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!
Would love to make the switch from CFLs to LEDs! xo
I usually go for the cheapest option! I would use my gift card for some paint!
What a great giveaway! Changing bulbs is such an easy way to improve the energy throughout your space.
Eek! We just moved into our new home and would love a chance to swap out the current bulbs to LEDs. The $100 Home Depot gift card would be great!
We go through recessed lighting bulbs non-stop! Time to switch to the long-life LED's!
I have never liked the first generation of energy efficient ones we had started using to replace our GEs and I'm excited to try these newer color-friendly bulbs!!
I really need to get some LEDs. My lights now aren't cutting it.
We have several generations of CFL's in the house, and none have really impressed me. I'm interested to see how the LED's pan out in the long run.
Yes please! Lightbulbs, paint, hardware, everything HD! Thanks. :-)
Thanks for this overview. We have a variety of bulbs but my favorite: the Edison bulbs in our kitchen pendants!
We are currently using CFLs but I would love to upgrade!
We are in the process of selling our home and buying a new one. Yay! We definitely want to make the switch to LED bulbs in the new house.
We have a mix of incandescent, fluorescent, CFL, and LED! While I agree the LEDs are crazy expensive, if I don't have to buy a light bulb for 20 years, it pays for itself right there! I would love to be able finally nix all the incandescents with a new gift card!
My husband and I are moving into our first home at the end of the month (yay!!!) and we're planning to start switching a lot of the fixtures over to the more Eco-friendly bulbs. And those newer LEDs that show colors better sound great, since we have a working art studio (we're both artists) and good lighting is extremely important.
Aren't LEDs safer too, because they produce less heat? Something to consider in a child's room where they can reach the light/lamp.
We are slowly switching over to LEDs, and so far we love them.
i hoarded a bunch of incandescents and i am dreading making the change when i run out :P this review will be helpful!
As renters we don't have much of a choice but we're purchasing our first home right now and I'm looking forward to slowly replacing lights to LEDs over time!
We have LEDs all over. My husband and I have gradually been making the switch in our home. Still have plenty of lights to switch over though since we just bought a new place!
Cree bulbs are the best. I put one in every time an incandescent bulb peters out.
We have been switching to LED but mostly out of my laziness to not want to change light bulbs again :)
I've never really had a preference for a brand, but I would love to switch all to LED bulbs.
I don't think we've ever tried LED bulbs- I'm curious if they actually last 20 years- some of our CFLs are supposed to last that long but only last a couple of months.
Love the visual showing the lighting differences between the different types of bulbs. We have been transitioning to LEDs throughout our home and have noticed the $$$ savings.
We switched over to all CFLs a few years ago. I'd love to try the new LEDs!
I invested in CFLs right before LEDs finally got somewhat affordable… ack. Would love to replace them! I bet if I did the math the 20 year lifespan would make up for the cost of replacing all the bulbs, even counting the CFL cost.
The only LEDs I have right now are the ones that came with my ceiling fans and I love them. Would be great to switch all my regular light bulbs to LED.
Just bought a house and we need so many bulbs, this would be perfect!
We just bought our first LED bulb a couple of weeks ago, and I love it! It's for our main kitchen fixture, and so far it gives great, bright light to our tiny, one window kitchen.
I have one Cree, just to test it, and love it! The color is nice and warm
This is timely!! Am just having lighting installed for our ongoing basement remodel – so new light bulbs are on the list. :)
We are buying our first home and would love to have some money to make some updates! It's interesting to hear about your experiences with the led bulbs.
I'm glad you did your experiment. I'm hesitant to spend the $ on energy efficient bulbs only to find I hate the color.
I'd love to try the new LED bulbs! Colors look great!
We have a few LEDs, they're just so much prettier.
I'm using CFLs right now – have never tried LEDs!
Not sure my comment posted…we use CFLs but would love to switch to dimmable LEDs in our new house!
Light bulbs always confuse me! Thanks for the info. Now I'm off to Home Depot to make an informed purchase!
Yes please.
We have a mix of incandescent and CFL bulbs. Once we use up our stash, I would love to start using the newer LEDs!
Working on switching out all bulbs…quite the project!
Love the ones that we have for under cabinet lighting! Would love to be able to switch out our bedroom lights too!
Our electrician just recommend switching all our can lights out with LEDs since the current lightbulbs are overheating and cutting off!
For some reason I hate changing light bulbs, it annoys me when they burn out. I should definitely switch to LED if they last 20 years!
I love the cree bulbs also, but they're so expensive! Worth it though!
My husband has been wanting to switch over, too. I would love the long lasting benefits.
We changed to CFL less than 2 years ago since they were supposed to last a many years and save energy. We didn't notice a difference in our bill and just last week we had to replace 4 out of the 8 in our kitchen area. Might give the LED a try.
I'm currently replacing my landscape lights with LED. Not the most fun way to spend my money….I hope it's worth it!! ;)
Love LED bulbs. Just bought my first at Home Depot a couple of months ago. So much better than CFLs!
We purchased a new and would love to replace all the bulbs with LED as they go out!