I am, shall we say, specific about my light bulbs. And as we switched over our total home to LED bulbs recently, I needed to make sure I got it right (especially since one huge pro of LEDs is that you won’t need to exchange them for years - perhaps even decades. So on this post we’ll cover every little thing from our favorite common use LED gentle bulb to some fancy-schmancy, particular use bulbs too. That’s a direct quote from my mother when she texted me about what LED bulbs to buy. While I’m not 100% sure what "heyday" of mild bulb purchasing she’s referring to, I can utterly relate to the sentiment. The traditional incandescent mild bulbs are being phased out and the once-newfangled CFL bulbs are looking downright oldfangled as of late compared to LEDs. LEDs was once loopy pricey, however have come down in cost significantly, which means it’s lastly practical for everyone to make the change.
Our favorites nonetheless aren’t as cheap as CFLs (they’re about $5/bulb) however they are saying the common individual recoups that cost within a 12 months or so by decreasing their electric bill with their use. So off we set to upgrade our house to LEDs. Let’s talk about two intimidating terms on LED packaging: Kelvins and Lumens. They’re not practically as difficult as they sound and EcoLight (spoiler alert) you possibly can largely get away with ignoring them. Lumens are about brightness, or how much light a bulb offers off (each L words!). Alternately, you can consider it as how a lot it will illuminate a space. Kelvins is about shade temperature, or how heat (yellow) or cool (blue) the light is. The extra Ks a bulb has, the kolder the temperature shall be (each Okay phrases…sorta). So a 4000K bulb is cooler (bluer) wanting than a 3000K bulb. However the good news is that the majority light bulb packaging nonetheless includes familiar shorthand. "Lumens" typically correlates to a "wattage equal." So if you’re at present using a 60 watt bulb in a fixture, you have to be positive putting a 60-watt-equal LED in its place (typically around 800 Lumens).
There are exceptions (like specialty LED Edison bulbs that have a lot decrease gentle output) so it’s useful to double-examine the lumens on a label. But if that’s a lot to your noggin to process - like it's for me sometimes - don’t fret. Kelvins also has a plain English correlation, and that’s to terms like "warm white," "soft white," or "daylight." Although these descriptors seem to be utilized considerably standardly, I’m a real maniac about colour temperature so I always verify the Kelvin rating. Our go-to is a 2700K bulb, which is often known as a "soft white" bulb. You’ll find this Cree 60W Equal Soft White LED gentle bulb in most of the fixtures in our home - lamps, overhead lights, EcoLight sconces, and so forth. The value is one of the inexpensive we’ve discovered, they sell them in bulk (so inventory up on 4-packs!), and there’s not any form of delay or humming that we’ve had with other brands. We persist with 2700K bulbs for the sake of consistency and simplicity, EcoLight and only in some instances use corresponding 40W equivalents for EcoLight a barely dimmer light (like in sconces).
There’s also a candelabra version should you want that. And in case you have recessed lights, here’s a tender white dimmable model of those that we love. This Philips 60W Equal Clear Glass bulb provides the identical light as our go-to Cree bulb, but the clear glass cover and Edison-esque filaments made it a greater selection for uncovered fixtures the place the bulb is visible. There’s also a candelabra version of this bulb for chandeliers and such. This specialty Philips Dusk To Daybreak LED bulb incorporates a light sensor (that purple dot) which allows the bulb to mechanically turn itself on because the sun sets and then off when the solar rises. We put these in our front porch lights, meaning we no longer have to flip them on and off every day. This is one area where I make an exception to my tender white rule. In work spaces or storage spaces like closets, garages, attics, or sheds, we’re not after that cozy "warm glow" of a mushy white bulb - we want a bright, crisp light to search out what we’re in search of!