Comments on: Cree LED Bulbs Now Energy Star® Certified, Can Save You $100s

By: Tim

Tim — Mon, 28 Oct 2013 14:30:00 +0000

I love these 9.5W (60W equivalent), 800 lumen WARM WHITE bulbs. The color is great and they come on instantly. They should last about 15-20 years. Well worth the money.

By: Marion Meads

Marion Meads — Mon, 07 Oct 2013 17:12:00 +0000

The author should at least show one city or utility area where there is a Home Depot and a utility with rebate so that the resulting price is $4.97. As it is, this is sensationalized vapor ware pricing. Do you know of any utility providing rebates for this light?

By: Neil Blanchard

Neil Blanchard — Mon, 07 Oct 2013 00:40:00 +0000

They should mention in the specs they are dimmable, then. That is an even better deal, then.

By: John

John — Sun, 06 Oct 2013 21:43:00 +0000

I have the Cree installed. Both the 40w and the 60w equivalent. I am very impressed with both the color rendition and the brightness and they are dimmable. To top it off they use considerably less power than CFL bulbs and they don’t contain mercury! I highly recommend them!

By: mds

mds — Sun, 06 Oct 2013 05:35:00 +0000

Marion,
That price is “after utility rebate”. Not all utility areas are providing rebates. Find a friend in an area with utility rebates and have them buy for you.

By: Ivor O'Connor

Ivor O'Connor — Sat, 05 Oct 2013 18:59:00 +0000

Ame-nl is obviously a geek. I have a brother like that. He’s just saying the kill-a-watt may not measure inductive or capacitive loads accurately. As opposed to simple resistive loads.

By: Bob_Wallace

Bob_Wallace — Sat, 05 Oct 2013 15:50:00 +0000

Would you explain that to “the guy on the street”?

Hang on while I run out into the street. (It’s almost four miles away.)

By: arne-nl

arne-nl — Sat, 05 Oct 2013 14:45:00 +0000

CFL’s contain a coil that reduce cos φ. Perhaps your Kill-A-Watt is not accurately measuring real power.

By: Neil Blanchard

Neil Blanchard — Sat, 05 Oct 2013 04:50:00 +0000

The 40 watt equivalent model draws ~6W, so it is roughly 75 lumens per watt. Which is not too shabby. Even at $12-13 each, that is not bad. I’m thinking they are not dimmable, since they do not mention it.

I really like a Sylvania A15 dimmable 450 lumen bulb, that uses 8W and costs $20. It also radiates only over the top hemisphere of the bulb. The light temperature is great, and the quality is great.

By: Omega Centauri

Omega Centauri — Sat, 05 Oct 2013 01:27:00 +0000

I’ve got mostly LEDs in my house. The 2700K are way too pink for my taste. Most of these bulbs are offered in 3000K, which is pretty decent. I suspect the bulbs I’ve bought from Lowes are the same bulb in different packaging. Last I looked the 450Lumen bulbs were $9, and the 800Lumen bulbs were $12. I’ve mixed 450/800 in the same multibulb fixture and you have to stare really hard to notice. So it is possible to upgrade your illumination by replacing just one or two bulbs.

By: sambar

sambar — Fri, 04 Oct 2013 22:57:00 +0000

If you do that, also mention that the Cree has better color rendition, longer life, is dimmable, doesn’t have high rate flicker and doesn’t suffer poor output in extreme cold outdoor conditions than a CFL..

By: Marion Meads

Marion Meads — Fri, 04 Oct 2013 22:50:00 +0000

“The 60 watt incandescent equivalent can cost as little as $4.97 after the utility rebate.”. I looked at the link to Home Depot as the only place to buy these bulbs for now.

How come that the ACTUAL COST of these bulbs at Home Depot are $12.97 (for soft light) and $13.97 each (for day light type) INSTEAD OF $4.97 as claimed by the article? Am severely disappointed!!! So how do I get the price of $4.97? Where do we get rebates?

By: Bob_Wallace

Bob_Wallace — Fri, 04 Oct 2013 22:39:00 +0000

I’ve got one of each. The difference is quite noticeable. Probably don’t want to mix them in the same room.

Put them in different rooms and most people won’t notice any difference.

We adapt.

By: Bob_Wallace

Bob_Wallace — Fri, 04 Oct 2013 22:38:00 +0000

I’ve got a couple of the “60 watt” Crees. I checked the draw of one with my Kill-A-Watt. Pulls 8 watts.

I also checked a “100 watt” FEIT CFL. It’s suppose to pull 25 watts but I measured 27.

Extrapolating from a 60 LED to a 100 LED the draw would be about 13 watts. If that simple math holds for actual LEDs then they will pull half or less as much power as CFLs.

By: Shiggity

Shiggity — Fri, 04 Oct 2013 21:43:00 +0000

Make sure you check the K rating (color temperature). The warm yellowish light is 2700K that most people are used to. The blueish tint / pure white light is 4000K and higher. They are offered in a range of different K ratings.

By: dynamo.joe

dynamo.joe — Fri, 04 Oct 2013 20:38:00 +0000

Number of people reading this website that still use incandescent bulbs for all/most of their lighting needs? Zero.

Still a good deal. But I think it’s a little disingenuous to only give the savings possible for conversion from incandescent bulbs and not mention the smaller projected savings for conversion from CFL.