Recessed Lights: Which energy efficient bulbs do I want?

I built my house in 2001. Prior to that, I was living in an apartment.

I never really liked recessed lights but it occurred to me that the new house was going to need light and, every time that you buy a lamp, you need to buy a table to put it on. At the time, recessed lights were going for about $50 a piece installed, so they became the smart and obvious choice. As such, I ended up installing 36 of them in various parts of the house.

They look pretty much like this:

All of them have old school 65w soft white incandescent indoor flood bulbs in them like this:

I've always wanted to upgrade to more efficient bulbs, but there are too many to do all of them at once. I think the biggest circuit has six lights on a single switch, so I can attack them in small groups.

My criteria:

-approximately the same light output that I have now.

-I do not want bulbs that need to warm up. I want all the light as soon as I flick the switch.

-I want soft white light, not excessively white like a lot of LEDs that I've seen. I need light that's easy on the eyes when I'm reading.

-No buzz, if that's even a thing anymore.

-They need to fill the space in the recessed light cans like the current incandescent bulbs do.

What bulbs do I want?

I should also point out that I'm not going to scrap a bunch of perfectly good old bulbs either. Right now, I have two dead ones. As I start to add new bulbs into the system, anything that still works will go on the shelf as spares. I expect the complete overhaul to happen over a long period of time.

I bought a couple GE's style of these from Sam's. Not cheap but they work well. They basically screw into the existing socket and include the complete surround.

http://www.superiorlighting.com/LED_Retrofit_Light_for_5_or_6_Inch_R_p/led12dr5627k-tcp.htm?gclid=CKvil_SGjdECFYOCswodkDgJDA#pcode=LED12DR5627K-TCP

In reply to Greg Voth:

Thanks! That's an interesting option that I wasn't even aware of. And that sale price is about what I expected to pay per bulb. Do they light quickly?

I don't have experience with those specifically. But the GE acts as a normal bulb. Instant light.

In reply to Greg Voth:

That might be exactly what I want. I have a few circuits with just two lights per switch. They could be the perfect complement to my shiny new Lowes gift card!

Ace Hardware has 3 packs of LED floodlights for 2 bucks a pack (here at least). I just refitted my entire house for something like 20 bucks. They're pretty awesome quiet and no strobing like cheap Christmas lights which give me a migraine.

I also put in these in a couple of spots. I'm not impressed with them enough to buy a bunch more of them but they look clean in my kitchen.

Also keep in mind if you have a dimmer it may cause LEDs to flicker. My fans are suffering from that with the GE bulbs I bought. I need to get some new ones.

Get thee to Costco! I joined last year to get a discount on my MaxJax and ended up saving enough on led bulbs to more than pay for the membership. They have warm white 65watt equivalent led flood bulbs for great prices. The exact price depends on the store and when you buy them, but I paid anywhere from $1 to $3 each. The light is great and they don't hum. I was paying $10ea before that and my house has 65+ recessed lights so you do the math.

They do not show the bulbs on the web site since it's a store only, member only deal.

Head to your favorite hardware store and get LEDs. Done. They come in any light temp you want from warm up through daylight and bright white.

They're silent, cool, and use very little electric. Wait for them to go on sale. Normally they're about $6 each but sometimes you'll find them for $2 each at HD.

I remember seeing a pallet of Cree bright white bulbs at (of all places) a Goodwill store for $1 each. I had to run to a rehearsal, and two hours later I came back to find them all gone.

Many of them these days are dimmable by default, but make sure you get dimmable if you want that option in the future.

Also, refusing to throw out "good" bulbs is false economy. You're burning almost six times as much power using the incandescent bulbs. Regardless of how fast the leds pay for themselves the payoff will happen sooner if you replace them sooner. Powering the incandescent bulbs is money you won't recoup by doing it for longer.

also you won't believe how much more comfortable the house is in the summer! Right now in the summer you're paying to cool the house, heat it back up with your lights, then cool it back off again.

