Is LED Bulb worth the extra cost over CFL

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Being.smart

Being.smart

Galvanizer
I am yet to decide whether should i go with recessed LED bulbs or with CFL Bulbs :D

Got few pros of LED's
1) Look quiet good and give good ambiance light in comparison to CFL
2) Extreme lot power requirement
3) Last longer 20k hrs++++ :D
4) Also quiet smaller in shape :D

But the main thing comes is cost :(

A 7W Recessed LED spot-light setup will cost you Rs.4500-6000
While, A 7W Recessed CFL Setup will cost you Rs. 600-1300 at the max :p

Lighting 400sq feet will require 4000lumen approx, which will mean 30-35 recessed lights.
LED will cost > 1.5 lac ~~~
CFL will cost > 30k ~~~

So is it worth going for LED over CFL ?
 
Now, being smart - thats a question only you can answer :p

I dont think LEDs are worth spending right now - wait till they decrease in price - courtesy China
 
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Either buy the cheap Chinese LEDs and replace them after 2 years or wait forever for the affordable long life LEDs. Low quality LEDs start to fade after some time... in my case, 2 years.

BTW, if you have a false ceiling then the recessed receptacle can be used for both LEDs and CFLs interchangeably. Go for those 30~35 LEDs only if you are planning to use them throughout the night, otherwise stick to CFLs.

LEDs are the primary source of night time light in my house. Hence, I needed a low power option. CFLs are installed only in the bathrooms.
 
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I'd suggest you try mixing both. Use half LED and half CFL. Use LED primarily to light up the room and CFL where required for extra brightness. That way LEDs long lasting ability and nice ambiance will be used the most, meanwhile the CFLs can assist here and there and be used interchangably. Or maybe you can use CFL to primarily light up the room and LED for assist. Its upto you.
 
As aptly suggested by Gaurav, use LED where usage is more like throughout the night/day so that it will give you a good ROI of less than 2 years, otherwise LED ROIs usually run into 5-6 years at current market rates.
 
7w for 6k? where?I brought 15w leds recessed for 1.6k with two years warranty. also brought the same wattage surface mounting fixture for 2k. these are all installed in double height ceiling where changing bulbs would be difficult. lighting is extremely good. leds shall be main stream in less than five years that's my guess
 
Whats the lumen output of these 7W LEDs and CFLs? A lot of LEDs in the market have lumen/watt efficiency thats no better than CFLs, so there's really no gain to be had.
 
Crazy_Eddy said:
Whats the lumen output of these 7W LEDs and CFLs? A lot of LEDs in the market have lumen/watt efficiency thats no better than CFLs, so there's really no gain to be had.
Click to expand...

The Philips led which i had checked is giving 280 lumen output @ 2700k and 40degree beam, and its life is 40000 hours :D :D

Also they are fire rated, so no chance of fire in case of short circuit :D :D
 
mh09ad5578 said:
7w for 6k? where?I brought 15w leds recessed for 1.6k with two years warranty. also brought the same wattage surface mounting fixture for 2k. these are all installed in double height ceiling where changing bulbs would be difficult. lighting is extremely good. leds shall be main stream in less than five years that's my guess
Click to expand...

i am currently checking philps range of led, i didnt like the havels collection :(, also havel's led life is also less in comparison to philips
 
Crazy_Eddy said:
...so there's really no gain to be had.
Click to expand...

it's not just the lumen per watt that drives the prices of LEDs or makes the buying decision. There are certain things which CFLs can't do...
- CFLs are more prone to damage. They are more prone to electricity fluctuations.
- CFLs can't be elegantly used in certain situations, like in bar configuration, RGB combinations, alcove lighting, under cabinet lighting etc. LEDs have far more uses and its small size creates so many opportunities which weren't possible with earlier generation lighting.
- CFLs don't reach its full brightness as quickly as LEDs do.

and there many more reasons which make people ignore the lumen factor while opting for LEDs.
 
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^ Agreed, and let me also add that CFLs have a limited number of ON/OFF cycles, plus the mercury content makes it environmentally unfriendly. Disagree about the electricity fluctuations - this is mostly due to bad electronics in CFLs (older fluorescent tubes with magnetic ballasts would never have been so prevalent), and LEDs use plenty of electronics too so are equally susceptible. But he did say in his first post :
2) Extreme low power requirement
Click to expand...

Plus there are people in this thread talking about ROI. So just correcting that point.
 
this is an off-topic post but you must check the documentary 'the light bulb conspiracy'. i guess its available on youtube.
 
Philips LED bulbs are one of the least efficient compared to other LED bulb makers,since they use poor lumens/watt emitters produced by their own LED emitter division company called Luxeon.

Even if the LED emitter has a life of 50000hrs the AC to DC power supply won't last that long,some bulbs which have a AC LED emitter won't have a power supply.

I would use LED bulbs in places where they are used for a short duration of time like in bathrooms,near the washbasin,kitchen etc ,since the CFL bulbs life are really effected if they are installed in places where they are only used for a short duration of time like in seconds to a few mins.
 
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LEDs are way better technology than CFLs. However as with any new tech it's still very expensive and common man cannot afford it yet.

The prices you've mentioned are what is available in India. I am Kickstarter.com follower and there have been numerous LED bulb project that have been there. I don't have the links right now but you could go through them.

They offer multi coloured LEDs that can be wifi controlled. And are for about 3k. Which I think is awesome value.
 
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I bought two led bulbs last year when BSES were giving them at 50% off, both had to be replaced once in less than a year , after some time they start flickring & give less light , Some of these bulbs also can cause ir disturbances which causes your remote controls to not work when these bulbs are on .

 
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