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LEDLightBulbs:ComparisonCharts

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CostcomparisonbetweenLEDs,CFLs,Incandescents(#a)
ComparingdifferentmodelsofLEDsforhomeuse(#b)
EquivalentwattagesofLEDs,CFLs,Incandescents(#c)
ComparingfeaturesofLEDs,CFLs,Incandescents(#d)
HowtochooseanLEDlightbulb(#e)

LEDlightbulbswilleventuallybewhatweusetoreplaceincandescentbulbsCFLsareatemporarysolutiontoenergy
efficientlighting.ThereasonLEDshavenotyetdisplacedCFLsfromthemarketaretwofold:thefirstgenerationLEDbulbs
hadanarrowandfocusedlightbeam,andthecostoftheLEDbulbswastoohigh.

RecentdevelopmentsinLEDtechnology,however,havebeenaddressingtheseissues.LEDshavebeen'clustered'to
providemorelight,andmountedwithindiffuserlenseswhichspreadthelightacrossawiderarea.Andadvancementsin
manufacturingtechnologyhavedriventhepricesdowntoalevelwhereLEDbulbsaremorecosteffectivethanCFLsor
incandescentbulbs.Thistrendiscontinuing,withLEDbulbsbeingdesignedformoreapplicationswhilethepricesare
goingdownovertime.

The'stickershock'ofthenewLEDsremainsadeterrenttotheirwidespreadacceptancebyconsumers.Thefollowing
comparisonchartsillustratethevalueofthelatestLEDbulbswhencomparedwithCFLsandincandescentsforoverall
efficiencyaswellascosteffectiveness.
()

CostComparisonbetweenLEDs,CFLsandIncandescentlightbulbs

LED CFL Incandescent

Lightbulbprojected
50,000hours 10,000hours 1,200hours
lifespan
Wattsperbulb(equiv.60
10 14 60
watts)
Costperbulb $35.95* $3.95 $1.25
KWhofelectricityused
over 500 700 3000
50,000hours
Costofelectricity(@
$50 $70 $300
0.10perKWh)
Bulbsneededfor50k
1 5 42
hoursofuse
Equivalent50khoursbulb
$35.95 $19.75 $52.50
expense
Totalcostfor50khours $85.75 $89.75 $352.50

EnergySavingsover50,000hours,assuming25bulbsperhousehold:

Totalcostfor25bulbs $2143.75 $2243.75 $8812.50

Savingstohouseholdby
switching $6668.75 $6568.75 0
fromincandescents

Notes:
*Thepostedcostof$35.95fora60wattLEDequivalentisonthehighendofthescale.Thesepricesaregoingdown.
Costofelectricitywillvary.Thefiguresusedaboveareforcomparisononly,andarenotexact.Residentialenergycostsamongthe
variousstatesrangefrom28.53cents(Hawaii)to6.34cents(Idaho)perKWH.
ThecostperbulbforLEDsmayvary.Weusedthefigureof$35.95(fora60wattequivalentLEDbulb)asanaverageamonglighting
retailers.
Estimatesofbulblifespanareprojected,sinceitwouldtakeabout6yearsofcontinuouslightingtotest.Somemanufacturersclaim
thenewLEDbulbswilllastupto25yearsundernormalhouseholduse,butthisisnotproven.
Bulbbreakageandbulbreplacementcostshavenotbeenfactoredintothiscomparisonchart.IncandescentbulbsandCFLbulbsare
moreeasilybrokenthanLEDs,whichincreasestheircostofuse.
MostLEDscomewithaminimum2yearguarantee.AnydefectiveLEDbulbwillusuallyfailwithinthistime.
()

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2/25/2016 LED light bulbs: Comparison charts - Eartheasy.com Solutions for Sustainable Living

ComparingthetopLEDlightbulbsforhouseholduse

Incandescent
LEDbulb Price Watts Lumens Equivalent Dimmable CRI Lifespan
Watts
SWITCH60WarmWhite
(http://eartheasy.com/energy
>25,000
efficiency/energyefficientled $33.95 12 800 60 yes 80
hrs
lighting/switch60a19led12wattclear)

