In the past few years a lot of people have traded their power sucking incandescent bulbs for CFL bulbs as a way to cut energy costs. They get a big thumbs up for cutting energy, but there are problems with CFL bulbs including the fact that they have mercury in them. Not disposing of these bulbs properly when they burn out means this deadly chemical will end up in landfills and eventually in the soil and water which is obviously a not good thing. An alternative that saves even more energy than CFL bulbs, and lasts even longer, are LED bulbs like the new 4Flow LED bulbs from CREE. Starting Friday (Nov. 14, 2014) in NYC you can trade one of your CFL bulbs for one free CREE 4Flow LED bulb. CREE will also be visiting Boston and Washington DC where they will end up giving away 15,000 bulbs throughout their entire tour. Click through for more details about these events.
THE CREE “GREAT AMERICAN BULB SWAP” VISITS MANHATTAN, BOSTON, AND D.C.
TRADE UP AND SAVE MONEY & ENERGY WITH THE NEW CREE LED BULB
THOUSAND OF BULBS BEING DISTRIBUTED IN EXCHANGE FOR MERCURY-LADEN CFLs AND ENERGY GUZZLING INCANDESCENT LIGHT BULBS
What:
Haven’t switched to LED bulbs? Now’s the perfect time as days are shorter and getting darker earlier. Americans can participate in the Cree Great American Bulb Swap. Just bring in any CFL or incandescent bulb and trade it for a New Cree® LED Bulb for free. The New Cree LED Bulb is up to 85 percent more energy efficient compared to energy-hogging incandescent bulbs – and it pays for itself in a year or less!
Forget the frustration and inconvenience of constantly changing burnt out bulbs– Cree LED Bulbs last up to 22 years (that’s potentially 5 presidents from now!). Just imagine all the money you’ll save on energy bills and fewer replacement bulbs. Cree LED Bulbs are also mercury-free and provide superior light quality, unlike those squiggly compact fluorescent (CFL) bulbs.
When and Where:
South Street Seaport Pier | New York, NY
11:00 AM- 2:00 PM, Friday, November 14th
10:00 AM- 4:00 PM, Saturday–Sunday, November 15-16th
Readers Park in Downtown Crossing | Boston, MA
11:00 AM- 2:00 PM, Friday, November 21st
10:00 AM- 4:00 PM, Saturday–Sunday, November 22nd and 23rd
Eastern Market | Washington DC
11:00 AM- 2:00 PM, Friday, December 5th
10:00 AM- 4:00 PM, Saturday–Sunday, December 6th-7th
For more info about Cree LED bulbs visit Cree.
Source: The Gadgeteer received promotional items to facilitate this post.
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I have a few flashlights that uses Cree led and they are really good. The one thing that make this bulb stands out for me is their dimming performance specs.
There were 3 reasons I didn’t care for fluorescent bulbs: dimming, dimmed start up, color.
To me dimming is probably the most significant factor. All my switches are dimmable, and it makes a huge difference to the ambience when you can adjust the lighting level to exactly what you want.
The second problem with fluorescent is how dim the light is on start up, then it takes a few minutes to get to full brightness. Subconsciously I would keep the lights on to avoid that problem which defeat the purpose of energy saving.
Lastly, the best fluorescent colors are not good in my eyes. I have trouble seeing as crisply as I do with halogen or good led.
One thing about the Cree bulb that I don’t like on the specs is the color temperature. I prefer 2900K-3100K. I find 2700K too warm (never cared for the old incandescent color; preferred halogen).
@meistervu,
I had the exact same issues with the Cree bulbs. But did you know they also make a cool color?
They not only have dimmable ones (not always at Home Depot, but online at Amazon), but they even have 3-way ones!
I haven’t noticed the kind of startup problems that I had with the CFL ones. But if it’s there, it is definitely more subtle as I never noticed.
CREE sent me a few bulbs to test out and although they are dimmable, they don’t go as low as my incandescent bulbs. This doesn’t bother me because I rarely if ever dim lights.
@Sandy
I am not aware that they make 2900K-3100K color. Anything cooler than that (4000K+) I am not interested in. For me, the color of the light is very critical. Unless I am in the mood for candle light, I don’t really care for old incandescent color. As for CFLs, all starts up a perceptibly dimmer (perhaps 20-30%), even the instant on ones.
The LED’s I got at HomeDepot for $25 a piece a couple of years ago can be dimmed to perhaps 15%, and the color stays constant, not warmer as a normal incandescent does.
As for lighting goes, I prefer to have soft transition between areas. So when I work at my desk, the surround areas would be evenly and dimly lit, and the desk itself would be lit bright enough to work, but not more. I find having a single bright light source harsh. If you look a room that’s well lit naturally in the day, there is no sharp contrast between dark and bright area. That’s what I consider good lighting. I appreciate that.
Could you maybe do one of these trucks in South Carolina? We like saving energy too. I have a few Cree’s already, love em. Just need about 100 more…