We put recessed lights in most of our house over the last 2 years as we renovate, and used warm white LED flood lights in most of the house, had some old school incandescents in one bathroom. There is no difference in use for light output or quality or color. No warm up delay like CFLs and the LEDs will dim down to barely on. You might need new dimmer switches though, as the old dimmer switches can't go low enough to really dim down the LEDs as they draw so little.

LEDs do not need time to "warm" like CFLs. That is one of the advantages of the LED, it's as close to instant light as you can get.

i used these LED retrofit kits Link

Ditto the comment on whether you've got or want a dimmer on the circuit or not.

I've found out that whether a given bulb or fixture will work with a given dimmer or not, regardless of the stated "dimmability" is kind of a crap shoot.

Spitsix wrote: i used these LED retrofit kits Link

Same here. Super easy install, totally sealed, fully dimmable, some can be used in "damp" areas like showers.

The LED lights are typically "easier on the eyes" than the old school warm (read that yellow) white bulbs. Just shy away from the Daylight bulbs.

Your eyes "see" more once you are out of that yellow tint range so you'll find reading much easier.

Update:

I went to Lowes and bought four three packs of 65w soft white LEDs at $14.98 each. Total came to $63.72 but I had a $30 gift card.

The main area over the kitchen sink has nine recessed lights on three circuits: two circuits have two lights each and one has five. I have three more in the laundry room. I swapped them all over to the new bulbs.

The ones in the laundry room are perfect. The two kitchen circuits that have two bulbs each are brighter but they will be fine. The five bulb circuit (our go-to switch) is way too bright. We were squinting as we tried to decide if we could tolerate it or not. We cannot. I may swap those bulbs to a dimmable circuit in another room and go back to five incandescents until I find the right LEDs.

I do appreciate all the helpful suggestions though.

While the lumens tend to be fewer than the comparable incandescent bulb I've found the LEDs don't need quite as high a "comparable" number in an LED.

I have no idea why, but the LEDs just seem to luminate more so just try a slightly lower number than 65.

My wife complained when I put a brighter LED in the light over her desk, but 2 days later when I switched back she made me go get the LEDs. So my point is to give it a day and then see what you think

The five bulb circuit is back to incandescent for now, and I swapped four of those LEDs to different room with a dimmer. At half to two thirds on the dimmer, they will be fine.

I will look for either a lower output bulb or the next step down from "soft", which I think is "warm". Lowes had a surprisingly poor selection to choose from. My Costco card has expired, but I will try Home Depot or BJ's.

Even the two light circuits are surprisingly bright. It reminds me of when you are moving or painting and have a single lamp without a shade on the floor of an empty room.

Even the $2/bulb savings vs the highest Costco price I paid vs the lowes bulbs would pay for the costco membership.

In reply to dculberson:

I agree, but standing in line at Costco on Christmas Eve to renew my expired membership was not an option.

carguy123 wrote: While the lumens tend to be fewer than the comparable incandescent bulb I've found the LEDs don't need quite as high a "comparable" number in an LED. I have no idea why, but the LEDs just seem to luminate more so just try a slightly lower number than 65. My wife complained when I put a brighter LED in the light over her desk, but 2 days later when I switched back she made me go get the LEDs. So my point is to give it a day and then see what you think

I think it has to do with how most of the led bulbs kick all the light out of the upper hemisphere, whereas an incandescent throws light at every angle and wastes some bouncing it around in the fixture.

Another Update:

All kitchen bulbs are once again incandescent, but only until I find the right LEDs.

The laundry room remains brightly lit and that's okay.

Eight LED's have been relocated to the playroom, where they are well suited. The ceiling is higher, the recessed lights are further apart, and they have dimmer switches on each of the four light circuits. Just about perfect.

In reply to Woody:

It's almost like you value your time! ;)

dculberson wrote: In reply to Woody: It's almost like you value your time! ;)

No lie: My yearbook quote was "Time is the final currency".