XPost: uk.rec.driving   
   From: %steve%@malloc.co.uk   
      
   Ian Field  wrote:   
      
   > Last time I saw LED bulbs in the supermarket, they were about 3x the price   
   > and about 1/3 the lumen/W.   
      
   One third of the lumens per W compared to what?   
      
   Tungsten halogen lamps max out at 24 lm/W;   
   CFLs are quoted as 46-75 lm/W[1];   
   LEDs range from 29 - 100 lm/W for the bulbs sold in supermarkets.   
      
   Note that the LEDs are available in the same packages as the halogen   
   bulbs and are a direct replacement for them. There are no equivalent   
   CFLs in the same packages, so changing to CFL often requires a brand new   
   light fitting.   
      
   Also unlike CFLs LEDs provide good light from the moment they are turned   
   on, CFLs take forever to warm up and even then provide a sickly dim   
   glow. I replaced four 25W E14 R50 bulbs in downlighters with 4x14W CFLs   
   (280 lm; 20 lm/W according to the info sheet). The light output was   
   appaling and resulted in needing to use two standard lamps and a table   
   lamp in that room as well as the CFLs just to see what one was doing.   
   These were changed for 4x3.5W LED units (315 lm; 90 lm/W) and the   
   improvement in illumination was drastic. Although supposedly the same   
   output as the CFLs, these provide more light than the tungsten E14s,   
   much more than the CFLs and unlike the CFLs the bulbs are an exact fit   
   for the downlighter. The CFLs protruded from the fitting by about five   
   CM and were ugly as sin.   
      
   Also the CFLs weren't cheap, costing £5 each, the LEDs were £6 each but   
   worth the extra for the light output and efficiency.   
      
   So what are you comparing LEDs to?   
      
   BTW, unlike Dave P, I don't spend time in my living/dining room   
   comparing Pantone colour charts with print samples produced on a range   
   of professional lithograph machines, so small variations in spectrum are   
   irrelevant. The CFLs were also pants in that regard, since everything   
   was coloured a sickly greenish tinge. The LEDs are "warm" white which   
   gives a good even illumination that looks to me like daylight around   
   noon.   
      
   [1] But never seem to achieve it.   
      
   --   
   Burn Hollywood burn, burn down to the ground   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)