Thursday, January 02, 2014

Rehash: Incandescent bulb ban in Canada?

Heard about incandescent light bulbs being phased out, but I never bothered to look up the dates that actual bans would take place. According to the media, Canada's phase out plan started at the beginning of the year for incandescent bulbs of certain watt ratings. I won't bother to cover the details because everyone else has already. Instead, let me rehash some of the posts I've made regarding LED bulbs -- also known as plugging my own material!
2700K LED Bulb in Action
LED Related Posts
GE LED A19 40W and 60W Bulbs Overview
IKEA LEDARE 10W LED Bulb Review
LED Light Bulbs Part 1: What's wrong with CFLs?
LED Light Bulbs Part 2: Overview of Ikea LEDARE 4.5W and 8.5W, and Philips 12.5W
Philips Cool White (~4000k) and Daylight (6500k) LED Bulbs

Summary
I have five LED bulbs. Two of them, one from Ikea and one from Philips, have gotten the most use at around 40 hours a week each. The rest are in lamps that are used every now and then. They've been in my possession for over three quarters of a year, so let's say 39 weeks (0.75 x 52 weeks). That means the two bulbs are still going strong 1,560 hours later. The literature that came with the products said that they'd be good for significantly more than that -- something like 25,000 hours? Regardless, at my current rate, they should last for at least a few more years. Talk to me then on whether they make it or not?

The light emitted by my LEDs with color temperatures of 2700K to 3000K are warm and just like incandescent bulbs. To be honest, I prefer around 4000K for less yellow, but these were the only ones I could find a year ago. That has now changed and I'm seeing 6500K bulbs available at Home Depot and other common big box stores.
4100K CFL Bulb
These bulbs are definitely "exorbitant" in price compared to incandescent bulbs. The cheapest 60W equivalent bulbs that I can find are a bit over CAD$ 10. Even 40W equivalent bulbs hover around that price. CFLs now seem like a bargain at a few dollars each. However, LEDs are supposed to have the advantages over CFLs on top of the ones that CFLs have over incandescents -- the one that sold me was the lack of mercury. LEDs were and continue to be worth it to me. Any further replacements in my home will be LEDs.

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