Is anyone aware of any suggestions for budget light bulbs in the 10-15 Watt, E27-based, 110V variety, preferably under $10?
This is intended to be used in a garage, and will be connected to a motion sensor. It will be out of the weather, but subjected to seasonal outdoor temperatures. Tint quality is not a major concern in this application. Due to the use with a motion sensor, the light sees short power-on times, with frequent on-off cycles, which is bad for the CFL currently in use. I would prefer to use an LED light rather than the CFL, due to the better reliability with power cycles.
Unfortunately, many of the promising corn-style bulbs look promising, but are advertised for 220V operation only. I have found this bulb on DX which seems promising:
...along with many similar at other sites. Unfortunately, I don't trust the specs, having received apparently-mislabeled 220V bulbs that performed poorly at 110V before. Has anyone purchased any of these low-end LED bulbs and can comment on their suitability?
My Home Depot was blowing out the older style (non-ventilated, rubbery cover on glass) Cree 40/60w bulbs for around $5. Maybe worth checking in at yours? (Though maybe it’s just a California thing… never can tell with the despot.)
Lowes usually has the best deals. Right now their 40 & 60w equivalent bulbs (6.5 & 9.5w) with 2yr warranty are $2.49. Home Depot near me has a few Phillips 100w equivalent LEDs on clearance for $1.90.
Corn bulbs are usually wired in series, so any one of the dozens of elements burning out breaks the bulb. Finding and bypassing the offending LED isn’t much fun, either.
Your area must have some government subsidies for the prices to be that low... Here, name brand LED bulbs are MUCH more expensive.
@smaller lights: I've got a fair number of Chinese LED bulbs, and have had good luck with many of them. I've only had one outright fail, and I was happy to see it go as it was a horribly green-tinted bulb that was much dimmer than it should have been. I had a second 5050 corn style light fail (bad emitter) but the second identical light is still working, about three years later. Otherwise, I've had several of this style 4W bulb:
...and have had good luck. I've had a couple of emitter failures due to an occasional poorly-seated emitter, but they are easy to repair, and the LEDs are very cheap. I've used these in a directional track-type spotlight setup, and in a stove hood vent, and get good results. They are good for replacing those annoying Halogen spotlights that are about the same price, last a much shorter time, and generate a huge amount of heat.
Home depot is selling two-packs of Philips bulbs for $4.97 which means each bulb is $2.48. Lowe’s is selling Utilitech bulbs individually for the same price of $2.48. Home depot is also clearing out Cree bulbs for $4.97 because they are discontinuing them.
Those LED corn bulbs are dangerous and can kill you. They have exposed solder joints of the LEDs, and because these bulbs use a capacitive-dropper power supply (no transformer), there is a direct connection to the mains and you can electrocute yourself if you touch it while it is on. You should not buy those just to be safe, but if you do want to buy them, make sure not to touch it while the socket has power, and make sure no metal things touch the bulb.
I just stopped by my local Lowe's and was shocked to find the same deal! I bought a pair of Utilitech branded 60W equivalent bulbs for $2.48 each. Best deal I've ever seen on LED bulbs...
I'll probably stop back by and get more at that price. Unfortunately, the incan ban pushed manufacturers to use the candelabra base bulbs, and now, that's what is keeping me from oing total LED in my house. I'm having trouble finding decent E12 based LED bulbs for those.
Cycling is no problem with these bulbs. They use capacitive dropper power supplies which are very simple. You may want to watch it though, but turning it on and off frequently does not affect it at all.
