LED flood light bulbs?

I am seriously considering making the plunge and replacing the incandescent flood light bulbs in my kitchen with LED bulbs.

I have a large kitchen and quite a few to replace. Any recommendations on where I should purchase from? I don't mind ordering online if it means the best price and waiting a bit.

I have a pretty good idea of what I want. Lowes sells the a Utilitech BR40 bulb that looks like a standard incandescent bulb and is similar wattage and light output (2700k), but the price is a bit higher than I'd like to pay (~$30 a bulb). I don't need dimmable bulbs, which shaves 50% of more off the price.

Also, if you have any long term experience with LED bulb life please share.

I have LED lights placed at the lights where they are lit all-night.

They use practically no power and seems to last forever (haven't had any problems to date)

I bought mine from Costco, and the prices are dropping as scale of production increses in the past 2 years.

But for the time being, I think CFB Flood light is still ALOT cheaper than LED Floodlights and it may be another year or 2 until it makes Economic sense to switch LED Flood lights

cheers,

beewang

Both of my restaurants have been completely replaced with led lights and floods. One of my restaurants is open 24 hours, so they are on 24 hours a day.

It's a pricey investment, but a smart one as they have already paid for themselves in the 2 years I've had them.

I went through an LED wholesale company and they come with a free no hassle replacement service if a bulb goes out.

I have used Home Depot branded bulbs (ecosmart) and they work well, PAR 20 and PAR 30. Just note the bulb color as it makes a real difference. Bright white is good for indoors while day light is better for outside.

If you want to see all of your options go to http://www.polar-ray.com/ We put some of these in our old house in San Jose and they were bright, http://www.polar-ray.com/Cree-LR6C_p_2.html much better than most of the screw in bulbs I have tried. Of course it all depends on your budget.

take a look at http://www.solarilluminations.com/ac...ot_lights.html

Go LED + solar!

(this site is one of our customers - they're based in Florida)

Originally Posted by beewang

I have LED lights placed at the lights where they are lit all-night.

They use practically no power and seems to last forever (haven't had any problems to date)

I bought mine from Costco, and the prices are dropping as scale of production increses in the past 2 years.

But for the time being, I think CFB Flood light is still ALOT cheaper than LED Floodlights and it may be another year or 2 until it makes Economic sense to switch LED Flood lights

cheers,

beewang

Thanks Bee I didn't find any at Costco online. I will have to brave the warehouse to see what they've got.

Originally Posted by BlaZinMJ3

Both of my restaurants have been completely replaced with led lights and floods. One of my restaurants is open 24 hours, so they are on 24 hours a day.

It's a pricey investment, but a smart one as they have already paid for themselves in the 2 years I've had them.

I went through an LED wholesale company and they come with a free no hassle replacement service if a bulb goes out.

I am going through a bulb a month in my kitchen and it just seems like such as waste. Thanks for sharing your experience.

Originally Posted by ssamols

I have used Home Depot branded bulbs (ecosmart) and they work well, PAR 20 and PAR 30. Just note the bulb color as it makes a real difference. Bright white is good for indoors while day light is better for outside.

Thanks. I am trying some 2700K (what they call warm white) PAR 38 in my family room and so far I really like them

Originally Posted by BLT

If you want to see all of your options go to http://www.polar-ray.com/ We put some of these in our old house in San Jose and they were bright, http://www.polar-ray.com/Cree-LR6C_p_2.html much better than most of the screw in bulbs I have tried. Of course it all depends on your budget.

Thanks, I'll check them out

Originally Posted by wyb

take a look at http://www.solarilluminations.com/ac...ot_lights.html

Go LED + solar!

(this site is one of our customers - they're based in Florida)

I don't think they have what I am looking for but thanks

We've had CFL flood lights in our kitchen for a couple of years, and neither my wife nor I like them. They take a substantial amount of time to "warm up". You don't get the instant on that you get with an incandescent bulb. When the prices of LEDs come down, we will replace the CFLs with LEDs. I can't wait.

.I have a pretty good idea of what I want. Lowes sells the a Utilitech BR40 bulb that looks like a standard incandescent bulb and is similar wattage and light output (2700k), but the price is a bit higher than I'd like to pay (~$30 a bulb). I don't need dimmable bulbs, which shaves 50% of more off the price.

Do you have a link to that? I don't know what watts or lumens you are talking about, but I'm getting prices around $7.

Just so everyone is aware. Led and cfl are meant to stay on for extended periods, otherwise you'll end up using more electricity

Originally Posted by BlaZinMJ3

Just so everyone is aware. Led and cfl are meant to stay on for extended periods, otherwise you'll end up using more electricity

no. You are incorrect sir. CFL's work better and have longer life when on for longer periods, but this is not true with the LED's.



Mel...can you post a pic of what the fixture looks like?

If it is a recessed can, the bulb upgrade is not the preferred method of LED retrofit.

.

Originally Posted by Frank Rizzo

no. You are incorrect sir. CFL's work better and have longer life when on for longer periods, but this is not true with the LED's.



Mel...can you post a pic of what the fixture looks like?

If it is a recessed can, the bulb upgrade is not the preferred method of LED retrofit.

.

They last longer when on for an extended period of time. If your constantly turning them off or on, they will burn out quicker. Trust me, this is coming from the wholesaler.

Originally Posted by BlaZinMJ3

They last longer when on for an extended period of time. If your constantly turning them off or on, they will burn out quicker. Trust me, this is coming from the wholesaler.

I think that is wrong for LED - Rizzo would know!

oh - and that wholesaler - he's the guy you go to for MORE of these things when they burn out...

