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Customers have been satisfied with its great amount of evenly distributed light as well as the longevity of the bulb. Because incandescent bulbs were what most people are familiar with, LED or CFL bulbs can seem harsh or stark by comparison. They also have some other added benefits—they can be used with a dimmer and are less expensive to purchase initially. If you prefer to use incandescent, this one from GE is a great option. Others have said it gives off good light in general and the bulbs stay fresh for several months after you buy them if you want to stock up.
Some have had issues with the bulbs burning out sooner than desired, but the majority of users would recommend them. One thing to note about CFLs: To help them last longer, leave them on for at least 15 minutes or longer each time you turn them on. This will maximize the bulbs lifespan. This CFL bulb from GE is a best seller in its category and lasts as long as eight incandescent bulbs. The majority of customers who have purchased this have been satisfied, with many praising the quality, longevity, and value of the bulb. And like all CFL bulbs, these need to be properly recycled when they burn out.
The estimated yearly cost of running one is only a dollar, and it has an average lifespan of 10, hours. Customers have been extremely satisfied with the price and the performance of this LED bulb. Many have said it gives a nice soft light, and it perfectly emulates an incandescent bulb. If you are a fan of the look that incandescents give off you might want to try halogen light bulbs that give off that warm, natural glow. This bulb works great for table, pendant or hanging fixtures with its watt equivalent, it's also dimmable.
They give off a bright but not blinding light that makes them great for bedside reading. Vintage light bulbs seem to be all the rage these days. The problem with vintage bulbs is they are hard to find the right match for what you need them for. This light bulb is actually an LED light so it will last a long time and it can also be dimmed. After applying our criteria to more than a hundred bulbs, we narrowed the field to 18 bulbs for testing across the watt-equivalent and watt-equivalent categories.
Then we put those bulbs through a bunch of observational tests to see which one was the best. We tested bulbs for brightness, light spread, warm-up time, and performance in a dimmer. To measure warm-up time and brightness, we closed off a room to all incoming light testing at night and duct-taped a light meter to the ceiling and walls to measure lux readings from three points around the room 1 foot from the bulb, 6 feet from the bulb, and 6 feet from the bulb reflected off white drywall. We found in our testing that these bulbs no longer needed warm-up time to shine their brightest. In fact, they almost all started out at their brightest and then dimmed by a dozen or so lux before settling down.
At the time of turning on the bulb and after five minutes, at both dimmer extremes, we listened for any humming or buzzing the bulb might make. We also tested for light spread in a more open nondimmer socket, and in that regard we found most of the bulbs to be beyond reproach, with a few exceptions as noted in The competition. Even at the regular price, this bulb tops much of the competition on value alone. At a distance of 1 foot at the highest setting, we measured a reading from the Cree bulb of lux, which fell to lux after five minutes.
While this was the the second-highest reading we measured in our tests the GE Reveal was a touch brighter at lux , each bulb was bright enough to fully illuminate a square-foot room without additional help, and we struggled to discern any qualitative difference between any of the bulbs at peak brightness. In this test, the brightest bulb, the GE Reveal, had virtually the same lux reading as the Cree 34 lux versus 33 lux and both just barely edged out the lux reading of our Philips runner-up, which registered a mere lux at its brightest setting.
The Cree watt-equivalent bulb was also able to get much dimmer than the competition, delivering a lux dimming range light spread , wider than any other bulb. At the lowest dimmer setting, our light meter picked up a reading of 13 lux, which held steady after five minutes. For several days we tested and lived with the Cree watt-equivalent LED installed in both an open light fixture and a living room lamp, reading and watching TV by its light in a dark room with hardly any incoming sunlight.
The light from the Cree bulb felt warm and comfortable in our use, comparable to that of an incandescent. And this bulb, with its relatively low energy draw of just 9. The Cree bulb also has a relatively high CRI of 85, ranking higher than all but one of our top contenders.
