LED Lighting & Energy Efficiency

[shark2k]

Are there any good R40 replacement LED bulbs?

dsm, I got my parents to buy these: Lighting Science Definity BR40 - 120 Degree - 2700K - LED Bulb (DFN BR40 W27 120) | The EarthLED Store - LED Light Bulbs Direct. They are used in our kitchen in recessed fixtures and have been working well for about 6 months (got them in December). They might be in stock here: Lighting Science Definity - 18 Watt - Dimmable LED - BR40 - 2700K Warm White - 875 Lumens - 120 Volt. Anyway, the color is good and they are warm white and look really close, if not just like incadscent bulbs. Also, they are dimmable if you use that functionality, which is nice. They are 90 watt equivalent and are plenty bright.

-Shark2k

 

[neroden]

@SByer, I suspect the # of standard socket bulbs in a house is strongly correlated to when it was (re)built. My 1820 house has nothing but standard bulbs except in the kitchen and a few specialty fixtures we've installed over the years. My big gripe in shifting to non-incandescent bulbs is finding something that works in enclosed fixtures.

I replaced all my fully enclosed fixtures first. LEDs are happy with partially enclosed fixtures as long as there's some airflow.

Honestly, incandescents don't really like fully enclosed fixtures either; there's a lot to be said for getting rid of fully enclosed fixtures entirely. I'm surprised you have any fully enclosed fixtures in an 1820s house, as they didn't generally make them then...

 

[neroden]

My difficulty is the number of closed fixtures embedded in my house -- those glass domes that seal up a couple of bulbs. They are a deathtrap for anything other than incandescents, so they'll require replacement with something out-of-period that supports modern bulbs.

Consider the sort of fixture which has a glass plate under the bulbs, but not on the sides; you should be able to find something which looks decently "retro". I couldn't find suitable ones on short notice and ended up with the "neck and shade" type of fixture, which also can look decently retro, but stick down further into the room. You can also go with chandelier-style (bulbs pointing up), which are currently very easy to find for some reason (fads I guess).

Of course, the fixtures in your house are already retrofits in any case, as your 1820s house predates electrification. Probably fairly late retrofits at that, I'd guess post-1900. Though if they're in from the 1900-1950 period, you may need to redo your wiring before installing LEDs; LEDs don't like "dirty waveform" electrical wiring.

 

[Robert.Boston]

As you guessed, the wiring in my house is modern (~1990, replacing the dangerously old previous wiring). Very low ceilings limit options. In hindsight, I should have used wall sconces rather than ceiling mounts.

 

[smorgasbord]

I've been happy with these for replacing the bulbs in the ceiling cans. Lumens are good, the warm white color is excellent, the 60° beam is only slightly narrower than I'd like, and at the sale price they're better than anything else I've found, but they're indoor only, and not every lighting situation could deal with the slightly narrower beam.

Getting close. My current PAR38's are rated at 1800 lumens (these are under 1000), but most important to me is dimmability.

 

[TEG]

When you just can't get enough:

 

[dpeilow]

 

[TEG]

http://www.molalla.net/members/leeper/L%20prize%20bulb.htm
Remote Phosphors: Philips LED bulb, Tear-down Part II | EDN

 

[dpeilow]

Warning - Unsafe unbranded Chinese LED bulbs

So I've been running my apartment on LEDs since moving in 4 years ago. At the time, choices were fairly limited, especially as the fitting in the kitchen has SES (or E14) holders. I was going to change it, but then found some SES LED bulbs from a small supplier and went that route instead.

Unfortunately three of the four bulbs of that type I bought have failed. This is far from the 30,000 hours life promised, but then the drivers for a lot of these no-brand bulbs aren't up to scratch. What is worrisome though is that when these fail, they fail short circuit. I was thankful I'd replaced the wired fuses in the house with more modern circuit breakers. However, this was the least of my worries.


Now, when the second one failed earlier this year, I found another SES bulb on eBay for £7. This uses 16 surface mount LEDs and has no lens or glass cover. The quality of light and the brightness of the thing is superb.

R50/E14 6.5W 5630 SMD 16LED High Power LED Lamp Warm White 500Lm | eBay


However, no sooner had the third original one failed than this replacement for the second failed too. This is when I discovered the bad news. These bulbs are so badly designed that they can electrocute you.

You see, there are two wires soldered to the front plate which supply the LEDs. The black, neutral side is connected to one of the mains pins. However - with the GU10 fitting there is no polarity check and this can be carrying mains (240V in the UK) voltage. Not only that, but the protection from making the heat sink live is a very thin, easily scratched layer of insulation. These things are death traps.

Furthermore, when I went to unscrew this failed bulb, it came apart in my hands.

Now imagine if the circuit was still on - perhaps the only light on a two-way switch or in a desk lamp with push button switch.


Astonishingly, this bulb has a CE mark. That means it is approved for import into Europe and has past testing. I can only think this is fake.

From this point I will only be buying branded bulbs such as Philips, Toshiba, Osram, etc. These cheap no-brand Chinese units are not just a false economy, they are dangerous. If you have any that look like this, be very careful when using them or re-positioning the fittings they are installed in.

 

[woof]

I just got some SWITCH INFINIA 10 Watt bulbs (800 Lumen, 40W equiv) that I'm very happy with so far. The come on instantly, have good color, and dim well. They seem well made and are apparently fluid filled and thus very "top heavy" for bulbs, but can be installed in fully enclosed locations. They show some lighting unevenness when looking directly at the bare bulb, but that cannot be noticed if inside a fixture.

They replaced some really annoying CREE bulbs that would periodically flicker. So far, no flicker with the INFINIA's (I wasn't sure if it was the bulbs, or the dimmer switch that was causing the flicker. Seems to be the CREE bulbs.) Home Depot $#@. Wish I kept the receipt, I'd return 'em.

