I've been curious about LED lighting for several years, but until recently the price of LED bulbs compared to compact fluorescent (CFL) or incandescent bulbs has been a deterrent.

What was the final deciding factor to switch to LED? I needed a good bulb for the task light on my mill and grinder. I'd been using 75W unfrosted (clear) incandescent bulbs because they gave off ample light. But after a few minutes they got too hot to work around, and I was afraid that splashing coolant on a hot bulb would lead to problems. I tried switching to CFL bulbs and found that a 20w CFL put out plenty of light … once it got warmed up. Unfortunately I didn't like waiting 5 minutes for the bulb to get to proper operating temperature. And in the winter when shop temperatures were cooler (40-50 degrees F) I had trouble with extended warm-up times and even the occasional bulb flicker when using CFLs.

So I switched to a 13.5 watt LED flood bulb. According to the packaging, the bulb was equivalent to a 75W incandescent bulb. But I found the LED to be both brighter and whiter than my 75W incandescent or my 20W CFL. And the light was instantly bright (no need to wait for the bulb to warm up) and stayed cool to the touch.

After being pleased with my initial 13.5W purchase I have since purchased a 9.5W LED, as well as a 2.5W LED bulb to see how they compair to their incandescent counterparts. Since I now have several bulbs to compaire between I thought it might be nice to write a quick review of my findings.

Now, it should be said that I don't have a light meter or any professional light-measuring equipment to properly measure lumens or color temperature. But after taking some side-by-side photos I didn't feel like it was necessary. It was clear that CFL and incandescent bulbs put out a dim yellow light when compared to a comparable LED.

Here are some images – you all can decide for yourself.

Here are the contenders:

I'm also going to provide links to the bulbs on Amazon so you can check pricing. Also check your local Costco (if you have one). Costco has been comparable or cheaper than Amazon, but all other stores I have checked (Walmart, Home Depot, Lowes, etc) have been more expensive than Amazon. So if you live by a Costco check prices there first, otherwise buy online from Amazon. Also, keep in mind that LED bulbs are more expensive than incandescent or CFL bulbs. Often a lot more. But they are more energy efficient and have a longer lifespan (20+ years). So in the long run LEDs are a better buy, even factoring in the higher initial purchase price.

9.5W LED (Click image to see Amazon Pricing)

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13.5W LED Flood Light (Click image to see Amazon Pricing)

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Now for the comparison:

Here's the light output of a 150W incandescent bulb. Since both LED bulbs are brighter than the 75W incandescent they were designed to replace I thought I'd step up the comparison to a 150W bulb. Notice how the light has a yellow hue. Disclaimer: some of the yellow color is likely due to the lack of white-balance capabilities of my camera. The light looked a bit whiter in real-life. But not nearly as white as the LED bulb, as you'll see in a moment.

Here's the 20W CFL (after warming for at least 5 minutes). You can see that it's not quite as bright as the 150W incandescent (which is to be expected since the CFL is designed as a 60W incandescent replacement). You can also see how yellow the light is. Some people like "warm" yellow light. But for task lighting I prefer white light.

Here's the 9.5W LED. Notice how bright and white the light is compared to the incandescent or CFL bulbs.

Here's the 13.5W Flood Light. Notice that all the light is exiting the top of the bulb (which is exactly what you'd expect from a flood light – hence the dim lamp shade and bright, focussed circle of light on the ceiling). I think for task lighting (where you want the light pointed at a specific surface or object) this bulb is the ideal choice. But if you're trying to light up a room the 9.5W LED is a better choice because it provides a wider-angle light similar to a traditional incandescent bulb.

Here's a side-by-side comparison of both LED bulbs. The 13.5W LED (flood) bulb is brighter and casts a more narrowly focussed beam than the 9.5W LED bulb.

Here's a look at the comparison between the 20W CFL (cold) and the 9.5W LED. There's a big difference in the light output (both lumens and color) between the two until the CFL has had time to warm up. But after a 5 minute warmup the CFL puts out a yellow light similar in brightness to the LED bulb.

And just for fun, here's a comparison of a 2.5W LED vanity bulb, compared to four 40W incandescent bulbs. I will be switching out the bathroom lighting next. With five bulbs @ 2.5 watts apiece, that's 12.5 total watts, compared to 200 watts (five bulbs at 40 watts each). And the quality of the light is better (whiter).

