That's untrue. They are advertised as so many years OR HOURS, whichever comes first. Read the fine print. They last the same as regular light bulbs, perhaps a little longer I'm some cases. We've been using them for years, and since recently regular light bulbs are no longer being sold in Ireland by legal mandate.
True, if you don't use a bulb, incandescents will be far cheaper than LED and yet last just as long! But if you use the light, LED will pay for itself. Prior to the latest generation of LEDs, CFL was the most cost-effective technology because both LED and CFL operated at about the same lumens-per-watt efficiency. Not any more. Even if the CFLs are given to you free (but under the same condition that you actually use the light), a bulb like Cree's will pay for itself.
LEDs last ~25,000 hours of usage. They typically don't burn out, but just slowly lose 20% of their brightness over those many hours and still keep on working (at least that's what I've read and hope. ;-)
Household LEDs don't emit UV light either, so they don't deteriorate fabric and other materials and don't attract bugs (no yellow lights required outdoors).
CFLs also have a low power factor (bad), whereas LEDs have a high power factor (good). Your utility company appreciates LEDs for this reason, too.
Do you ever leave a CFL turned on when you leave a room because you think you might come back later and you don't want to wait for it to warm up again? Or you think you might come back soon and you don't want to wear out the ballast by turning the light on and off so often? None of these is a concern with LED lighting--just turn them on and off whenever you need/want.
True, if you don't use a bulb, incandescents will be far cheaper than LED and yet last just as long! But if you use the light, LED will pay for itself. Prior to the latest generation of LEDs, CFL was the most cost-effective. Not any more, even if the CFLs are given to you free (but under the same condition that you actually use the light).
LEDs last ~25,000 hours of usage. They typically don't burn out after that time, but just slowly lose 20% of their brightness and still keep on working (at least that's what I've read and hope. ;-)
Household LEDs don't emit UV light either, so they don't deteriorate fabric and other materials and don't attract bugs (no yellow lights required outdoors).
100% spot on. LED bulbs are great - after I showed them to a friend he went and bought some too. He likes it because he can set different moods for different activities. The good thing is eventually as technology improves, and resources are readily available, the cost will come down. In the long run, these bulbs will save you more money.
Lifx has no hub, unlike Hue, and can be contolled from any where in the world. I have never been a fan of connecting via Bluetooth . Let the competition rise!!!
The good thing is eventually as technology improves, and resources are readily available, the cost will come down. In the long run, these bulbs will save you more money.
Just to clarify, this is already true (LEDs will save you money) for bulbs that are used frequently. If you don't like to have delicate, mercury-laced devices around, that's another reason to switch from CFL now. And as you indicate, as prices decrease, LEDs will become cost-effective in more usage scenarios.
Lifx has no hub, unlike Hue, and can be contolled from any where in the world. I have never been a fan of connecting via Bluetooth . Let the competition rise!!!
While LIFX is great and all, the difference is costly.
Hue is $60 a bulb. (forgot to mention needing a starter pack $200, but that come with 3 bulbs and the bridge)
LIFX is $80 a bulb, unless you buy 10+ then they are $70 a bulb.
That still costs a user $10 more a bulb. What is the vantage point? The lack of a bridge that is the size of an appleTV?
Lifx has no hub, unlike Hue, and can be contolled from any where in the world. I have never been a fan of connecting via Bluetooth . Let the competition rise!!!
Yeah, the only way I would ever consider going BT, is if they could control the proximity range, and have the bulbs turn on when in range (for automation!)
That is what would be a game changer for Bluebulb.
I think the reasoning there is that these are decorative bulbs only. LED bulbs are useless for any kind of serious illumination (despite what it says on the box of millions of "LED flashlights").
So the thinking is that if you want to control "real" lightbulbs in your house remotely and don't care about the colour, then the efficient solution is home automation rather than individual bluetooth or Wi-Fi lightbulbs. For the lightbulb to be able to have the circuitry inside and not overheat, it has to be LED, and LED bulbs are in the "party lights" category, not the "serious lighting" category.
What? I have LED bulbs (which I bought on Amazon, in case you care, for about $15 -- I think you can get them for $10 now) and they are quite good for illumination -- exactly as good as the other light fixtures. The hope is that the lifespan of these is better than the (awful) lifespan of fluorescents.