FEITDimmableGlobe
>25,000
(http://eartheasy.com/feitelectric $32.95 10 420 40 yes 85
hrs
dimmableglobeled)

FEITMR16pinbasefortrack
lights(http://eartheasy.com/energy >30,000
$18.95 4 170 n/a no 85
efficiency/energyefficientledlighting/feit hrs
electricmr16gu10baseled4watts)

LumiSelectMR16PRO,Warm
White,Dimmable >50,000
$35.99 5 350 4050 yes 75
(http://eartheasy.com/store/proddetail.php? hrs
prod=LumiSelectMR16PROww)

>25,000
FEITCandelabra $19.95 3.5 130 2535 yes 85
hrs
LEDnovationPAR20Track
WarmWhite,Dimmable
(http://eartheasy.com/energy >25,000
$28.95 5.9 372 40 yes 83
efficiency/energyefficientled hrs
lighting/lednovationdimmablepar20led5
9watt)

FEITPAR30Flood
WarmWhite
>30,000
(http://eartheasy.com/energy $39.95 11 500 65 no 85
hrs
efficiency/energyefficientledlighting/feit
electricpar30floodreflectorled11watts)

TCPPAR30Flood
WarmWhite
>25,000
(http://eartheasy.com/energy $49.95 14 950 75 no 85
hrs
efficiency/energyefficientledlighting/tcp
14w4100kledbulb)

TCPPAR38Flood
WarmWhite,Dimmable
>50,000
(http://eartheasy.com/energy $51.95 17 1050 75 yes 85
hrs
efficiency/energyefficientledlighting/tcp
dimmablepar38led)

CreeLR6BulbandModule,Warm
White,Dimmable >35,000
$134.95 12 650 5060 yes 92
(http://eartheasy.com/creelr6dimmable hrs
ledbulbandmodule12wattwarmwhite)

Notes:
DimmableLEDscostabout40%morethannondimmableLEDsofsimilarwattage.
Estimatesofbulblifespanareprojected,sinceitwouldtakeabout6yearsofcontinuouslightingtotest.TheFEITbulblife
expectanciesareconsiderablyunderstated.SomemanufacturersclaimthenewLEDbulbsmaylastupto25yearsundernormal
householduse.

Terms:
LumensTheunitofmeasurementoftheflowoflight,or'luminousflux'.Withlightbulbs,itprovidesanestimateoftheapparent
amountoflightthebulbwillproduce.
ColoringRenderingIndex(CRI).CRIrepresentsthequalityoflightanditsabilitytorendercolorscorrectly.TheSWITCH
dimmable12wattwarmwhite(http://eartheasy.com/energyefficiency/energyefficientledlighting/switch60a19led12wattclear),forexample,featuresa
CRIof80makingitoneofthehighestintheindustry.()
EquivalentwattagesandlightoutputofIncandescent,CFLandLEDbulbs

LightOutput LEDs CFLs Incandescents

Lumens Watts Watts Watts

450 45 812 40

750900 68 1318 60

11001300 913 1822 75100

16001800 1620 2330 100

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2/25/2016 LED light bulbs: Comparison charts - Eartheasy.com Solutions for Sustainable Living
26002800 2528 3055 150

()

ComparingthefeaturesofIncandescent,CFLandLEDbulbs

LEDs CFLs Incandescents

FrequentOn/Off
noeffect shortenslifespan someeffect
Cycling

Turnsoninstantly yes slightdelay yes

Durability durable fragile fragile

low(3 medium(15
HeatEmitted high(85btu's/hr)
btu's/hr) btu's/hr)
Sensitivitytohigh
some yes no
temperature
Sensitivitytolow
no yes no
temperature

Sensitivitytohumidity no yes some

HazardousMaterials none 5mgmercury/bulb none

Replacementfrequency
1 5 40+
(over50khours)

()