In conclusion: would I switch out every light in the house to LEDs? No, not yet. Not until they come down in price.

But I will be replacing any burned out bulbs with LEDs over the next several years. However, if I were to build a home I would seriously consider investing in LEDs from the start. If not every light bulb, I'd at least buy LED lights for those hard-to-change fixtures like you find in a high vaulted ceiling. I'd rather break out the ladder once every 20 years than once every 2 or 3 years. But that's just me. Maybe some of you like messing with a ladder in your living room …

I know it sounds like I'm a huge advocate for LED, so why am I not switching out every light in my house? Somehow swapping out 20 or 30 functioning incandescent bulbs seems wasteful to me. And it would probably take me all afternoon to do it. So I think I'll wait until they burn out and replace them one-by-one with LED bulbs. By the way, I've been writing the date on my bulbs as I install them (with a sharpie). That way I will know how long they truly last. Sorry for the tangent, let's get back to the point of this article.

For task lighting in the shop I think LED lights make an excellent choice!

The fact that LEDs have instant-on brighness (no warm-up needed), and are cool to the touch make them a clear winner over incandescents. Why haven't I compared the LEDs to Halogen? Because I don't own a halogen bulb. I never have. I've never felt like their brightness justified their over-the-top energy consumption. They are too hot and too inefficient for me to justify using around the shop. I realize that there are applications where halogens make sense (like photography lighting) but I don't have the need for them because I can get by with non-halogen light sources for all of my hobby needs.

You might have noticed that I haven't provided a price comparison between the bulbs. That's because to me looking at the purchase price of an LED bulb ($8 to $20+ per bulb) vs a CFL ($1 to $3+ per bulb) vs an incandescent ($1 or less per bulb) is a very short-sighted way to look at such an investment. You really need to look at the operating price of the bulb over the bulbs lifetime. An incandescent bulb costs less than a dollar and might last anywhere from 1-3 years depending on how many hours a day you use the bulb. A comperable LED bulb would cost $20+, but would last 20+ years (25,000 hours or more). So you'd need to buy 7 or more incandescent bulbs (assuming optimistically that they last 3 years each) to equal an LED bulb's lifespan. So that $1 bulb will actually cost you $7 or more, and that's just considering the purchase price alone, not the difference in efficiency.

The real cost of the incandescent comes from the wasted energy over the life of the bulb. I've found that a 9.5W LED = 75W incandescent = 20W CFL (looking strictly at light output or "lumens"). It doesn't take a genius to figure out that a 9.5 watt LED bulb is far more efficient (and thus less expensive to operate) than a 75W incandescent, and is twice as efficient as a 20W CFL.

I don't think anyone would argue that a CFL is more efficient than an incandescent, and an LED is more efficient than both a CFL and an incandescent. So if you're worried about the electric bill (or the environment) and conserving energy is a primary concern for you than an LED light might seem like the best choice (it seems like the best choice to me). But as soon as you start comparing different types of bulbs other factors besides energy efficiency start to creep in. I'm not an expert on lighting, so I'm sure that there are other considerations I haven't thought of. There are probably people out there that would argue that an LED bulb is somehow worse for the environment than an incandescent just like some people argue that CFLs, while more energy efficient, are worse than incandescent bulbs because of the negative impact they have on the environment when disposed of (mercury), or the risk they pose when accidentally broken, etc. I'll leave those discussions to other websites. I don't want to get into that here. All I wanted to do was show a simple comparison of the quality of light you get from LED bulbs.

Even though LED bulbs are 10 to 20 times more expensive than incandescent bulbs, in my opinion they are well worth the investment simply because of the quality of the light they produce. Let alone because of how efficient they are or because of how long they last (which depending on the manufacturer is said to be 20 to 25+ years).

I'd be interested in hearing what you guys think. What have your experiences been with LEDs? Click on the link below to leave your comments on the forum.

@Mtw fdu – by torch, do you mean flashlight? If so, I think we have the same flashlight. Are you using the Nebo Redline Tactical Flashlight?

