LED bulbs in the home: So far, so good
 

September 13, 2010 4:00 AM PDT
LED bulbs in the home: So far, so good
by Martincheapest ffxiv Gil LaMonica Font sizePrintE-mailShare67 comments .0diggsdiggI more or less ditched incandescent bulbs for more-efficient compact fluorescents in my house years ago. But at this point, I'm awfully close to ditching CFLs for the latest in lighting technology: LEDs.
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LED lighting has got a lot going for it. The lights can be far more efficient than other types of lights, and the bulbs are supposed to last for tens of thousands of hours--enough to last 20 or 30 years depending on usage. Unlike CFLs, there's no mercury, the light is instant, and turning lights on and off shouldn't degrade their useful life, according to manufacturers.

An LED Final Fantasy XIV Gilbulb that puts out almost as much light as a 40-watt incandescent but uses less than 9 watts.

(Credit: Martin LaMonica/CNET ) The downside of LEDs, feature-wise, has always been the light color; the blueish light LEDs traditionally have feels cold, particularly compared with the warm glow from incandescent and halogen bulbs. The other knock (or feature, depending on your usage) on LEDs has been that they direct light. That makes them great for spotlights but not good for a desk lamp. And LEDs for everyday use are pricey and unlikely to be stocked in your neighborhood hardware store.

However, all that is changing. Prodded by a federal mandate to boost lighting efficiency, consumer lighting companies are producing LED bulbs with the familiar screw-in bottom for general lighting. At this point, the amount of light that these LED bulbs produce is still a bit loFFXIV Goldw, at least for my tastes, but the light quality is good. And of course, whether these bulbs last for decades as manufacturers say is still unproven.