The title of this article is Cree‘s slogan for their newly released LED light bulbs. These bulbs look like the normal incandescent bulbs we’re used to seeing, so your light fixtures will look like they have normal bulbs in them. Cree says their “innovative bulb is illuminated by Cree LED Filament Tower™ Technology and provides a compact optically balanced light source within a real glass bulb to deliver consumers the warm light they love and want. Boasting a shape that looks like a traditional light bulb, Cree LED bulbs can be placed in most lighting fixtures in the home.” Unlike traditional incandescents, the Cree bulbs produce the equivalent illumination produced by a traditional 60W bulb but use only 9.5W of power; a 6W Cree bulb that’s equivalent to a 40W traditional bulb is also available. They are warrantied for 10 years and produce 25,000 hours of light – compared to 1000 hours from a typical incandescent. Unlike some CFLs, the Cree bulbs are instant-on.
The bulbs are available in a 60W-equivalent warm white (color temp 2700K), a 60W-equivalent daylight (color temp 5000K), and a 40W-equivalent warm white (color temp 2700K). The 40W warm white bulb has a predicted energy cost of about $0.72 per year and has a lifetime savings of $94; the 60W warm white energy cost is $1.14 per year and saves $139 over it’s lifetime; and the 60W daylight bulb uses about $1.08 of energy per year with a lifetime savings of $140.
The bulbs are mercury-free, dimmable, and made of safety glass. Cree bulbs are available exclusively at Home Depot and cost $9.97 for the warm white 40-watt replacement, $12.97 for the 60-watt warm white replacement, and $13.97 for the 60-watt day light.
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Janet, I know this is an ad, but have you used one of these yet?
The dimmable daylight bulb looks perfect to me, maybe the first bulb I’ve seen that could replace my daylight incandescent bulbs.
I would love to upgrade my incandescent bulbs, but CFL produces horrible light, and LED bulbs have always been too expensive.
@thsu I haven’t had a chance to try these out yet. They were just released in the past day or so, I believe. I like a bright, white daylight bulb, too, and those do look nice.
I use 75W or 100W bulbs in the few fixtures that use incandescent. As I get older I find the need for stronger light sources and a 60W is really only good for low background illumination. Frankly, figuring the amount of time these bulbs are burning and the cost of LED replacements it’d probably take me a few years beyond my death to balance the cost.
Please review these. I’ve tried the GE and (Lowes brand I don’t remember who) Both are OK if you don’t dim them. Both DO dim, but they also flicker when dimmed. I can’t stand flicker.
I have 3-4 GE, Maybe a year old, still going. I had 2 of the Lowes brand fail in 2-3 months. Lowes replaced both with no questions asked. We will see how well they hold up.
Before buying LEDs read up on Lumens and Kelvin Color Temperature ratings. If the package/or site doesn’t provide the information don’t rely on wattage equivalents. I replaced a couple of 12w halogens, which burned out quickly, with LED bulbs from Home Depot. They were just as bright and no discernible difference in the color. Went back and bought a trial Ecosmart PAR20 for my can and track lights. It too was acceptable for brightness and color compared to the 50w halogens. Not as hot either. I bought a coulpe of PAR20s online and was sorely disappointed in brightness and color after checking the lumens and Kelvins I found the cheaper online versions produced less lumens and higher kelvins, but I had to search beyond Amazon to get the info.
My comparison showed that the lumens needed to be about 450 or higher for task lighting and the kelvin rating needed to be 3000. Higher kelvins emit an unpleasant cooler to bluish white light.
I did list the color temperature – what you are calling kelvins. The color temperature is a measure of how white the light is. Orangey yellow light produced by warm white bulbs is around the 2700K to 3000K that you mention. The daylight bulb from Cree is 5000K, so it produces whiter light, more similar to daylight.
I may be mistaken, but I don’t recall seeing lumens listed for the Cree bulbs.
FYI, for anyone who wants to dim LED bulbs. They will flicker if you do not use a dimmer that is made for LED bulbs. You might get lucky like I did, and they will not flicker. BUT the one I have when I go all the way dim, they shut off. The dimmers made for LED’s will not dim as much but will not turn off when all the way dim. I am very curious how they stand up to my current 13watt daylight bulbs.
Janet, thanks for the Cree recommendation. I didn’t notice your comment on the kelvins. The Cree website has more information. Just wanted to share what I had learned. I think the wattage equivalents are not enough information. Much like the wattage equivalents with CFLs. Brightness and color perception might vary with individuals. As expensive as these bulbs are it probably is wise to save receipts and packaging. It seems the most frequent complaint is they don’t last as long as advertised. They may be so cheap in 5-10 years it won’t be very important.
The PAR20 does dim without flickering but only slightly. I’ll have to check into the LED dimmers.