This bulb is compared to a 60 watt incandescent light bulb
by the manufacturer. I thought it
actually was a bit brighter than a standard 60 watt incandescent bulb. The light was also a bit warmer with none of
the blue tint I have become accustom to seeing with LED bulbs.
I popped it into a chandelier that uses a dimmer and it
worked as advertised. I did see that
the LED bulb stayed brighter than the incandescent bulbs as you dimmed. You would not want to mix this bulb with
incandescent bulbs due to it staying brighter longer as you dimmed the
light.
The claimed advantage is that you get 60 watts of light
which translates into 800 lumens of brightness but you are only paying for 12
watts of energy to get that 800 lumens.
Doing the math, Bulbrite estimates $1.45 annual energy cost based on 3
hours use per day. This would compare
to the $7.25 annual energy cost on a 60 watt incandescent bulb. Based on the 3 hours use per day, the
average 60 watt incandescent bulb is rated for 1000 hours so you would get
approximately one year out of the incandescent bulb. The 60 watt incandescent can be purchased for
approximately $.50 per bulb in 24 packs.
So $.50 per bulb with a $5.80 differential in operating cost annually
and a replacement cost of approximately $11.00 based on the projected 22.8 year
life of the LED bulb you get a net savings of approximately $108.00 based on
the $30.00 price of the LED bulb.
So in spite of the immediate sticker shock of a $30.00 light
bulb you actually could save money over the 22.8 year life span of the
bulb. In addition if the bulb is in an
awkward location, you save the aggravation of changing 22.8 incandescent bulbs. There is an implicit assumption that you will
have whatever light fixture you use for 22.8 years.
I think LED bulbs will still be a hard sale to make until
the price comes down dramatically in spite of the mathematical advantage they
offer.
If reviewing a product, it may have been received free of charge. That will NEVER have a bearing on my recommendations.
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