, they’re probably worth it at least in some cases. The Home Depot bulb sells for 25% more and uses 1.1 watts more energy; the Lowe’s bulb sells for 50% more.
For $8, the bulbs aren’t dimmable. In all honesty, that’s only an issue in my sons’ bedrooms. It means I can’t use them there, but that’s six bulbs out of the total of 40 bulbs in the house.
The other downside is that there’s a noticeable delay when you turn the light switch on. It’s about one second, so it’s tolerable. But the bulb’s closest competitors don’t do that. Then again, they cost more.
That’s it for the downside.
The quality of the light itself is just fine. I had one of these LG bulbs in the same fixture for a time with a Utilitech bulb from Lowe’s, and the color temperature was virtually identical. The LG bulb claims to be brighter–485 lumens vs. 430 lumens–and it may be. I don’t have a way to measure that objectively, but it certainly didn’t seem to be less bright.
Assuming the bulbs hold up, I expect to be buying more of them. For the price difference, I can live with the delay.
David Farquhar is a computer security professional, entrepreneur, and author. He started his career as a part-time computer technician in 1994, worked his way up to system administrator by 1997, and has specialized in vulnerability management since 2013. He invests in real estate on the side and his hobbies include O gauge trains, baseball cards, and retro computers and video games. A University of Missouri graduate, he holds CISSP and Security+ certifications. He lives in St. Louis with his family.