Thanks Roarmiester. I had the feeling the ets'rs thought I was making up the whole 9000 lumens thing.

Good quality CFL's aren't bad, especially in a situation where you turn them on and leave them on, and not have to turn them off and on repeatedly, like in a bathroom. But cheap CFL's tend to burn out rather quickly, so people get disillusioned and wonder about the claims of thousands of hours of use. In fact, cheap CFL's often burn out faster than an incandescent does.

In many cases, however, it can be the user's fault. CFL's need air to cool and people put them in fixtures that cause them to overheat.

I find that it's tough to evaluate how much I like the color of a light source side by side with different lights since it unnaturally accentuates the differences. A cool light looks a lot bluer and a warm light looks a lot more orange when you're looking at them side by side at the same time, regardless of whether we're talking LED, CFL, or incandescent.

I find that I usually just have to take one home and use it to see how well I like it. When you're just using one color in a room, your eyes adjust to it and it's a very different effect from what you see in the store.

Yeah, now that's the kind of longevity that we were promised when CFL's were first touted to us. And if they all lasted at least that long, I think people would be much happier with CFL's.

My mom burns out CFLs in record time. In fact, the same bulbs that are still running for me 3 years later she can burn out in her lamp in three months or less. And I've bought her several lamps from different sources so it's not a short doing it. She also kills TVs fans, radios, vcrs, dvds, vacuums and anything else that uses power in a fraction of thier designed lifetimes.

Could it be another electrical problem or a voltage fluctuation?

Jeanette Isabelle

That's a good thought Jeaneette, but no. When I was having a rental re-wired I sent the electricians to her house and everything is up to code. She's been doing this since I was a kid, lo those many years ago.

True for individual LEDs, but a lot of LED bulbs are an array of multiple LEDs. The actual DC operating voltage depends on how they are wired together. So a little careful testing is worthwhile. Otherwise, poof!

Dropped by my local Home Depot after work today to get some new work gloves, and I was pleasantly surprised to see that they finally had these new Cree LED bulbs on display near the entrance. And in the lighting section, they also had many new Philips LED floodlights that I don't recall seeing before.

I bought a warm white Cree "60W" bulb. I have only used it a short time so far, but I like it. Very compact, good light distribution, and a nice warm light that is easy on the eyes. Well worth the $12 price. And they even come with this rubbery "safety coating" in case you drop it. But even if you did break one, there's no poisonous mercury vapor in them like CFL's.

I also picked up a Philips "60W" floodlight. They have a number of floodlight models. This one is part of their AmbientLED line, although I don't know what that is supposed to mean. It's advertised as a warm white (3000K), but the light is very crisp and seems cooler than 3000K to me. Good if you want bright illumination but it's a tad harsh for my taste. Rather hefty, beefy build, so I think the LED's are heatsinked well and this floodlight should last a good long time, I think.

I think I'll be picking up more of these Cree bulbs for other lamps around the house. Personally, I'll take these Cree or Philips bulbs over CFL's any day. A big thumbs up from me!