LED vs Compact Fluorescent

[Lin]

I have noticed that there is quite a lot of enthusiasm of LED lighting.  Since my 12v lighting uses the automotive bayonet bulbs, I have switched most to bayonet LED's for the obvious power savings.  Our 120v lighting though is compact fluorescent.  I was in Home Depot the other day and noticed that they had LED's that would work in the same fixtures, so I took a look at them.  It turns out that both they and the compact fluorescent have about the same light per wattage-- about 800-900 lumen for about 13 watts.  Is the only advantage to LED in 12v then?

[Nusa]

The actual efficiencies of both fluorescent and LED bulbs vary between product lines, even within the same manufacturer. For instance, Phillips has a 12.5W LED bulb that puts out 800 lumens, but they also have a 10W LED bulb that puts out 940 lumens. Their pricing encourages people to buy the less efficient bulb, but that'll change eventually. In general, the best fluorescents are getting about 60 lumens/watt, while the good LED's are about 100 lumens/watt. Compared to about 14 lumens/watt for incandescent.

[Lin]

I guess Costco carries the lower end LED's thought they were anything but cheap.  The 13 watt compacts are about 900 lumen, so that's about 70 lumen/watt.  If the LED's were 100 lumen/watt I can begin to see an advantage if the cost would come down.

[Kitt]

I haven't compared 120v LED vs CFL/fluorescent, but I did try out LED rope lighting and 12v fluorescent recently. I was really surprised, and disappointed, that the power consumption was about the same for similar brightness.

Advantages of the LED lighting are cooler running temperature, no glass, no mercury, and longer life. I was a fan of CFLs, but their short life (usually less than published if there are too many on/off cycles) makes them more expensive than I like and makes the price of LED bulbs more attractive. I think that 120v LED bulbs will be dropping in price in the coming years.

[Len Silva]

Far more critical to marital bliss is the color of the light.  Us guys think about lumens per watt, the ladies think about how their make up looks in the mirror..  You'll be in trouble if you lose sight of that.

[Lin]

I have not bought comparable LED's, but the CFL's can be had in the 2800 Kelvin range, which is about what incandescent is.  My wife says she dislikes fluorescent but is really only talking about the white lights.  She does not object to the warm CFL's we have in the bus and house.  If I were to get LED's, it would also have to be in that range.  I really do not like the bright white effect either.