Why are CFL / LED bulbs so expensive ?

[roosterk0031]

Doubt my lights are on an average of 5% of the time, just say 10% so numbers are easier, $13.82 vs. $3 vs. $1.40/month would be closer.

CFL save $10 a month and could recover bulb cost in 2-3 months.

LED vs CFL save $1.60 a month, a years saving covers one LED bulb.

[rmay635703]

I bought a dozen 14 watt CFLs at goodwill last week for $0.10 each!

[KFM]

Dang, that's a sweet deal.

[rmay635703]

Originally Posted by KFM

Dang, that's a sweet deal.

You can buy single or multipack CFLs at Dollar Tree all day long for the wonderfull price of exactly $1 (seasonal availability applies)

I won't say they are the most efficient or the best quality but hard to beat.

[jeff88]

THD has dozens of 9.5W (60W replacement) LEDs on sale right now for under $5. Still not as good as the typical CFL price, but way better than the typical LED price. If anybody was interested, I could pick some up and ship them out.

[aerostealth]

You have to look at the amortized million lumen hour cost and not the unit cost. Incandescent bulbs are cheap to buy but run to $7.50 per MLH. CFC'S run $2 to 4 per MLH. LED can run as high as $5 per MLH. Not hard to see the bargains here. You just need to know how to calculate the MLH cost.

[jamesqf]

Originally Posted by aerostealth

CFC'S run $2 to 4 per MLH. LED can run as high as $5 per MLH.

OTOH, LEDs give a much better quality light (for my tastes, anyway). Much closer to natural daylight.

[aerostealth]

No idea what OTOH means? Color temperature is what you are talking about. I like 3,000 K to 3,500 K output. True daylight would be well over 5,000 K which is too blue shifted for me. The lower temployee is considered warm and the higher temps are considered cool.

[RedDevil]

OTOH means On The Other Hand, IIRC...

It is not just the color 'warmth' (the K grade) but also the spectral components of the light that matter.
By design LED light is hard blue (at least, the most efficient type is) so it needs a coating of fluorescent material to produce other colors.
Likewise, a CFL tube needs a fluorescent inner coating to produce a mix of colors that shows white.

Which of these produces the most natural mix depends on the quality and design of the fluorescent coating used, more than the type.

[niky]

Are LEDs expensive? Considering Philips is about to launch an 8.5w bulb that's as cheap as some of the 4w Chinese bulbs I've bought over the years... I don't think they'll be "expensive" for much longer...

LEDs are a bunch of diodes, a circuit board and electronics. That's always going to cost more to assemble than a single wire sitting inside a vacuumed-out glass ball.

I love LEDs. Have had color issues with the cheap ones, so I'm currently switching to white. I tend to buy bulbs that are coated... so technically less output per watt, but they aren't eye-searing to look at... and are still more efficient than CFLs.

Since I started installing them three years ago, I've only had one go out... and that one was in an outdoor socket exposed to potential water contamination from rain.