LED Bulbs

Anyone replacing CFL's w/ these yet ? My local costco had 1 box of recessed can type bulbs that were sold out among all the CFL's, they were $40.00 ea w/ a $20 instant rebate from the power company CL&P. I have 4 dimmable incandescents in the kitchen my wife uses all the time, I figure each bulb replaced saves 90w x 4 bulbs x 4hrs/day on time x$.16 kWh = roughly $80 dollars saved annually, or 1 yr payback @ $20 each, + their life is supposedly very long.

Can anyone comment on how well they dim? Future price drop predictions? My house has over 30 recessed can lights, I replaced all incandescent w/ CFL when I first moved in over a year ago, now I have a feeling I will be swapping out w/ LED if they get the cost down.

They are becomming the latest fad but will have to come down in cost before they have a reasonable payback. There are no standards yet to test the output to, so becareful of what is being claimed. LED's have a transformer built into them and ratings usually do not include the transformer losses.

Don't get me wrong, they are very viable for certian parking lot lighting and outdoor lighting. You see them in traffic lights all the time now. The reason is long life and you don't need to replace them if you lose one or two of the LED's. Indoors they are just comming on the market and are expensive.

Right now they are for the "Green Pioneer". Of course a "Pioneer" is the guy out in front with the arrows sticking out of his back.

Personally, I would wait a year or two if possible. If you want to experiment with them, go ahead.

The only LED's I have are in the TV, wonder if the power co. will give me $$$ back, or pay me to watch the boob tube . If the power co. is paying for 1/2 the bulb, it sounds good (they must be getting a kick back, carbon credit??? )

Only LED's I have are in my Harley & over my workbench. The workbench strip was about $50 -- very steep for what it is. But the light output is second to nothing. Plus LED's last forever ... as long as they don't see Massachusetts roads in winter.

I'd go slow on switching to LED's. The incandescent bulbs give off it's heat by radiation. The Edison socket, that's the name of the screw socket, is not ideal for LED bulbs. It's a heat problem. To get rid of the heat generated by the LED electronics you need a heat conduction path, a good heat sink. What's coming are new designs that have LED bulb sockets designed for conduction heat dissipation. Yes, you will have to replace the entire fixture.

Don't totally ignore LED's but recognize that LED's in Edison sockets is an interim product. Just like compact florescent bulbs are turning out to be. Also don't believe the long live numbers, the life is based on good heat sinking of the LED chip to a good heat sink, something you don't have with an Edison socket. Notice the fancy heat sink like shapes of the LED bulbs, especially the brighter ones, that's an attempt to convert conducted heat into radiated heat.