More LED bulb options

signal15

Senior Member
Home Depot started selling the EcoSmart LED bulbs. These are the Definity Bulbs by LSG. $20 for an A19 bulb (450 lumens I think). $39 for a PAR30 around 750 lumens. And $44 for a PAR38 around 850 lumens. They also have the Cree Can light conversions sold under the EcoSmart name for $50 with the trim included.

I bought 4 A19's for a bathroom, and they work fine, but they are over the mirror and I had to turn the light fixture so they would emit light towards the ceiling. The heatsink area blocks light coming off the back of the bulb, and they are not well suited for a fixture that is designed to emit light from ALL directions. Good quality light though. They say they are a 40 watt equivalent, I would put it closer to 60. The lumen rating on all of these is lower than their incandescent cousins, but luminance is about triple in most cases.

The PAR30 is the only PAR30 out there that is equivalent to an incandescent PAR30. I have an 1100 lumen 75W Ushio next to one of these PAR30's, and the LED bulb actually seems to put off more light. The PAR38 is brighter than my 75W incandescents.

They are supposed to be fully dimmable also, but I haven't tried it yet. Color is 3000K. A little whiter than I would like for living areas. CRI is 85. Not awesome, but not terrible for a LED. I think the only LED bulb you can get with a higher CRI is the Cree retrofits (or the EcoSmart rebranded ones at Home Depot).

On a similar note, I have some prototypes/first production run lights on their way from a new manufacturer. They are giving me them to review and give feedback. Info:
- Thin film LED tech
- Thin metal reflector wrapped with an aluminum mesh
- 750 lumens and only 8 Watts!!!
- Dimmable to almost zero! (I saw this in person)
- I think there are different reflector options for focus/spread (have to verify)

Cost when they hit the market should be about $20 a bulb. They have licensed the patents to another large well-known company. Production equipment is ready to go. There should be a press release soon, and the bulbs should be out very soon after. I'll post a review of them when they show up.

Anyone want to buy some Feit PerformanceLED's? I have 6 PAR38's.
 
I've tried the PAR30 and PAR20 EcoSmart LED bulbs. I've only had them in a few days so cannot comment to much. They do dim fully, but when using the ALC interface through CQC I don't notice much difference in brightness until the interface says they are over 50% dimmed. The color of the light also remains pretty constant as you dim them unlike incandescent bulbs that turn more yellow/orange.

On a side not, My wife actually liked these compared to the previous LED bulb I bought previosly. The other one I bought was a little to blue.
 
It's nice to see that there are more LED options coming (and the prices are coming down). I've always hated all the CF stuff.
 
I tried the Eco smart PAR 38 and it is very nice for $50. It says for damp locations on the box bu then on the back it says not for direct contact with water. I was going to use a few of them for flood lights outside but the lamp holders don't have a shroud to completely cover the lamp. Bummer...

Why does it seem like companies release things they always do it half-assed? I would have purchased 3 right from the get go with many more to come.
 
They also have the Cree Can light conversions sold under the EcoSmart name for $50 with the trim included.

It's the Cree CR6 not the LR6 just to clarify. The CR6 purchased online is like $15 more than the same lamp at HD for $50. YAY for volume buying power!
 
does this all mean that CFL's are going to be surpassed by LEDs? I haven't taken a liking to the CFLs at all... they don't seem to perform as well as they claim.. and they certainly don't play well in automation.
 
I tried out one of the a19's from home depot (ecosmart). I agree with the above assessment. The color is a little cool for my liking and the lack of light comming off the base half of the bulb is troubling. You can't use it in a table lamp because the light only comes out the top 180 of the bulb. I am going to try the bulb in a ceiling fixture in a pantry where I think it would be well suited. I will say it looks like more light than a 40 watt bulb and the light is soft, just too cool.
 
They also have the Cree Can light conversions sold under the EcoSmart name for $50 with the trim included.

It's the Cree CR6 not the LR6 just to clarify. The CR6 purchased online is like $15 more than the same lamp at HD for $50. YAY for volume buying power!

I noticed this quote:
[Polar-Ray note: the Home Depot model carries a 35,000 hour life and 3 year warranty, the Cree CR6 carries a 50,000 hour life and a 5 year warranty.]

http://www.polar-ray.com/Cree-CR6_p_199.html

Matt
 
I haven't held on in my hands yet but from what I can see from the outside they are the exact same light. They both even have the Cree TrueWhite sticker on the side. I would guess for the extra warranty but don't quote me.
 
So, is the extra money for the "extended warranty" or is it actually a different light?

OP - have you tried an electronic dimmer, like a zwave/insteon/x1-/upb dimmer with your LED bulbs? I heard that they require a load in order to work/dim the light.
One fear I have with my investment in lighting control is that it will not be compatible with LED.
 
So, is the extra money for the "extended warranty" or is it actually a different light?

OP - have you tried an electronic dimmer, like a zwave/insteon/x1-/upb dimmer with your LED bulbs? I heard that they require a load in order to work/dim the light.
One fear I have with my investment in lighting control is that it will not be compatible with LED.

The ecosmart a19 bulb and cree lr6 both work with Insteon. I have the a19 on a lamplinc and the cree on a switchlinc.
 
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