Nebo Redline Tactical Flashlight

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If so, I know why. I love my flashlight. I played with a friends on a camping trip this last summer and purchased 3 when I got home. One for the shop, one for the car, and one for the house. I was actually thinking of doing a review of it also, but I thought it would be too Off Topic for the readers. But it's an incredible light. It puts even my largest MagLight to shame in terms of brightness and is tiny and light (not heavy). About the only reason to keep my MagLight is in case I need to bludgeon someone with it.

I assume when you said you're using a setup on your mill that you made yourself you meant that you made some sort of mounting mechanism for the flashlight? If so, please post a pic of your mount. If, however, you meant that you made your own light from scratch than I'm definitely interested in how you did it. I've been meaning to buy some LEDs from ebay and make a few scratch-built lights just to see how they would turn out. And if yours flashes and has multiple settings than I assume you're using some sort of microprocessor? I know it's off topic, but I'm a sucker for electronic projects.

jimryan2000 said:

Great article that raises two questions for me: have you noticed any difference in glare or other qualities of the light as it might affect how easily you could see finish defects or scribe lines? and, I have been surprised at the number of locations in my house where CFLs have not lasted long at all.  Have you seen similar problems in any locations with LEDs?

I haven't noticed a difference in glare or my ability to detect scribe lines. But that's because I haven't really been looking for those differences. But the next time I'm in the shop I'll see if I notice any difference. However, I have noticed a huge difference in the quality of the pictures I can take when using LEDs as a light source instead of incandescent or CFL. Basically the LED illuminated images look bright and crisp, similar to what you get when using a flash, but without being washed out like you get with a flash.

To you second question, I have also had a few CFLs fail within a year or two. Maybe 2 or 3 out of the 30 or so bulbs I've been using since 2005. We bought a new house in 2005 that had a lot of lights and an expensive electric bill. We swapped out almost every bulb in the house with CFLs and our electric bill dropped by about $20 a month (about a 15% reduction). Back then CFLs were still expensive (maybe $5 each?) so I was glad that the swap paid for about 4 bulbs a month. But like you said, I had a few early failed bulbs, and for no apparent reason. They weren't indoor bulbs that I used outdoors or anything, they just failed.

I haven't really had my LED bulbs long enough to know if they will live up to their lifespan hype (obviously), but I can say that none of mine have failed. And from what I've read, some (all?) bulbs will loose some of their luminosity over time and the "lifespan" isn't necessarily saying how long the bulbs will last before they go black, but how long they will last before they've lost 30% of their brightness. If I have a $20 bulb that lasts 50 years, but is only 70% as bright as it was when I purchased it I will be thrilled.

So from what I've read so far, early failure doesn't seem to be a big issue with LED's (with one exception – dimmers, see below). But maybe that's because they aren't mainstream enough yet and haven't been around long enough for people to start saying "hey, my 20 year bulb only lasted me 7!".

About dimmers: Apparently some people have seen LED failure when using them with older dimmer switches (the kind that dim the light by dissipating heat – old fashioned dimmers). The new dimmer switches switch the lights on and off several hundred (thousand?) times a second to accomplish dimming, and don't harm dimmable LED bulbs, but could harm non-dimmable LED bulbs. So if you're going to use an LED bulb with a dimmer switch, make sure it's a newer switch and compatible with your LED, and make sure your LED is designed to be dimmed. Otherwise you might have an early failure.

I have also read about some quality control issues with a few bulbs that had a frosted housing (the frosted coating started to flake off within a year resulting in an uneven release of light from the bulb). Because of this I haven't purchased any bulbs with a frosted cover.

As for your comment about standardization, I'm having that same dilemma also. There are dozens of styles of lights right now and some of them look really strange, like a bulb I saw that was bright orange but supposedly turned bright white and gave off white light when turned on.

Orange bulb (off)

Orange bulb (on)

Who want's an ugly orange bulb in their fixture? So it sounds like we are doing the same thing, buying all the lights at once for a single fixture (like my 5-bulb bathroom vanity). That way they are all identical. I guess the problem will come if one of those burns out and I can't find a replacement that matches. But if that's 20 years from now I probably won't really care. The bulbs will be cheap by then and there might even be some better technology to replace them with.