I think this is going to be a long wait, since the required rectifier/transformer is bulky, especially if it has to support dimming. It seems a shame to have a separate one for each light in a candelabra. I think there is a market opportunity for something that fixes the power for a whole fixture so it’s low voltage dc.
By not-quite-complete coincidence I was in the light bulb aisle of Kroger (not normally the hotbed of cutting edge technology) and they had some GE G-16 candelabra-base LED bulbs (those are small globes). That is what fits in a couple of our ceiling fans, so I picked one up. It looks like they put the electronics into the bottom 1/3 or so of the globe part.
So far so good - I’m quite happy with the light output and color, and it’s a mostly down-facing application.
I’ve replaced all of my bulbs with LEDs, and I just want to remind everyone to buy bulbs specifically made for enclosed fixtures if you’re using them in one and dimmable bulbs if it’s for a fixture with a dimmer, otherwise it’s a fire hazard.
I’ve started moving to using Wink enabled GE bulbs, and it’s pretty sweet. A very easy to set up home automation system, without needing to pay a monthly fee… and an accessible API if you wanted to write your own app to control them.
I tried a dimmable LED bulb (the CREE one from Home Depot) but apparently my Lutron dimmer isn’t compatible with it. Instead of smooth, continuous dimming, the bulb dimmed in “steps”, and wouldn’t even dim all the way off. I went with a halogen bulb instead. Not quite as energy efficient but produces very pleasing light.
I know from lots of experience that you CAN get dimmable LEDs that dim down to about 5%, but you MUST get the exact dimmer switch that the EXACT fitting/bulb manufacturer recommends. I have a drawer full of partly dismantled dimmer switches as evidence of this, but once you get it right, they are teh awesome.
I just moved into a house and I upgraded a bunch of the bulbs to LEDs. Hydro-Quebec was running a promotion at the time giving back $7 a bulb, which made the dozen or so PAR20s that put out 500 Lumens at 8W a reasonable $8 each. I figured I’d might as well start saving immediately, and now I regret not buying even more to switch over the basement. I’ve got a friend who swears by some Chinese company that ships such bulbs in for around $4 each, but that makes me a bit nervous. Are they actually UL tested / certified or did they just print that on the box? I don’t want any fire hazards in my new house!
I also picked up some connected bulbs: a Philips Hue bulb, and a couple of Philips Lux ones with the bridge. It’s fun to play with, and I’ve got some interesting home automation things on the go (automatic dimming when I start a video on my HTPC, for example, or turning them all on at sunset and off by bedtime). But I really think I need to go to the source if I want to get serious about that. It’s a shame Z-wave dimmer switches that support LEDs are so pricy, still. I just ordered a couple to experiment with.
Oh, and Cliffski: It’d be great if you shared the fruits of your labour. What switches with which bulbs actually dimmed down low, smoothly, and without buzzing?
I’d like to know as well. I’ve got a Leviton CFL / LED compatible dimmer in the kitchen, but when I tried dimmable CFLs with it, they put up a ferocious buzzing if it wasn’t nearly 100% power. I since got some dimmable LED PAR 30’s, and it will dim those without the buzz. It doesn’t dim to anything like 5% though.
Just moved into a new apartment and took the opportunity to switch from CFL to LED lighting. Awesome, huge upgrade! Uses even less energy than CFL but turns on just as fast as any old light bulb, and has good light quality too. I have two dimmer switches by the way, they come with mode selectors to accommodate diverse variants of CFLs and LEDs. Luckily I don’t want dimming anyway, when I tried it with my LED bulbs I also got some annoying buzzing. Maybe I didn’t pick the right mode but I wasn’t inclined to experiment.
Glad I resurrected this thread as LED just feels good - we are living in the future and there ARE technical solutions for at least some of the world’s problems :).
I just found GU10 LED at Costco to replace the halogen track lighting. They are 6W (vs 50), dimmable, and the color is excellent, 3000K with a CRI > 85.
48" led fluorescent replacements are getting cheap now (~$10); I’ve put in some and they are quite nice. You can get some that are fluorescent-ballast compatible, but I’ve been getting the ballast bypass kind-- it’s pretty easy to take out the ballast and you save 2-3 watts, otherwise completely wasted, by doing it.
Not sure if you are serious or a troll? Brand new poster, responding to a 6 year old question in a fast moving technology thread, with a link to a “blog”???
Your reference is to some incomplete TV information, which is not relevant to lighting. LCDs do not produce light, they are used as pixel switches to passthru or block light from other sources (LED or other backlights).
If you are looking for LED replacement for small candelabra bulbs, they are available pretty widely, from many mfrs, including common stores like Lowes, Target, Walmart, etc.
Yeah my local ACE had these Feit bulbs for $2 each. I replaced every candelabra bulb in the house (15 bulbs). Going from 40 watts to 4 watts is gonna be a huge power savings.
We didn’t care for the funky filament look of a lot of candelabra LEDs and were worried about most of the light shooting up to the ceiling in other styles.
But we found these Phillips (currently $14 for a 3-pack, so pricier than the Feits). The mushroom-looking thing is a lens that scatters the light quite evenly. Extremely clever, and it works really well.
I tried a similar bulb and its color was awful, like a single yellow color instead of a mix of colors that gave the right color temperature. Do the Feit bulbs have that problem?
I see I missed @antlers question, the colors from the bulb look proper and natural , still using them today.
Another topic: I enjoyed this CFL retrospective.
Wyze, makers of one of the most fabulously affordable smart adjustable single-color lights on the market just dropped the Wyze Bulb Color, which aims to do the same for the Hue market. NGL, kinda thinking about tossing my Feits, because the app just made some stupendously stupid updates that removed the Group function.
Impressive 1100 lumen output.
I’ve had good luck with TCP brand (non-smart, non-dimmable) LED bulbs
14W 1500lm 2700K
https://www.amazon.com/TCP-Value-Equivalent-Dimmable-RLVA10027ND6/dp/B01IH30BLY
8W 800lm 2700K