FEB 24

What is important is the cost and energy difference with CLF not incandescent.

If a CFL uses 15W, and this uses 7.5W, then the saving is 7.5W. That's 65.7KWh per year (if left on 24*365). Assuming an expensive $0.20 per KWh, that's $13 per year. The CFL costs $5, the LED $100. So that's 95/13 == 7 year payback if left on 24*365. If only used 6 hours per day it is more like 30 year payback.

Most consumers look for payback in much less time than this.

You also need to factor in that LEDs last longer than CFLs, though. With a 6 hour-per-day usage, you're looking at yearly replacements of CFLs... at LEAST. with an LED? I have no real idea, but at least a decade, or so they say. So let's be generous to the CFL and say 1 a year vs. 1 a decade. The CFL then costs 50 dollars rather than a hundred for the same period of time.

* rather than FIVE. So 50 against 100, not 5 against 100.

...as much as CFL seem to be a better alternative to the pricy LED; there are issues:
1) they do not last very long
2) they are a hazard; UL didn't care about the fires I had...maybe they are waiting for DEATHs

I have all my CFLs in a draw. The blown ones have a black X marked on them. I have no more than 6 blown ones, and all significantly used bulbs were upgraded to CFL at least 5 years ago. So I would give my CFLs in my house about a 5 to 10 year life expectancy.

Now I'm slowly moving to LEDs, so will give away used CFLs.
Costco has 3 types of LED lights for about $13.

2 out of 3 at Costco are bright white light (flood and down lights), so I have limited uses for them. Plus they have chandelier LED lights in warm white.

the LED are made from gold or platinum or diamonds?

"The GeoBulb™ is designed to be used indoors at an ambient temperature that does not exceed 90 degrees Fahrenheit"

we're not all Eskimos.

Your figures for the lumens of standard 60w bulbs are wrong. both 14w cfls and 60w incandescents produce 700-900 lumens. A 7w LED currently produces 350 lumens. while led last 60,000 hours(about a decade). CFLs last 10,000 hours. Therefore LEDs are 10 times the price for being just as energy efficient. The only plus is that they dont have mercury.

0.20 Dollar per KWh may be expensive in America but is really cheap compared to The Netherlands. I pay 0.32 dollar (0.25 euro) compared to your 'expensive' 0.20 dollar(0.16 euro). And these prices are normal in The Netherlands.

The other primary concerns not addressed in this article...CRI or color rendering. Will these lamps match the color temperature of incandescent? Or more importantly each other? At 100 bucks a piece, they better.

I'll just stick with CFL's from the local university surplus sale... $0.50 ea

Although I like the idea of producing "LED bulbs", the high price makes it very unlikely that this product acually has a shot in the market. If we want LEDs to replace CFLs, completely new lighting designs are needed.

When calculating cost comparisons, you also have to consider which of the bulbs in your house you'd be willing to change. Most of my lights are 3-way or on dimmer switches. The only ones that aren't (and that I'm not planning to switch to dimmers) are the ones in the halls and closets. Since these LEDs aren't 3-way and can't be used with dimmers, I could only replace my least used lights. At $100 a pop, it will take a really really long time to payback a closet light that gets used for minutes a week.

(I use so many dimmers and 3-ways because I have a sleeping issue which is greatly improved by limiting my exposure to bright lights after the sun sets.)

I think that if you are looking to go green for the reason of cost savings, you are missing the boat. I understand the problems in the current economy, but if you are looking to do your part to make an impact, the cost cannot be the only consideration. I am slowly moving toward getting all my lighting as efficient as possible, but it is not an overnight possibility in my case. We can only hope to do well for the environment personally, and hope that our actions affect others to do the same.

you have lights in your closets!

In regards to EVMs comment - maybe wiring works differently where you live, but where I am the bulb is not the determining factor in a 3 way set up - it's completely determined by the wiring.

Also, one of the *big* advantages of LED over CFL is that they are more easily made dimmable. These bulbs probably suit your situation EVM.

LEDs to be made dimmable need to be set to go on and off, not reduce the power, otherwise their lifespan is significantly reduced. The dimming effect is the same, but lifespan is increased.

CFLs work great for screw-ins. You can get full spectrum, and lasting only one year? I've got a CFL that is old-old from 6 years ago still going strong.