Re: efficiency of LEDs, the payback occurs faster than it might seem at first glance. Any unnecessary heat produced by lights will cost extra in the summer for the air conditioning required to remove that heat from your home/business. In the winter, you'll see lower total utility costs by using gas heat instead of electric heat from lights.
Who needs a wirelessly controlled light bulb? Is it so hard to get off the chair and turn off a light? This is absolutely one of the craziest products I've read about. Plus, $60 for a bulb! My gosh, my monthly entire house electric bill isn't that much most months! How much is this saving me over X years? Oh right, it's saving me all the extra weight in my wallet.
Just to clarify, this is already true (LEDs will save you money) for bulbs that are used frequently. If you don't like to have delicate, mercury-laced devices around, that's another reason to switch from CFL now. And as you indicate, as prices decrease, LEDs will become cost-effective in more usage scenarios.
It's true, but people are short-sighted, and unless the LED bulbs are within a factor of two of incandescent bulbs in price, the acceptance rate will be low (I hope I am wrong...)
Not sold on Bluetooth connectivity.
I have Hue in my home and as long as there is a WiFi signal I have control of the bulbs.
I also like that I can remotely turn on and off my lights from anywhere in the world for security purposes.
However Bluetooth now reaches distances closer to 50 feet(unless you are in a large open area that is pretty good and cheaper for overall design) where you pick which one and click, can you organize the bulbs in groups to control?
Ugliest bulb I have ever seen. Crying out loud why on earth would you put something with a big black band around it on your ceiling or in lamp. It lacks all imagination in terms of design. The lights clearly went out when it came to design atheistics and thinking of the living room. Shame. Nice idea otherwise.
I think it's pretty terse of you to consider he or she works for Phillips just because they joined the forum today. I have the basic Phillips Hue pack of three and love it and I know I can set it up to basically control my whole house (haven't done that yet). I just use it to set the mood for various TV shows I'm watching or to run a light show with music. You can check my join date and know I'm not a Phillip employee. Psh.
You could not get rid of light switches. If you lost your iOS device or your iPhone was out of power itself, or some other such scenario, well, ...you know...
Comments
No. Philips does not pay me. I just have more money than you and buy nice products that I actually use.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ireland
That's untrue. They are advertised as so many years OR HOURS, whichever comes first. Read the fine print. They last the same as regular light bulbs, perhaps a little longer I'm some cases. We've been using them for years, and since recently regular light bulbs are no longer being sold in Ireland by legal mandate.
True, if you don't use a bulb, incandescents will be far cheaper than LED and yet last just as long! But if you use the light, LED will pay for itself. Prior to the latest generation of LEDs, CFL was the most cost-effective technology because both LED and CFL operated at about the same lumens-per-watt efficiency. Not any more. Even if the CFLs are given to you free (but under the same condition that you actually use the light), a bulb like Cree's will pay for itself.
LEDs last ~25,000 hours of usage. They typically don't burn out, but just slowly lose 20% of their brightness over those many hours and still keep on working (at least that's what I've read and hope. ;-)
Household LEDs don't emit UV light either, so they don't deteriorate fabric and other materials and don't attract bugs (no yellow lights required outdoors).
CFLs also have a low power factor (bad), whereas LEDs have a high power factor (good). Your utility company appreciates LEDs for this reason, too.
Do you ever leave a CFL turned on when you leave a room because you think you might come back later and you don't want to wait for it to warm up again? Or you think you might come back soon and you don't want to wear out the ballast by turning the light on and off so often? None of these is a concern with LED lighting--just turn them on and off whenever you need/want.
Here are a couple recent Pogue posts about LED bulbs:
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/21/technology/personaltech/cheaper-led-bulbs-make-it-easier-to-switch-lights.html
http://pogue.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/03/21/addressing-fears-about-led-light-bulbs/
And here's an old one:
http://pogue.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/04/04/an-ode-to-the-led-bulb/
21st century Lava Lamp. In other words, a novelty item.
I've replaced several bulbs in the house with LED MR-16 replacements.
And two of those stupid 4 watt nightlight bulbs that burn out every 3 months.
Just got sick and tired of replacing bulbs. Hoping the LEDs will last far longer.
And I suspect most consumers who swap out incandescent bulbs with
white-light LEDs will be doing it for reliability and energy efficiency.
iPhone-controlled multi-colored LEDs are the Google TV of home furnishings.
