LED technology is improving. By contrast, CFL technology is pretty static. I have a house full of CFLs right now which I have a love/hate relationship with. I like the efficiency aspect although realistically, I'd much prefer LEDs. CFLs are almost exclusively manufactured in China (meaning very high embodied energy costs, including transportation across an ocean), they are loaded full of Hg and other nasty chemicals, and they don't last nearly as long as claimed (although they still life-cycle out way ahead of conventional incandescent fixtures). My point is the "green" benefits of them are way overstated and the primary reason for my getting them are simply financial. They save money in the long run - but that's about all I'll claim. They're not necessarily "green". LEDs would be far easier to make such claims with.

The spectra of CFLs suck too. They're horrible and give a flickery, whitewashed look that reminds me of a 1950s-era mental hospital. By contrast, LEDs are getting much, much better much more quickly - but prices are still way too high for widespread use. But that will change and I think in the next 5 years we'll see more people seriously considering LEDs because they're SO much more efficient and so much better with respect to real "green" benefit and color spectra.

For the time being, CFLs are a stopgap until LED pricing can come down. I think their days are numbered.

I needed to replace some LED under counter lights installed a couple years ago because they died. I tried a T5 14" fluorescent light, but they were much brighter than the old LED's. Then I tried the GE LED under counter lights. They were about the same brightness as the fluorescent but the color was better.

From my kilowatt meter, the T5 14" bulb drew 14 watts and the 18" LED fixture with 4 LED's drew 5 watts.

I'd like to buy one or two LED bulbs to try out. But the brightest ones I can find, that will actually fit everywhere a standard bulb will fit, is 6 w (supposedly 60 w equivalent). If anyone knows of a 100 w equivalent LED bulb that is not very bulky, let me know.

Maybe its been said... but IDK I didn't read all that...


Wait 2yrs on the LED bulbs... When that stuff came out in the Sign industry it was ungodly expensive... Now its down into the range with all equal lighting sources (neon for example) Except LED is easier to install... Lasts longer and is WAY more efficient...

Give it time... The "new" will wear off and this stuff will be as cheap as CFL

New Bump on this.

I'm buying them in quantity, so I'm getting a 30%+ break on the bulbs:

$55.25 including shipping per bulb (I'm buying 500!). So to break even we need to save that much money.

Electricity is around 12.5 cents per kilowatt hour, so $55.25/$0.125=442 kWh

The T8 bulbs, 4 feet long, are 15 Watts vs. 40 Watts for the florescent bulbs.

Savings is 25 Watts.

442,000 Wh/25 Watts = 17,680 Hours ---- / 8760 hours per year = 2.02 years.

This assumes the lights are left on 24 hours per day. If they are on 12 hours per day, 4.04 years. 8 Hours per day, 6.06 years.

Not bad. Maybe I'll order a few extra bulbs and let you know how they work.

James,
I would be interested in the manufacture of the T8 LED units you are buying. I have not found one that I feel comfortable enough selling do to batch and color inconsistencies. I have found several quality units for new construction and a few retrofit for recessed housings that have been solid. Some units that fit into the bulb retrofit category I have been happy with also. These come at a premium over most due to their LED arrays and heat management technology.

Dan there is a company in Tulsa that makes really nice LED products... They had sticks that were similar to fluorescent tubes but IDK if they had one that was direct fit... they were at the last Sign association convention... I'll try to dig up their info...


Edit they sure do... http://www.lektroninc.com/index.html


They had some good looking product at the show I was at....