Get APLawrence.com by RSSCheap LED Bulbs
2009/03/24
We found 1.5 watt LED bulbs at Walmart for $5.78. These state that they "replace 40 watt" , are "warm white light" and claim a 30,000 hour lifetime (though they are only warrantied for two years).
Interestingly, they also say "Outdoor Lantern". The fine print does point out that the minimum starting temperature is -20 F, but it surprised me to see it recommended for outdoor use at all as most websites I've read seem to warn against using LED bulbs outdoors.
I was looking to use these inside. I put them in a lamp near my wife's computer. This wasn't done without some convincing: my wife is very fussy about her lighting. However, like me she's cheap, so the prospect of replacing 40 watt bulbs with 1.5 watts attracted her enough to at least give it a trial run.
The first picture at left is a standard 40 watt incandescent bulb. It illuminates the area nicely, but it does cause some glare on my wife's computer screen. The single 1.5 watt LED below that obviously isn't providing the same illumination at all - that "replaces 40 watt" is more than optimistic.
Below that we have two of the LED lamps turned on - that comes closer to matching the 40 watt incandescent. It is bright enough to read by and doesn't put glare on the computer screen.
They aren't hot, either. Heat is where incandescent. lamps waste energy; LED bulbs run cool.
Overall, she likes it. It could be a little brighter, but with two bulbs, it is sufficient. Using 3 watts instead of 40 for four hours a day is worth more than $5.78 - assuming these cheap things will last at least a year, of course. I'll have to remember to keep the packaging and sales slip: I don't really trust anything this cheap.
I'm going to poke around Home Depot later today to see if they have better quality and higher output bulbs. I can find lots of choice online but shipping costs for small numbers of bulbs makes the cost unnattractive.
There are higher light output bulbs advertised. For example, this GeoBulb Line promises that - at a price of $120.00 per bulb!
Tony Lawrence 2009-03-24 Rating:
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Tue Mar 24 17:05:14 2009: Subject: TonyLawrence
And as of today, she still likes these lights.
I'll need something brighter for my lamp. More expensive units are brighter and also have much longer expected life and better warranties.
Wed Mar 25 14:31:56 2009: Subject: BigDumbDinosaur
http://bcstechnology.net
These state that they "replace 40 watt", are "warm white light" and claim a 30,000 hour lifetime...
For the purposes of calculating light output, I use 1:4 for CFLs and 1:10 for LEDs. That is, each watt consumed by a CFL produces the same number of lumens as a standard 4 watt incandescent lamp, and each watt consumed by an LED produces as many lumens as a 10 watt incandescent. Research currently underway will probably improve the LED's efficiency, but at 1:10 it's already far better than any other electric light source, including high pressure sodium (which you wouldn't use for residential purposes).
As for life expectancy, the Achilles' heel of both CFL and LED replacement lamps is the electronic circuitry used to regulate lamp current. LEDs themselves are very long-lived and can approach or exceed 100,000 hours if not driven too hard. However, the Chinese lamps you have use extremely cheap semiconductors and that is from where the inevitable failure will come. The advertised 30,000 hour rating on these LEDs you purchased suggests that the LED(s) are being driven near the high end of their current rating in order to get adequate light output. The pictures you posted suggest that the "replace 40 watt" claim is grossly optimistic -- more like 15 watt, from what I see.
The fine print does point out that the minimum starting temperature is -20 F, but it surprised me to see it recommended for outdoor use at all as most websites I've read seem to warn against using LED bulbs outdoors.
I'm not sure why a website would warn you not to use an LED lamp outdoors, unless they're concerned that someone will steal it. The -20 F "starting temperature" (there's nothing to "start" in an LED lamp) is an industry standard often seen applied to CFLs for outdoor use.
Incidentally, the lower rate of heat dissipation associated with CFL and LED lighting saves you some additional energy costs during hot weather by not contributing as much cooling load to the air conditioning system. Each watt dissipated as heat adds 3.35 BTU to the equation. Since incandescent lamps convert over 90 percent of their input energy into heat, a single 100 watt lamp generates about 300 BTU. In the average home with all incandescent lighting, the total BTU thus produced can add as much as five percent to the cost of running the A/C.
Wed Mar 25 14:41:14 2009: Subject: TonyLawrence
For example:
Average Rated Life: 50,000 Hours --- Operating Temperature: -20 ~ +45 °C for indoor use only - must be in weatherproof housing for outdoor use
http://www.superbrightleds.com/specs/E27-W7X1-G.htm
Wed Jun 10 13:18:06 2009: Subject: TonyLawrence
I saw this today: http://www.physorg.com/news162821951.html
An ultra-powerful laser can turn regular incandescent light bulbs into power-sippers, say optics researchers at the University of Rochester. The process could make a light as bright as a 100-watt bulb consume less electricity than a 60-watt bulb while remaining far cheaper and radiating a more pleasant light than a fluorescent bulb can
Not quite LED efficiency, and no mention was made as to how this might affect the bulb's longevity, but still interesting.
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