A true toaster-fridge.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cpsro
True, if you don't use a bulb, incandescents will be far cheaper than LED and yet last just as long! But if you use the light, LED will pay for itself. Prior to the latest generation of LEDs, CFL was the most cost-effective. Not any more, even if the CFLs are given to you free (but under the same condition that you actually use the light).
LEDs last ~25,000 hours of usage. They typically don't burn out after that time, but just slowly lose 20% of their brightness and still keep on working (at least that's what I've read and hope. ;-)
Household LEDs don't emit UV light either, so they don't deteriorate fabric and other materials and don't attract bugs (no yellow lights required outdoors).
100% spot on. LED bulbs are great - after I showed them to a friend he went and bought some too. He likes it because he can set different moods for different activities. The good thing is eventually as technology improves, and resources are readily available, the cost will come down. In the long run, these bulbs will save you more money.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Brunzilla
The good thing is eventually as technology improves, and resources are readily available, the cost will come down. In the long run, these bulbs will save you more money.
Just to clarify, this is already true (LEDs will save you money) for bulbs that are used frequently. If you don't like to have delicate, mercury-laced devices around, that's another reason to switch from CFL now. And as you indicate, as prices decrease, LEDs will become cost-effective in more usage scenarios.
Quote:
Originally Posted by gonevw
Lifx has no hub, unlike Hue, and can be contolled from any where in the world. I have never been a fan of connecting via Bluetooth . Let the competition rise!!!
While LIFX is great and all, the difference is costly.
Hue is $60 a bulb. (forgot to mention needing a starter pack $200, but that come with 3 bulbs and the bridge)
LIFX is $80 a bulb, unless you buy 10+ then they are $70 a bulb.
That still costs a user $10 more a bulb. What is the vantage point? The lack of a bridge that is the size of an appleTV?
Quote:
Originally Posted by gonevw
Lifx has no hub, unlike Hue, and can be contolled from any where in the world. I have never been a fan of connecting via Bluetooth . Let the competition rise!!!
Yeah, the only way I would ever consider going BT, is if they could control the proximity range, and have the bulbs turn on when in range (for automation!)
That is what would be a game changer for Bluebulb.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gazoobee
I think the reasoning there is that these are decorative bulbs only. LED bulbs are useless for any kind of serious illumination (despite what it says on the box of millions of "LED flashlights").
So the thinking is that if you want to control "real" lightbulbs in your house remotely and don't care about the colour, then the efficient solution is home automation rather than individual bluetooth or Wi-Fi lightbulbs. For the lightbulb to be able to have the circuitry inside and not overheat, it has to be LED, and LED bulbs are in the "party lights" category, not the "serious lighting" category.
What? I have LED bulbs (which I bought on Amazon, in case you care, for about $15 -- I think you can get them for $10 now) and they are quite good for illumination -- exactly as good as the other light fixtures. The hope is that the lifespan of these is better than the (awful) lifespan of fluorescents.
Bluetooth always on, sweet! I look forward to charging my iPhone twice a day.
Philips needs to sort out the abortion that is the app that controls their lights.
Re: efficiency of LEDs, the payback occurs faster than it might seem at first glance. Any unnecessary heat produced by lights will cost extra in the summer for the air conditioning required to remove that heat from your home/business. In the winter, you'll see lower total utility costs by using gas heat instead of electric heat from lights.
Originally Posted by Brunzilla
No. Philips does not pay me. I just have more money than you and buy nice products that I actually use.
Well, they won't pay you anymore after the way you're representing their company here.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cpsro
Just to clarify, this is already true (LEDs will save you money) for bulbs that are used frequently. If you don't like to have delicate, mercury-laced devices around, that's another reason to switch from CFL now. And as you indicate, as prices decrease, LEDs will become cost-effective in more usage scenarios.
It's true, but people are short-sighted, and unless the LED bulbs are within a factor of two of incandescent bulbs in price, the acceptance rate will be low (I hope I am wrong...)
I think it's pretty terse of you to consider he or she works for Phillips just because they joined the forum today. I have the basic Phillips Hue pack of three and love it and I know I can set it up to basically control my whole house (haven't done that yet). I just use it to set the mood for various TV shows I'm watching
Originally Posted by jkichline
You can check my join date and know I'm not a Phillip employee.
Join date ? Philips employee. Only posts ever made being about Philips in a thread about a competitor = Philips employee.