LED Lighting Update

IKEA has finally put its purchasing power and design talent toward LED lighting.

I think they hit it out of the park, and did it a year ahead of Home Depot.   In the catalog, they mention that the bulbs never need replacing.   Nice.

http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/categories/departments/living_room/20515/

LED Bulbs Now Available and Affordable

Spotted today at Home Depot, Dimmable!

CFLs Suck Update

There is quite a bit of anecdotal evidence that CFLs can cause seizures, rashes and cancer.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fluorescent_lamps_and_health

I know some people who "hate the light" from CFLs.   Since the color problems have been mostly solved, I think the subliminal flickering is what they object to.

Unfortunately, these problems are also shared with high performance T5 & T8 fluorescent tubes, which are very efficient and economical.  Affordable and long lasting LED tube replacement bulbs are coming eventually, so I'd still recommend tube fixtures where appropriate.

Lighting Efficiency Summary, 2011

This list is taken directly from a Martin Holladay article at GBA:

Here are some relative lamp efficiencies:

• "Indancescent bulbs produce about 14 to 17 lumens per watt.
• Low-cost LEDs produce about 15 to 25 lumens per watt.
• High-quality LEDs produce about 40 to 70 lumens per watt.
• CFLs produce about 48 to 60 lumens per watt.
• T-5 and T-8 linear fluorescent tubes produce about 98 to 105 lumens per watt."

And I just found this increased efficiency LED bulb that kicks out 94.4 lumens/watt:

  

http://www.amazon.com/Incandescent-Replacement-Illumination-G7-Power/dp/B005FU5406/ref=pd_cp_hi_3

Even though in the article Martin states:

• "For now, screw-based CFLs are the best bulb choice for residential lighting.", I think LEDs have just reached the tipping point. 

2011 LED Lighting Update

At $10, LED light bulbs finally make sense for your most-used fixtures.

For green home designers, it means you should stick with medium base fixtures everywhere.  The LEDs also operate plenty cool enough for those small closets with shelves.  I'm not sure how you will convince the building inspectors, but when incandescent bulbs are illegal, that should solve the problem.

Some folks aren't fully convinced:  http://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/blogs/dept/green-communities/let-there-be-light-gu24-base-cfls-and-leds#post_comments

But these holdouts won't be promoting CFLs much longer.   Economics and common sense will bring them around.

And remember, CFLs still suck

The Latest on Practical LED Lighting

Product availability is really changing fast. Last fall's offerings at Sam's Club and Costco no longer exist. So if you need LED lighting right now, the optimum solution is at Home Depot, "while suppplies last":
HD Online LED bulb This bulb is bright enough at 428 lumens, but a little pricey at $20. But it's by far the best value as all the other LED bulbs that are this bright will set you back $30-$70 each. And get this, it's guaranteed to last for 46 years (vs 7 for CFLs). Other important features are that it reaches full brightness immediately (unlike CFLs) and is dimmable (rare for CFLs).

I have decided to concentrate on standard medium base screw in bulbs, since they will fit the most economical and the most common fixtures.

LED Lighting in 2009

Here's a photo of the aforementioned lighting "hack".

It took 15 of the 1.5 watt LED bulbs to generate enough light for this kitchen remodel. Current cost: $4 each.
This configuration will use about eight times less electricity and save about $45 per year, including replacement costs. That's a 16 month payback.

LED Lighting Update

Yes, CFL's suck.

So, we've been waiting for bright, affordable LED lighting to become available. Sam's Club has recently introduced 1.5W LED bulbs for $5 each. I believe Xcel energy is subsidizing some of this cost based on a flyer displayed in the aisle. If anyone knows more about that, please post a comment.

Anyway, 1.5W is only producing about 78 lumens, which means you'll need roughly six times the number of bulbs more than "normal". This is a daunting problem that will keep most folks out of the LED replacement business until a market solution or even brighter bulbs are introduced.

In the meantime, we developed a hack using "Medusa" floorlamps, which can be found for as little as $20 and will convert a standard octagon ceiling box into a fixture with five medium base openings. An added bonus is that you can direct the lighting to where you need it.

Let's say you have rentals or are doing fix and flips. You already know that fluorescent lighting and CFL conversions do NOT add value, even though operational cost is lower. The light quality of LED's and even lower operational costs SHOULD add value to your project. Don't be cheap - the $20 marginal cost per fixture is only a couple hundred $ for a house.

Edit: photo posted above