Simply put, most people dont appreciate so-called high-CRI even when its brought directly to their attention. IMO, high noon sun on a clear day is high CRI, 90 CRI LED is absolutely horrible by comparison. This thread has only reaffirmed to me that we are still a long way off before consumer level LED bulbs can come even close to justifying their ridiculous cost. Even when their prices are severely discounted and subsidized, they are still grossly overpriced.
Owning a well furnished home with immaculate solid oak antique wooden floors, with mostly oak, brass and other wooden furnishings has shown some improvement in color rendition with an LED, but ONLY while using my 100 watt Bridgelux 97 CRI 3500K specialty emitter.
Compared to CFL, I saw only little improvement while viewed under a large 24 emitter nichia 92 CRI array, which was an overwhelming disappointment considering all the hype I had read about that particular emitter. Especially when compared to any other neutral or warm white bulbs: Cree LED’s or CFL’s of similar tint. IE: not CW). To each their own, and Im glad some people can perceive a substantial difference. Being the absolute lumen freak that I am, my myriad of friends have grudgingly been subjected to them all (including my hot rodded gas mantle lantern collections burning thorium coated mantles with my own homebrew fuel mixtures… which incidentally has by far the best perceived light quality of any light source we have yet to view). The only LED that stands out in the entire crowd is the +$100 97 CRI bridgelux setup I just linked… mostly attributable to the 5300 lumens and 3500K that is complimentary to illuminating my decor, along with the even light disbursement. To further add insult to all the overwhelming denial and hype, hide any typical household light source under a lamp shade and all bets are off. Who views a naked bulb?… and recessed lighting isnt common in every room of most homes.
If you want true high CRI, even lighting and great color temp, throw away all those silly LED bulbs you think are so great and step up and build a custom luminary with a 97 CRI Bridgelux (not a chinese piece of garbage claiming to be a Bridgelux). Then you’ll laugh at yourself and wonder why you wasted so much money and time trying to justify those LED bulb purchases and convince others. OR… you could listen to my friends and believe that the testimony from dozens of people would never even notice the difference. They only notice increases in brightness and not much else.
Any marketing MBA’s out there? Not surprisingly, its statistically proven that most people who justify the extra expense for frivolous self-proclaimed “upgrades” will justify and defend their purchases in front of others, regardless that nearly the entire casual observable population might think otherwise. Thats what the internet is for: enthusiasts not finding agreement and consensus from those around us, we find specialty groups that are most likely to help justify our purchases, and by trying to convince others. :bigsmile: Reading that again = !! We’re all guilty of it, including myself!
Now if I can just figure out how to power 10 x 100W Bridgelux emitters in my bathroom, I could shower while wearing my welding goggles and tell myself that the high CRI is a nice “upgrade”. Not a chance… they will remain CFL until there is a truly sensible reason to swap them.
As an side, try replacing your hallway and bathroom lights from slow warm-up CFL’s to LED’s. Whether of not that circuit is on a dimmer, you WILL eventually nuke the crap out of your eyes in the middle of the night and strongly consider grabbing a crow bar to pound them all clean though the ceiling. Others in your home will always appreciate those CFL’s and their slow starts… trust me on this.
AND most importantly: since we’re presumably all demented flashaholics… who cares? BUY! BUY! BUY!