You can get dimmable CFL's but they are generally 3-way(meaning 3 dimming settings). And here in the US 3-way bulbs are separate and don't screw into regular sockets and vice versa. I've got 2 lamps, maybe it's something special about them.

You can have dimming by wire, also called a rheostat, which is not 3-way at all, and has multiple settings. Unfortunately it's only meant to work with Incandescents. It may be possible for LEDs to take advantage of it at some point in the future but chances are you'll be limiting where the light is going rather than what is going on.

I like LED lighting, I want to put it into bookshelves, and accent, and the instructions I've found on the web even have stuff for dimming it(with the on/off stuff for it, faster than the human eye can see but same effect). It looks great, and now they have 1W LED light(not screw-in), you can really do some amazing things and eliminate the need more more screw-ins, or using them all that often.

@mark
All of my 3-way lights require 3-way bulbs. (They also all have knobs that you turn to cycle thru the settings instead of just on/off switches. Is that what you meant in your comment about wiring?) I live in the US, if that makes a difference.

As for the dimmers, I didn't assume these bulbs weren't compatible, I checked the website (following the link in the article) and these LEDs are not. (See the last question/answer at: http://www.geobulb.com/questions/). It says they aren't compatible yet, so perhaps they will be in the future, but who knows what the price will be then either.

I don't understand why the mercury on CFL is a concern. Is the mercury evaporated from within the lamp? Or will somebody swallow the lamp as it is? Thermometers have mercury as well.
Also about efficiency. CFL's are generally 6~7 times more efficient than incandescents. Their lifespan is quite good. I changed every lamp in the house to CFL 3 years ago. Still I haven't had a burnt lamp. The color range is good (not as the incandescents' though :( )

$100 for a lamp is simply folly. That's another case of greenwashing to me. If you want to save the planet get rid of that SUV.

i'm very interested in LEDs. have you heard of any that are offer a soft light. we're not happy with the harshness of CFLs (plus don't like the mercury in the landfill -- and we've found the CFLs don't last as long as they say). it seems LED lights at this point are also kinda harsh. any ideas? we also have all dimmable lights in our living room...

The mercury evaporated leads to global warming and it also emits uv rays . So CFLS might be energy saving and cheap but CFLS have too many hazardous effects on our health and environment.

LEDs are fine if mounted on your forehead. LEDs do a lousy job of flooding a room with light. CFLs are good at that. This article didn't mention if the GeoBulb addressed the flooding feature.

Supposedly there's a new technology where LEDs have hundreds of tiny holes which allow light to escape from the sides, giving a flooding effect.

I look at the green side of things. I still have a working CFL bulb, at least 14 years old, still works at the front door, it is huge, used to cost 25 bucks way then, they not only came down in price but in size as well. when only a few of us used them. As my CFLs burn out, however slowly, I am switching to LED, it aint cheap but it is worth it!

I've been using CFL for over 12 years. the one in my garage is on 24/7 and I just replaced it for the second time. The first "bulb" cost $17.00. The second cost $1.00. Things get cheaper as they get more popular. The only problem I see is the spider webs on the lamp.

I saw your video on EarthLED and thought it was very entertaining. Thank you for the information.

PS - Great Website. I've bookmarked it.
(Are you still giving away the LED lightbulbs? I want one. Thanks.)

I think We all should stand against the products which lead to global warming and mercury emission. We can start with banning CFLS bulbs and switching on to LEDS

I saw your video on EarthLED. It was entertaining. Thank you for the information. But the cost of the cost of the GeoBulb at $100. with 28 sockets in my house to replace my lights would cost $2800 and that is in Canadian dollars not including taxes.

Great Website I've enjoyed reading it and now have bookmarked it.
(Are you still giving away the LED lightbulbs? I want one. Thanks.)

I have purchased 45 LED bulbs and have had mixed reliability.
The good news - some are very reliable. I have five LED bulbs outside that have run dusk to dawn for two years with no problems.
The bad news - some bulbs are VERY unreliable. VERY high failure rates.
I purchased 12 of one type LED bulb and 7 have failed (8.5W product 47856 from LEDLight.com). To make matters worse they are refusing to replace them now.
Beware of LEDLight.com. This company is selling products that they know are defective. No support for failed LED bulbs. These bulbs are very expensive ($20 - $105) and in some cases last only two or three weeks. They refuse to replace defective bulbs. LEDLight.com is selling known defective products and has bad customer service.

to be frank,now led lighting isnot very expensive.
And its cost IS coming down.