 

[Evpro2]

I can't afford a Tesla yet but at under $10 each I can gradually replace all my light bulbs with LEDs. Probably a lot more environmentally responsible than a 3500 pound EV anyway. I believe the number of coal/nuclear plants that could be closed if we all went LED is approximately 30, which is huge.

 

[Robert.Boston]

@Evpro2: Good thinking. The McKinsey "Global GHG abatement cost curve" identifies shifting residential lighting from incandescent to LED to be the most cost effective carbon abatement strategy. In fact, like many strategies, it's not only cheap, it more than pays for itself, with an estimated "cost" of negative €165/tonne-CO2. Other negative-cost strategies for home-owners include:

• Replacing old appliances (refrigerators, freezers, etc.)
• Retrofit residential HVAC
• Insulation retrofit

 

[woof]

Peder Norby had a great post on the subject:
Electric BMW, ActiveE: We Can Drive Our Cars With The Energy We Save In Our Homes.

 

[TEG]

...With an estimated "cost" of negative €165/tonne-CO2...

Negawatt power - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[neroden]

I can't afford a Tesla yet but at under $10 each I can gradually replace all my light bulbs with LEDs. Probably a lot more environmentally responsible than a 3500 pound EV anyway. I believe the number of coal/nuclear plants that could be closed if we all went LED is approximately 30, which is huge.

I replaced all my incandescents with LEDs well before I got my Tesla. I STRONGLY recommend it.

Something funny happened: I looked at the large drop in my electric bill when I went LED, and I was pleased. Then I noticed that the drop had happened a month BEFORE I installed the LEDs.

Finally I remembered that I'd gone out of town for a week that month. That gives you a rough sense of how much you can benefit from switching to LEDs! In fact, the savings from switching to LEDs are pretty close to the amount of energy I usually use for my car. (I don't drive that far.)

- - - Updated - - -

@Evpro2: Good thinking. The McKinsey "Global GHG abatement cost curve" identifies shifting residential lighting from incandescent to LED to be the most cost effective carbon abatement strategy. In fact, like many strategies, it's not only cheap, it more than pays for itself, with an estimated "cost" of negative €165/tonne-CO2. Other negative-cost strategies for home-owners include:

• Replacing old appliances (refrigerators, freezers, etc.)
• Retrofit residential HVAC
• Insulation retrofit

I am a very strong advocate of super-insulation. "The Super-Insulated Retrofit Book", paperback published in 1983, is still very nearly the state of the art on the subject.

( Super-Insulated Retrofit Book (Sun builders series): Robert Argue: 9780920456439: Amazon.com: Books )
(Only one caveat -- don't run the stove hood or dryer vent through the heat recovery ventilator -- it clogs it up.)

Most people who redo their insulation get only a fraction of the benefits they could be getting by super-insulating. My house doesn't even have a full vapor seal (it has everything but the ceiling), but with the very high R values on my wall and ceiling insulation and the elimination of all gaps, my heating bill is less than 20% of the typical heating bill for a similar-sized house in the area. And I keep the thermostat at 75 degrees.

Insulation contractors usually advertise a mere 50% savings on heating bills -- don't accept that! You can do so much better! :wink:

(Actually, should we have a superinsulation thread? I think of superinsulation as being a bit like getting a Tesla, in that most people think of energy efficiency as being full of "compromises", whereas superinsulation is "no compromises, heat your house to whatever you like and still use less energy than your neighbor".)

 

[Evpro2]

It is truly awesome that we now have cars that can and do run on sunshine.

It is equally awesome that residential solar systems, or even just converting lighting to LEDs in an un-solarized home, can provide that energy.

All that money being spent at gas stations could instead be building energy independence.

 

[Robert.Boston]

Moderator's Note: I've expanded this thread's title to encompass other energy-efficiency measures, rather than trying to split up the thread into LED/insulation/etc.

 

[InTheShadows]

I replaced all my incandescents with LEDs well before I got my Tesla. I STRONGLY recommend it.

Something funny happened: I looked at the large drop in my electric bill when I went LED, and I was pleased. Then I noticed that the drop had happened a month BEFORE I installed the LEDs.

Finally I remembered that I'd gone out of town for a week that month. That gives you a rough sense of how much you can benefit from switching to LEDs! In fact, the savings from switching to LEDs are pretty close to the amount of energy I usually use for my car. (I don't drive that far.)

- - - Updated - - -



I am a very strong advocate of super-insulation. "The Super-Insulated Retrofit Book", paperback published in 1983, is still very nearly the state of the art on the subject.

( Super-Insulated Retrofit Book (Sun builders series): Robert Argue: 9780920456439: Amazon.com: Books )
(Only one caveat -- don't run the stove hood or dryer vent through the heat recovery ventilator -- it clogs it up.)

Most people who redo their insulation get only a fraction of the benefits they could be getting by super-insulating. My house doesn't even have a full vapor seal (it has everything but the ceiling), but with the very high R values on my wall and ceiling insulation and the elimination of all gaps, my heating bill is less than 20% of the typical heating bill for a similar-sized house in the area. And I keep the thermostat at 75 degrees.

Insulation contractors usually advertise a mere 50% savings on heating bills -- don't accept that! You can do so much better! :wink:

(Actually, should we have a superinsulation thread? I think of superinsulation as being a bit like getting a Tesla, in that most people think of energy efficiency as being full of "compromises", whereas superinsulation is "no compromises, heat your house to whatever you like and still use less energy than your neighbor".)

We have reduced heating bills by 30% just doing air sealing. It's amazing what you can do with a few hundred bucks to tighten up a house.

By far these are your first steps at being energy/environmentally minded. Should be right up there with recycling and reusable shopping bags.