ChoosinganLEDlightbulb

ManydifferentmodelsandstylesofLEDbulbsareemergingintoday'smarketplace.Whenchoosingabulb,keepin
mindthefollowing:

Estimatedesiredwattagereadthepackagetochoosedesiredilluminationlevel.Forexample,a3WLEDis
equivalentinoutputtoa45Wincandescent.
ChoosebetweenwarmandcoollightnewLEDbulbsareavailablein'cool'whitelight,whichisidealfortask
lighting,and'warm'lightcommonlyusedforaccentorsmallarealighting.
StandardbaseorpinbaseLEDsareavailableinseveraltypesof'pin'socketsorthestandard"screw'(Edison)
basesforrecessedortracklighting.
ChoosebetweenstandardanddimmablebulbssomeLEDbulbs,suchastheSWITCHElectricbulbs
(http://eartheasy.com/energyefficiency/energyefficientledlighting),arenowavailableasdimmablebulbs.

ThecommonstylesofLEDbulbsavailableforhouseholduseincludethefollowing:

OmnidirectionalLEDbulbs
InthisstyleLEDbulb,clustersofLEDsarecoveredbyalenswhichspreadsthe
lightoverawiderarea,likestandardincandescentbulbs.Availableinstandard
Edisonbases,thesebulbsareusedasarealightingforrooms,porches,reading
lamps,accentlamps,hallwaysandlowlightapplicationswherelightsremainon
forextendedperiods.
Availablein40,6075,100wattequivalentclearorfrosted.DiffusedLEDbulbs
(http://eartheasy.com/energyefficiency/energyefficientledlighting)

DimmableGlobeLEDbulbs
Designedforbathroomvanitiesoranywhereaglobebulbisrequired,thesebulbs
producelightequivalenttoa40wattincandescentbulb,yetonlyconsume10
wattsofpower.Dimmablefrom100%to10%,thesebulbshavea200degreebeam
angletocastlightinawidearea.
ClickformoreinformationortobuyDimmableGlobeLEDBulbs(http://eartheasy.com/energy
efficiency/energyefficientledlighting)

TrackLighting
Availableinpinbaseorstandard(Edison)base,LEDsareidealfortracklighting.
LEDsdonotcontributetoheatbuildupinaroombecausenomatterhowlongthey
remainon,theydonotgethottothetouch.Also,becausetheyare90%more
efficientthanincandescents,andlast10timeslongerthanCFLs,thefrequencyof
changingbulbsisgreatlyreduced.TrackLightingpinbaseLEDbulbs
(http://eartheasy.com/energyefficiency/energyefficientledlighting)

FloodReflectorLEDsforRecessedCansandTracklights,screwinbase
LEDsarenowavailableforstandardrecessedlightingpotsandhousings.They
rangefrom7.5to17watts,withbeamwidthsfromPAR20toPAR38.Several
modelsaredimmable.Also,becausetheyare90%moreefficientthan
incandescents.andlast10timeslongerthanCFLs,thefrequencyofchanging
bulbsisgreatlyreduced.

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ClickformoreinformationortobuyFloodreflectorLEDbulbs(http://eartheasy.com/energy
efficiency/energyefficientledlighting)

FlameTip,CandelabraBaseLEDs
Designedtoreplaceincandescentcandelabrabulbs,theseflametipLEDsdeliver
theequivalentlightof2535wattincandescentswhileonlydrawing3.5wattsof
electricity.Becauseoftheheatsinkinthebase,lightdoesn'tdispersedownwards
asmuchasatypicalincandescentcandelabrabulb.

LEDTubeLights
Designedtoreplacefluorescenttubebulbs,theseLEDtubesareavailablein8and
16watts,whichreplacetraditional25wattand40wattT8/T10/T12fluorescent
tubes.Becausefluorescentlightsareofteninstalledinhighceilingsincommercial
sites,thereareadditionalsavingsbecausethefrequencyofchangingbulbsis
greatlyreduced.

TobuythelatestLEDlightbulbs,visitouronlinestore!(http://eartheasy.com/energyefficiency/energyefficientled
lighting)

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