Thank you to the locals that stopped by the lighting DIY Workshop that I partnered with the Home Deport on last weekend! I LOVED meeting you and it was great to get tips from the on-site lighting expert about how to increase lighting energy efficiency. It’s a topic I’ve been sadly pretty ignorant about until recently. We have a lot of CFLs in our house, but the Home Depot guy encouraged me to look at their LED offerings while I was at the store on Saturday.
I think it sort of stinks to have to drop $8-16 on just a single bulb, but how crazy is it that LED bulbs last for literally 20 years and they use a fraction of the wattage that an incandescent bulb uses?!
I picked up a pretty expensive (almost $16!) Cree bulb that has a new technology that’s supposed to help colors read more correctly, which has been my main complaint about LED in the past. I also bought this Ecosmart two-pack as a cheaper comparison that brought the price-per-bulb down to about $8. And I threw in to the test group an incandescent I already owned for good measure, just because I was curious. All of the bulbs were Soft White in tone and 60 watts or equivalent.
Well, here are the results of my extremely technical and super scientific light test results! ;)
I actually really liked the tone of the most expensive LED bulb (surprise, surprise), but really the Ecosmart brand wasn’t bad at all. I’d probably use it in bedrooms or for fixtures we use a little less. And actually I’ve read that it’s a good idea to switch over to the more expensive bulbs over time to help spread out the initial expense, but that you should put the new bulbs in your most frequently used fixtures so you can start the energy savings right away.
As a part of the workshop last weekend, Home Depot gave me a $100 gift card to give away today! Maybe you’ll want to spend the gift card on a dozen or so new LEDs? :) To enter, leave a comment here on this post. I’d love to hear about what bulbs you’re using and loving.
Contest ends next Thursday at midnight. Winner will be emailed. Good luck!
PS Home Depot has lots of great (free!) DIY workshops coming up! To see what your local store has to offer, check out the registration page here!
We're in the middle of switching out our energy saving ones to these newer, color-friendly LEDs. I'm so glad the blue tinge of LEDs has vastly improved!
We've gone some of the LEDs.
We are renovating our new/old victorian and making this old house more energy-efficient is at the top of our to-do list!
I'm still using the ge reveals but twenty years!? Yeah, I'll be switching.
We just purchased our first home. So, when we need new light bulbs we will be looking for LED's.
I would love try those new bulbs! I hate the fluorescent look of the older efficient ones.
Wow, didn't even know LED for the home existed! Thanks for helping us as always!
We've been replacing with LED's but no particular brand. I have been thinking that I should start paying better attention to the various options. My biggest complaint on the ones we have is they take a few seconds to reach their full brightness. Not that big of a deal, just a little annoying. Thanks for the chance to win.
I am using the "old fashioned light bulbs", and will continue until I purchase some of the new LED's which give me a similar lighing effect.
I'll have to check out the LEDs we have mostly CFLs and they aren't the cutest lights on the block!
We use LEDs because they last super long!
I always have the hardest time picking out lightbulbs – silly but true! In your test I have to say that I still prefer the incandescent but the lifetime of those LED bulbs is insane!
love the led's we have added so far!
I could easily spend it on LEDs, or a ceiling fan, or paint.
We have a few CFLs but all the rest are incandescent. I'd like to try some LEDs!
We've starting switching to the LED's . They are definitely improved over a few years ago.
I've been wanting to switch my too-glaring CFLs over to LED bulbs!
Love the tone of the new bulbs! Def want to get those for in my own home. Great info.
That Cree light looks great!
I haven't bought any of the new bulbs yet, but will probably just buy whatever is cheaper.
I have been meaning to switch over and you just gave me another reason!
I have been meaning to switch over and you just gave me another reason!
Yay bulbs!
Thanks for doing this test! I usually hate the color of LED lighting, but this is convincing me that things have improved!
My husband is an electrician and we're both really into going green. Last summer, we moved in with my elderly grandparents to help take care of them, and wound up carving out an apartment in their basement. We wired in Sylvania LEDs as can lights throughout. I LOVE them. We have them on dimmers because they are so bright. Recently we've been replacing the upstairs bulbs with LEDs as they burn out, and we've noticed a significant savings on the electric bill. LEDs all the way, baby!
Still using the incandescents in my stash…just love the look!
I received a CREE LED bulb from Haven and I have to say I really like it compared to any bulb I have tried. Great giveaway!
I use a combination of both LED and CFL bulbs in my house still, but I rarely have more than two lights on at the same time. Either I'm very stingy with my electricity use, or I prefer a dim "ambience." Yeah, that's it. ;o)
We use LED bulbs in the light fixtures we use the most except for the bathroom. I like to use those blue tinted bulbs for the bathroom. There are still many more in the house that I'd like to eventually switch.
Thanks for the giveaway! I love to read your posts.
I am glad they are improving the LEDs. I am really sensitive to glaring bright light so I am still using incandescents.
While I would love to save money and energy, I can only use incandescent bulbs because all other bulbs trigger my migraines.
It is interesting to see the difference in the bulbs!
We still use incandescents, but I would love to invest in LEDs and start saving some pennies and the planet!
Great Giveaway! And a $100 gift card would be a super incentive to switch to LEDs!!!
I stay confused where bulbs are concerned. When they announced no more 100 watt bulbs would be for sale I rushed to Walmart and bought all they had on the shelf. A gift card to use for the newer bulbs would be wonderful and maybe clear my confusion. Face it, how many of us have the $$ to change all our bulbs?
We bought a new home 6 years ago and most of our bulbs are still going strong! When we do need to buy new bulbs we get the LEDs.
For everyday usage, I love the glow of LEDs, but if I'm painting the bulb first, incandescent bulbs look nicer.
I use cfls but would love to transition to LEDs
I use soft pink incandescent bulbs, which are getting hard to find and which I've never seen in LED format. So if I won the gift card I would probably buy a bunch of soft white LEDs like you said. I appreciated your comparison!
We've just been using mostly cfls, but i'm excited to try some led lights.
We want to slowly switch over and am now interested in these LEDs! Thanks!
I am so glad to hear there is a good option b/c I've hated all of the energy efficient bulbs we've gotten in the past! Would love to use that gift card to get some! Thanks!
Love LEDs!
I just use the cheapest incandescents at the moment because it doesn't matter what we use in our rental house they blow out (we dropped a lot of money on cfl's to know this…). Hate to think what the state of the wiring in this house really is….
I've basically switched over to energy efficient bulbs throughout my entire place; I was pretty skeptical initially but they have definitely lasted substantially longer than the previous (regular) bulbs I was using
I so need to buy some LEDs…I haven't liked the CFLs I use at all.
We use cfl but will prob slowly switch to led as they burn out
Ugh. I so badly need to start doing this myself. I know it'll make a huge difference to someone like me who enjoys many lights on.
Loving the newer LEDs, although I must say I miss the look of the incandescent bulbs. What can I say, I'm old-school.
We are currently using Sylvania LED 65 watt equivalent spot lights. We bought a bunch of them when they were on clearance for $30 each. They are "supposed" to last a very long time…we'll see! We do really like them!