Originally Posted by wyb

I think that is wrong for LED - Rizzo would know!

oh - and that wholesaler - he's the guy you go to for MORE of these things when they burn out...

I'm not getting into a piss contest. I am just repeating what I've been told. If rizzo is in the business, the. By all means, listen to him, as I am sire he has extensive knowledge.

My wholesaler replaces them free of charge, so I am not worried.

I have installed over 30 of the 6" echo smart LED bulbs from Home Depot that come with the trim built in. They look amazing! They are indistinguishable from incandescent, they are cool and they dim extremely well. I could not be happier. And on LI they cost $22 (and that's with the trim ring). It's not the best pic, but you get the idea. The color is perfect too, soft white:

Originally Posted by BlaZinMJ3

They last longer when on for an extended period of time. If your constantly turning them off or on, they will burn out quicker. Trust me, this is coming from the wholesaler.

no, I'm not going to "trust you" because I know the facts.
Strike time only affects lights that use a ballast (HID, MV, SV, etc). Strike time is is why it took the lights soooo long to come on after a power dip at the Super Bowl.

LED lights are basically a diode, dont have a ballast and are unaffected by starts.

your turn...now you can trust me... or wyb... ...

Originally Posted by Emilner

I have installed over 30 of the 6" echo smart LED bulbs from Home Depot that come with the trim built in. They look amazing! They are indistinguishable from incandescent, they are cool and they dim extremely well. I could not be happier. And on LI they cost $22 (and that's with the trim ring). It's not the best pic, but you get the idea. The color is perfect too, soft white:

Great lights because the use they CREE LED's. Fantastic CRI. I've got a bunch of these as well...price drop at my local HD to $29 also. waaay bette than screwing in bulbs.

Originally Posted by Frank Rizzo

no, I'm not going to "trust you" because I know the facts.
Strike time only affects lights that use a ballast (HID, MV, SV, etc). Strike time is is why it took the lights soooo long to come on after a power dip at the Super Bowl.

LED lights are basically a diode, dont have a ballast and are unaffected by starts.

your turn...now you can trust me... or wyb... ...

Why did banjos just start playing in my head, Frank.

Originally Posted by MatWiz

Do you have a link to that? I don't know what watts or lumens you are talking about, but I'm getting prices around $7.

For a BR40 bulb?

Here it is

Originally Posted by Larry Schloss

We've had CFL flood lights in our kitchen for a couple of years, and neither my wife nor I like them. They take a substantial amount of time to "warm up". You don't get the instant on that you get with an incandescent bulb. When the prices of LEDs come down, we will replace the CFLs with LEDs. I can't wait.

Yeah, I have some CFL's and I don't like them in certain locations for the same reason.

Originally Posted by Frank Rizzo

no. You are incorrect sir. CFL's work better and have longer life when on for longer periods, but this is not true with the LED's.



Mel...can you post a pic of what the fixture looks like?

If it is a recessed can, the bulb upgrade is not the preferred method of LED retrofit.

.

Here is a pic. They are on the first floor ceiling of a two floor house, so I don't have access to them above.

Sounds like I need to go check out HD's selection today :-)

soft white has that yellow hue to it.. I'm not a fan of it myself ... we have a bulb similar to one of those over the kitchen sink and it stays on all the time almost - I wasn't that impressed - but we paid like $60 for it 4 years ago... I am sure they improved since we last bought them, but the kitchen is the only place I want my light to be bright, clean and "instant on" - the CFLs floods we have annoy the crap out of my as they take 2-3 minutes to get up to temp... let us know how it works out... because we just got another $500 gift card for home depot this week... although I think mrs wyb has plans for most of it...

Definitely check Costco warehouse, they carry LEDs from Feit Electric and they should have BR40s as it is quite common bulb. I bought Par30 bulbs last year to replace my halogen floods that were burning out every month and I'm extremely happy with LEDs. Feit didn't have great CFLs but their LEDs are great and use CREE LEDs.

I will be at Costco later today so I'll check their selection and report back.

Originally Posted by Frank Rizzo

Great lights because the use they CREE LED's. Fantastic CRI. I've got a bunch of these as well...price drop at my local HD to $29 also. waaay bette than screwing in bulbs.

Just curious as to why you like CREE. I have been following the stock and it jumped $12.00 in the past 45 gays.

Originally Posted by F1Crazy

Definitely check Costco warehouse, they carry LEDs from Feit Electric and they should have BR40s as it is quite common bulb. I bought Par30 bulbs last year to replace my halogen floods that were burning out every month and I'm extremely happy with LEDs. Feit didn't have great CFLs but their LEDs are great and use CREE LEDs.

I will be at Costco later today so I'll check their selection and report back.

Thanks. I saw the Costco Connection had Fait, but the thing I didn't like was the grey rim and visible diaodes. I'd like to find an LED that looks like a standard incandescent flood bulb (Like the kind I linked from Lowes).

Originally Posted by ssamols

Just curious as to why you like CREE. I have been following the stock and it jumped $12.00 in the past 45 gays.

Cree is the leader in LED lighting. The bulbs I have seen look and feel like incandescent.

Originally Posted by ///M3lissa

Thanks. I saw the Costco Connection had Fait, but the thing I didn't like was the grey rim and visible diaodes. I'd like to find an LED that looks like a standard incandescent flood bulb (Like the kind I linked from Lowes).

I bought one of the Costco bulbs and I can't stand it. It looks so artificial and the exposed LEDs are quite glaring. Take a look at the 6" ones from Depot. Buy one and bring it home to test out....