If color accuracy is a high priority for you, the GE is probably the better choice so long as you can deal with a not-so-dim dim setting; if not, skip it. Given the similarities between the LED bulbs we tried, we were hard-pressed to find a reason to complain about this one in particular. It stays completely silent at all dimmer settings unlike the Walmart bulb we tested , it gets legitimately dim at the low settings unlike the GE Reveal bulb we tried , and it merely sips power, drawing 9. At a distance of 1 foot at the highest dimmer setting, the Philips bulb recorded a reading of lux.
After five minutes that figure fell to lux. During the entire test, this bulb remained bright enough to fully illuminate a square-foot room. At a distance of 6 feet, the Philips measured Apart from being affordable, the Philips bulb can get especially dim: At the lowest setting our light meter read it at 14 lux, and then 13 lux after five minutes. That put the Philips among the dimmest watt equivalents we tested, only slightly brighter than the Cree, and certainly low enough light to render book text illegible. At a distance of 6 feet, the Philips measured 5 lux at the dimmest setting, holding constant after five minutes.
Reflected off the wall at 6 feet, it registered 4 lux at the lowest, again holding steady after five minutes.
In fact, they almost all started out at their brightest and then dimmed by a dozen or so lux before settling down. At the time of turning on the bulb and after five minutes, at both dimmer extremes, we listened for any humming or buzzing the bulb might make. Pros Microphone is responsive and results are vibrant Revamped app is better than ever Price seems reasonable. These bulbs work with dimmers and appear more blue or cool than other bulbs. Despite their longevity, the price tag can still be intimidating. We spoke with Margery Conner, proprietor of Designing with LEDs , a site that documents the technical elements, evolutions, and upgrades across dozens of kinds of bulbs. We've got the best 4K TV deals right here.
One cool feature that Philips packs into this model as well as most of its LED bulbs is Warm Glow, which emanates soft, diffused light at low dim settings, simulating the feel and appearance of an incandescent light. At this level the Philips bulb feels more like a candle than an LED, and it feels nice when you use it. Overall, however, the Cree provides better performance.
We registered a lux reading of This figure fell to lux after five minutes. While it was noticeably dimmer at this point than the watt equivalents, it was still bright enough to fill a square-foot room with warm, sunsetlike light. It was also significantly brighter than the watt-equivalent competition. At the lowest dimmer setting, we recorded a reading of 11 lux, and then 10 lux after five minutes; at this setting the bulb was very dim, about as bright as a single candle at full burn. At a distance of 6 feet, we measured a reading of 4 lux, which held steady after five minutes.
This Cree bulb has a CRI of 85, which is relatively high for the watt-equivalent category. We had one major beef with this bulb: All four of the bulbs in the package produced a subtle hum. This bulb was our previous top pick for the watt-equivalent category.
We also noticed some buzzing in our tests. Its price has come down significantly since we first tested it, but our top pick from Cree, which replaces this model, has a higher CRI and is slightly cheaper per bulb. If you want the light from a high-CRI bulb for performing tasks, or if you need to meet California standards, this model is fine.
We found it to be more dim overall than the standard GE Soft White, but that effect was possibly due to our dimmer. This bulb did not hum or take time to warm up, and its light spread was good.
This bulb performed fine and neither hummed nor required warm-up time. Its price has also come down in recent months. Its availability is somewhat limited, however, and it has a slightly lower CRI than our main picks. That element aside, this bulb did not buzz, though it did have a minor warm-up time. It also costs a bit more and consumes more energy than the competition. This bulb is not dimmable, so technically it did not qualify for our tests, but because it received a lot of attention for its low price and it met the rest of our criteria, we called one in for testing.
This is a great bulb that came very close to besting our top watt-equivalent pick, but you may want to hold off on buying it for now. Philips lent us a version of this bulb for testing, but we quickly learned that this version will not be released until December. One of the cheapest bulbs available, this is an excellent pick if you can find it. In brightness dynamics, it proved less impressive than our main pick from Cree but superior to the Philips watt-equivalent bulb. Another notably cheap LED bulb from Walmart, this model was our previous pick for the watt-equivalent category.
As with the watt category, the price of competing bulbs has come down enough to warrant looking elsewhere.