We had better get used to it. The incandescent light bulb is gone. This started in the US back in 2007 when they declared that bulbs had to be 25% more efficient. Canada soon followed. That was impossible without increasing brightness and so manufacturers focused on new technology such as CFLs and LEDs. Not everyone is embracing this (including myself who as stuffed his basement with boxes of bulbs), not because of any reluctance to change or nostalgia but on pure economics and common sense.
Red Green had a famous line, "If it ain't broke, you're not trying". The bulb thing is one of these. For us in the frozen north, where we have 10 months of winter and two months of poor sledding, it doesn't make sense because the heat generated by the incandescent bulbs was not taken into consideration when calculating the economic benefits. That heat has to be replaced in the winter. In the summer we use less electricity for lighting so it is not a factor economically.
Down in the States who are ahead of us on this, they are paying about a dollar for a halogen replacement verses 50 cents for an incandescent. Halogens have been around for a long time. They are 25% more efficient so they pass the new regs. We have to pay about $5 for a halogen, hence my supply in the basement. When they are gone the price for halogens or LEDs will have gone down significantly. LEDs are still around $15 to $20 each down from $30 to $40.
CFLs are downright dangerous. They will not be put into any of my projects while they are under my watch. There has been episodes of explosions. You cannot clean up the mess yourself because of the mercury content. There is mercury in your regular fluorescent tube lights but they do not have a history of blowing up.
Wattage ratings don't give you the performance. You need to look at the lumens (brightness). A lower wattage LED will give a much higher lumens rating than a similar wattage incandescent.
The quality of a bulb light depends on the colour rendering index (CRI). The higher the number, the more realistically it reveals colour. Incandescents are numbered around 100. CFLs and LEDs are in the 80s with a few LEDs in the 90s but that should improve over time.
The other issue is dimmers. You may have to get new dimmers for your LEDs and they may not fit in your electrical box.
For the geeks, LEDs offer some WiFi capabilities but that is a topic in itself.
Red Green had a famous line, "If it ain't broke, you're not trying". The bulb thing is one of these. For us in the frozen north, where we have 10 months of winter and two months of poor sledding, it doesn't make sense because the heat generated by the incandescent bulbs was not taken into consideration when calculating the economic benefits. That heat has to be replaced in the winter. In the summer we use less electricity for lighting so it is not a factor economically.
Down in the States who are ahead of us on this, they are paying about a dollar for a halogen replacement verses 50 cents for an incandescent. Halogens have been around for a long time. They are 25% more efficient so they pass the new regs. We have to pay about $5 for a halogen, hence my supply in the basement. When they are gone the price for halogens or LEDs will have gone down significantly. LEDs are still around $15 to $20 each down from $30 to $40.
CFLs are downright dangerous. They will not be put into any of my projects while they are under my watch. There has been episodes of explosions. You cannot clean up the mess yourself because of the mercury content. There is mercury in your regular fluorescent tube lights but they do not have a history of blowing up.
Wattage ratings don't give you the performance. You need to look at the lumens (brightness). A lower wattage LED will give a much higher lumens rating than a similar wattage incandescent.
The quality of a bulb light depends on the colour rendering index (CRI). The higher the number, the more realistically it reveals colour. Incandescents are numbered around 100. CFLs and LEDs are in the 80s with a few LEDs in the 90s but that should improve over time.
The other issue is dimmers. You may have to get new dimmers for your LEDs and they may not fit in your electrical box.
For the geeks, LEDs offer some WiFi capabilities but that is a topic in itself.
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