LED lighting is coming of age

Even though a revival of the musical "Hair" is taking place in New York City through the end of August, this is not the dawning of the age of Aquarius but of LED lighting, as we reported in our May 2 Buzzword: Solid-State Lighting story and as The New York Times covered in the July 28 news story "Fans of L.E.D. Say This Bulb's Time Has Come."

LEDs have achieved widespread commercial use in traffic lights, street lamps, and other applications. But General Electric, Osram Sylvania, and Royal Philips Electronics are now looking into residential applications. (A Philips iW MR LED is shown.)

As with any emerging technology—pay attention, all you alpha geeks—price is a big issue in how fast consumers will adopt them. LED bulbs cost upward of $100 each. Even if as claimed they last 100 times longer than traditional incandescents and best compact fluorescent lightbulbs for longevity, that's likely a tough sell, especially given the slow economy. But their prices will inevitably drop, making LEDs something worth keeping an eye on.—Daniel DiClerico

Essential information: Read our report on undercabinet lighting, which covers LED fixtures.

Comments

[Dave Johansen]

How can it "come of age" if it's still too expensive for broad acceptance/use?

[xenon led]

It's right prices will drop,i have started buying leds,i recently bought a xenon led,and i found it brighter than normal led.

[Jeff]

I bought an LED canister light at Walmart for $14. I think it is a 45 watt equivalent for 4 watts? (can't remember) It's not as bright as the 65 watt incandescent I replaced but it is whiter (blueish).

If the price comes down more and they color can be more natural and a little brighter, I'll be replacing my existing lights with LED as the burn out. (Most lights are CFL now which I've been mostly happy with).

[John Loraditch]

I purchased Twenty LED light bulbs with 60 led per bulb...the light they give off is good but after about 6 months ten of the bulbs only have one half (30) ... is this a wiring problem that I can fix or not?
oscbj@aol.com

[Roger]

We bought strands of Christmas lights and now the strand sends electricity to the next strand and they work but the first strand does not light up. any ideas why?

[Stan]

I just had 16 of these lights installed in my new clinic. I needed something low-wattage and dimmable. Compact flourescents just don't give me the steady, uniformly dimmable, broad spectrum, medium-high temperature light that I would like.

[Chris]

We have been systematically replacing our outdoor, dusk to dawn, spots and floods with LED bulbs.

LED bulb quality control appears to be a problem throughout the industry. The first set of four bulbs failed within months of installation. Went with a different vendor, C Crane Co,. with better success, but quality control is still a problem. At least this vendor has stood behind their product and replaced the defective bulbs even though they were beyond the normal warranty period.

Bottom line, we live in the country and have no street lighting or urban glare. The LED’s are highly directional and thus result in a minimal amount of glare. We have light exactly where we need it but are still able to see the sky at night.

[Carl Chipman]

I would love to see some rigorous testing of LED home lighting bulbs. Power, Lumens, lifetime etc. We've purchase several Lights of America LED lights, and have not been as pleased as we would like.

TIA

[Andy]

I have to agree with Carl. I bought 12 of the Lights of America 2025lede12-30K candelabra bulbs to replace some 25 watt incandescent bulbs in a very high chandelier. Although the packaging indicated they replaced 40 watts, they in fact produce a bit less than the equivalent of a 15 incandescent watt bulb. On top of that one of them has failed six weeks later. They run about 4 hours a day. To get warranty replacement, I must not only send Lights of America the receipt but also the defective bulb which is nearly half the price of the bulb. Solid state bulbs sound great on paper and it is apparent that some companies are taking advantage of people's desire to reduce energy. This really was the worst case of false advertising I have seen in a while. A little help here would be nice.

[Skndiver]

I bought two LED bulbs from Walmart that are made by "Lights of America" 6 months ago. I am using them on for a patio light with a dusk to dawn automatic switch. After 4 months, the first one died. I sent it back for warrant and they sent me a new bulb after 3 weeks. This cost half of the cost of the bulb. After 6 months, the second bulb died and I sent that back for warranty as well. All of these bulbs are made in China and they don't seem to last as long as they claim on their advertisement. If these bulbs fail again, I'll go back to CFL. LED bulbs are not ready for primetime.

[Rich]

I just wanted to say that I bought 3 different LED products from "Lights of America". As of today none of them work. I bought them all within the last year too. They want a receipt and for me to ship them the broken products, so they can send new ones. I do not have the receipts and im sure the cost of shipping will be hardly worth the effort. I will never buy their products again. Hopefully this post saves someone some time and money...

[Robert Dickinson]

About 4-6 months ago I purchased some 20 watt replacement LED lights. This week 2 of them burned out. I contacted Lights of America and they want receipts and shipment of the items back to them. Whow keeps those kinds of receipts. These bulb are supposed to last years, not months. Has anyone tested them out? I don't think I'll be buying more of them.

[Bob Wessner]

I too have tried them, a small canister flood to try it out. Half the LED's failed in a matter of months and the light was little used.

So, does Consumer Reports actually do any testing??? It will be a LONG time before I try them again, too costly, poor quality and they lie about the light output.

[Alan Williams]

Are LED’s really the future, or just another lighting design gimmick? Light Emitting Diodes, or LED’s for short, have been around for a decade or so, and have finally trickled down into the popular lexicon of lighting design.
But what do we really know about them? Well, we do know that they have been used for movie aisle light, reader boards, casinos signs, home theater starfields, under cabinet kitchen lighting, exhibits lights, stop signs, and special effects. But for lamps?

Yes, finally for lamps, and more specifically, wall swing arm lamps such as the Access Gooseneck 1 Light Super White LED Wall Lamp. The Gooseneck 1 Light Super White LED Wall Lamp features full mobility in its flexible arm. Cool to the touch, these LED lights will last 26 years, if you believe the industry hype. We do not yet know if that is true, but in my personal experience working with Lighting and Electronic Design and Lazarus Lighting Design , specifying LED systems and fixtures like the Turbo Flare, so far so good. What I like about Access fixture is that it uses super bright LED’s, adding more lumen bang for your buck. This fixture and its twin version are the perfect wall swing arm lamp for your child’s rooms, as it will not emit any significant amount of heat, and therefore will not burn your kids, like a halogen lamp could.
So yes, the LED fixtures have a limited shelf life, but what appliance in your home has a 26 year guarantee? With the possible exception of my old Toshiba stereo receiver, I can’t find anything else I have that has lasted that long.
One other thing about the Access Gooseneck 1 Light Super White LED Wall Lamp; It is energy efficient, easily as much as any Compact Fluorescent fixture, and that is really important. Also, this fixture has separate switches for the dual version, for partner convenience.