The problem initially arose when I stuck, what I thought, was an already dim bulb in someone's desk lamp and the person said it was too bright. That LED was rated at 400 lumens which I had used for table and desk lamps without issue. I didn't find any LEDs I was satisfied with so just went with a 15-watt incandescent, but I recently decided to look again to see if anything had changed in March 2017.
Ikea LEDARE 200 lumen bulb bought around 2013 |
An E26 15-watt or 25-watt equivalent LED light bulb?
I wanted LED bulbs with E26 bases that were rated at 225 lumens or less. From random googling, that range should have been covered by a 15-watt or 25-watt incandescent bulb.
Plan A: Was the tiny 200 lumen Ikea LEDARE still around?
There used to be an Ikea LEDARE bulb with a 200-ish lumen rating -- I would know, I bought one in 2013. Upon checking the Ikea.ca website in early 2017, I couldn't find it anymore. What I did find were LED bulbs with ratings like 200 lumens and 100 lumens, but again, not E26. There was an E26 200 lumen RYET bulb on the American website though -- this RYET was rated at 2.8 watts with a price of US$ 2.79 for a pair according to its product page.
Assortment of Ikea and Philips LED Bulbs bought in 2016 |
With Ikea out of the running, the plan was to check other major retailers. This did not end up being as easy as I thought with price, availability, or something else generally getting in the way. For example, when I checked in March 2017, I did find 25-ish watt equivalent LED bulbs with the right base on a popular online retailer. However, they were from third-party sellers, brands I'd never heard of, and in packs of six.
Elsewhere, I ended up finding quite a few 300 and 350 lumen bulbs with what looked like the right base -- there was even a 250 lumen bulb but at almost CA$ 20 for a single. However, my problem started with a 400 lumen bulb so going significantly lower was more desirable.
One of the closest options was, from the product page, a GE LED bulb rated at 170 lumens and 3.5 watts with a candle-shape going for about CA$ 14 a piece (model 85766). Another option was a Philips "A15 Vintage filament bulb" rated at 220 lumens and 2 watts for about CA$ 9 each according to the product page (model 465468).
Plan C: Just buy a 15-watt incandescent bulb
Exactly what I went with. Unfortunately, it looks like these old bulbs use four times or more electricity than an equivalent LED using the info above. LEDs should also have a longer life.
Conclusion
It'd be great if the Ikea RYET 200 lumen bulbs made it to Canada. Otherwise, I'm somewhat interested in the Philips vintage bulb for under CA$ 10. It doesn't look that cheap but it's not outrageously expensive to me. In the meantime, I'm sticking with the incandescent bulb until it burns out.
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