Lets start with the core point of appeal for LED light bulbs Efficiency. To be specific, were talking about a given light bulbs ability to convert electricity into light and LEDs are much, much better at it than the bulbs that came before.
Colorchanging light are taking big steps to win people over this year. With Philips Hue, the big thing is a new feature calledHue Entertainmentthat lets you sync your changing lights with your vorite media. Integrations that incorporate dynamic lighting effects into popular PC games arealready live, and software thatll sync your lights up with whatevers on your screen are coming soon.
Theres even a smart version of the vintage bulb, in case you want the best of both worlds.
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If youre concerned about brightness, dont be. Shop around, and youll find lots of perfectly decent LED light bulbs that offer lots and lots of light.
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Youve got lots of choices, too. Todays LED offerings come in a erse mix of shapes, s, s, brightness levels and tones. If you want a warm, candlelike glow from your lights, you can find it. If you want light thats hotter, whiter and closer to daylight, youll find options for that, too.
Extract from Disney Moana How r Ill go by Aulii Cravalho, in a tech showcase with new Philips Hue entertainment, synchronizing Philips Hue lights with entertainment content. Image c Disney Music
Of course, a single changing Hue bulb sells for , which is probably too much for a lot of folks. The good news Smart lights are going through a bit of a boom these days, with lots of new options that dont cost quite as much. For example, this Eufy Lumos LED works with Alexa and the Google Assistant, it doesnt need a hub and its available right now for less than . A changing version is available for , and has often gone on sale for even less.
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Heres an LED from Feit with a similar trick up its sleeve just turn it off and back on within a few seconds to switch between multiple brightness settings. Its a perfect pick if you want to dim the lights but your home doesnt have dimmer switches.
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Lights like these look terrific in exposed bulb setups. This version from Feit actually weaves two of those ke filaments into a doublehelix pattern. It looks gorgeous, and it also does a nice job of putting light out evenly in all directions.
Youll also find plenty of LED options that offer multiple RGB settings, and, if youre willing to spend a little more, smart options that you can program from your phone or change using voice commands. These Lifx Z light strips are a good example. They look great behind a TV of under a cabinet, they work with Siri, Alexa and the Google Assistant, and you can control each inidual zone of lights on the strip for multi effects.
How much better? Consider the Cree LED seen here. It puts out the same amount of light as a watt incandescent, but it does so using just . watts. That means itll only add about a buck to your yearly energy bill about less than that incandescent. The upfront cost per bulb? Just . That means that itll pay for itself in less than a year, then keep saving you money for years to come. Even if someone offered to pay you a few bucks to use the incandescent, buying an LED like this would still be the lessexpensive option.
Smart lights like those are a perfect partner for voice platforms like Alexa and the Google Assistant. Im telling you, once you start controlling your lights using voice commands, youll wonder why you didnt upgrade sooner.
But hey, maybe smart lights dont interest you. Maybe you havent upgraded yet because youre reluctant to give up that classic incandescent look. Well, a glut ofnew vintage LED bulbsmight be just what youre waiting for. Many, including these LED bulbs from GE with spiral filaments that are really just strings filled with lightemitting diodes LEDs, arguably nail that oldschool incandescent appeal even better than actual incandescents, and theyre r more efficient.
Maybe youre more interested in lights that help the s in your home pop no sweat, youve got options there, too. This Soraa bulb is one of the better ones, with exceptional clarity and strong overall performance. Its a great choice for a kitchen, a walkin closet or an artfully decorated living room places where you want s to look as true as possible.
Youll even find bargainpriced smart LED lights at Ikea!
The age of the LED is here, and with it, light bulbs that use a fraction of the energy of oldschool incandescents. The glut of affordable new lighting options offer all sorts of nobrainer benefits even beyond the lower energy bills but a lot of folks still havent bought in.
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Of course, if youdouse dimmer switches in your home, youll find lots of very good LED options that will work with them. The W replacement version of that Cree LED is a good example it aced our dimming tests, with smooth, flickerfree dimming on every switch we tested it with.
Some LED bulbs, like this Philips SceneSwitch LED, even offer multiple and brightness settings. Just turn the light off and back on to switch between them.
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Take this Utilitech LED, for instance. If puts out the same approximate amount of light as a W bulb, it works well on dimmer switches in case you want to be able to dial that brightness down, and it offers bestinclass efficiency, too. Best of all, the cost is still less than per bulb.
The GE Reveal line of LED bulbs are another good option for better s. Heres one compared with the more typical GE Relax LED, both in front of a bright purple wall. Which one looks like true purple to you?
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Upgrading to lights like these gives you lots of room for creativity, too. For instance, you could spice up the look of the entire living room with the artful, ful Nanoleaf Aurora smart LED wall panels. Theyll sync with all of the major voice platforms and with your music, too.
And, like Ive said, youve got tons of new options to choose from. These Sylvania smart lights come in a variety of different shapes, including candelabra bulbs and floodlights, and prices start at just .
Whether thats because people are skeptical of the new technology or because their old fluorescents and incandescents simply havent burnt out yet is an open question, but speaking as a guy who evaluates light bulbs for a living, I really dont think there should be any debate. So please,allow me to pull up a chairand make my case for why its long past time for you to make the switch.
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Bulbs like these are on the rise these days, youll find all sorts of shapes and designs in the lighting aisle, including candelabra bulbs like this one.