Warning... Safety Hazards of LED Lights

Good to know info: Safety Hazards of LED Lights

And here I am, off to buy some new Cree LED bulbs at Home Depot.

I bought 3 of the 40W equivalent bulbs that I linked in my first message.

The bulb is overall nice and certainly gets the job done, although it's just a tad larger than I had hoped. It's not huge, though. It's probably equivalent in size to a normal 75 watt bulb.

For only using 6 watts of energy, it puts out plenty of light. Once installed it looks like a normal bulb, but you can see that the light source is different. When you look directly at the bulb, you can discern a circular light pattern from within the bulb. But unless you stare directly at the bulb, you won't notice much difference in the light it puts out. Overall, the light is pleasant.

The Cree LED bulb has one nice feature... the glass bulb (at least I think it's glass) has a rubbery coating that provides a nice, reassuring grip. You wouldn't know it just by looking, as it has the usual glossy, slippery look. It is very effective and takes getting used to.

I have been replacing burned out bulbs (mostly CFL's) with LED bulbs as I'm able. I've had success with most, and failure with some cheap Walmart alternatives.

For most applications I've used 40-watt equivalents. For the 3 aforementioned Cree bulbs, I put them in our half bath. For our needs they put out more than sufficient light. Had I used 60-watt equivalent in the half bath, it would have been way too much light.

Next on my bulb replacement list will be the 4 halogen bulbs in our bedroom ceiling fan. I will use Cree's 60-watt daylight equivalent for that application. Afterward I'll replace the 5 CFL's over our dining table, also with 60-watt equivalent (but not daylight).

My driveway and front porch each have 40-watt equivalent LED lights. Those have worked perfectly over the last several months.

About 3  or 4 years ago I installed 5 each 60-watt equivalent LED "flood" lights in our kitchen (hard to reach). Those have worked way beyond my expectations, although they were $50 a pop at the time of purchase. But they have worked as promised and they put out excellent light.

What I will not do is buy another CFL. I've come to hate those things as they are inconsistent and undependable. They rarely last more than a few months, they are slow to warm up in cold weather, and the light output is often unpleasant and/or inconsistent from bulb to bulb. Not to mention that they're ugly.

Scuzzy; I refuse to mention it.

Although I continue replacing CFL lights, I have not had to replace any LED lights. Well, with the exception of the cheap Walmart alternatives that I returned for a refund.

Last year I dropped and broke the glass bulb on a 40-watt equivalent $10 EcoSmart LED light. The LED continued working, but the light was now harsh since the frosted bulb was missing. I cleaned off the rest of the broken glass and placed it in my front porch's lamp post that sits high. I placed aluminum foil on the top/inside dome to reflect the light, and it evenly distributes the light as if by magic. The light coming out is bright, but you cannot distinguish exactly where the light is coming from.

Scuzzy; it was a bright idea.

Here's a couple shots of my lamp post with the broken LED. The white wedge with the ribs is the base of what once was the complete LED bulb.

I'm sorry I didn't have time to clean up the bird poop:

Click thumbnail for full photo: