...is a mix of "That's pretty cool" and "Why can't they get it right ( Read more... )

Sometime last year I bought a fancy bluetooth-enabled LED bulb (name: iSuperBlue) that could be controlled from a phone. It's one of those good ideas that doesn't quite work, at least not yet. The idea is neat: An LED bulb that be controlled somewhat remotely by a device you're likely to have with you anyway. The color can be changed. The ( Read more... )

The main light in the kitchen is in the center of the ceiling and if you are at the sink and there is no light from the window, such as at night, you cast a shadow right on the area you are using. Thus there is a light over the sink. This was a fluorescent tube, which was nice as it was lower power and lower maintenance than the incandescent that ( Read more... )

On my desk are were four light bulbs. They are not classic incandescents, nor the slightly more efficient (less inefficient) halogen bulbs. These are compact fluorescent bulbs, and there is nothing actually wrong with them. They work. They do have the issue of slow-start and taking a bit of time to come up to full brightness, indicating they are ( Read more... )

I started trying LED lighting in 2009 with disappointing results. In 2010, things were better though the "40 Watt equivalent" was not really a true equivalent, but dimmer. Since then the price has been dropping some, the choice of color temperatures improving, and the brightness increasing. Today I bought two LED bulbs of different make. Both ( Read more... )

They were both LED. One was one of the oddly bluish and dim things I bought a bit over a year ago[1] and the other was a new one bought from Wal-mart of all places. The new one uses slightly less power (1.1 Watts rather than 1.5 Watts) but at least seems brighter (70 lumens) and looks rather like, I am guessing, a 10 Watt incandescent. The glass ( Read more... )

Sometime this Summer I bought an outdoor rated CFL and replaced one of three incandescents with it. The outdoor lights are used so seldom that it doesn't matter that much, but I was curious about cold weather performance. The last few days have provided enough cold weather that one might think there was a Global Warming demonstration being held ( Read more... )

The repaired bulb didn't last very long. It's not an outright failure, but looks like a heat issue. After a while the base heats up and seems to go into a protective thermal shutdown. Then it cools down and the light starts up again. It's a slow cycle, but still annoying. I've pulled the bulb again and replaced it with a Sylvania-branded CFL ( Read more... )

One of the LED bulbs I bought in early August failed in late August. A few days ago the other LED bulb failed. Since I hadn't sent the one off for warranty replacement, I packed the both of them and the receipts and a letter and sent them off. We'll see how the warranty is and if the replacements are any better ( Read more... )

The second LED bulb put into service in the office is now out of service. That it gave little light was brought home by the fact that we didn't really notice just when it went out. jmaynard was surprised when he happened to glance at the light fixture. It wasn't a loose bulb, either. The base has that peculiar "electronics that got too hot" smell to ( Read more... )