Cree releasing 100W LED light bulb equivalent

Most outdoor fixtures meant for residential use don’t adequately address the problems inherent in that use. Few keep all rainwater out; it either gets in the working area directly or gets in at the base of the fixture. With there also being winds involved it’s not an easy task to keep rain out. There’s also condensation and humid air to deal with; again few lights handle this very well. They’re often near entryways where vibrations in the wall from slamming doors rattles them loose over time. And more open fixtures will have insects pestering them which can adversely affect heat paths and locations. Then there are the temperature extremes. It’s a rough place to live in and it takes a robust bulb and fixture to survive :wink:

Also is a more modern problem- the general cheapening of things. The oldest outdoor fixtures used solid brass sockets, contacts, and screws. Bulb bases were also solid brass. Then came brass-plated stuff which worked nearly as well as long a it stayed relatively dry. Now we get aluminum sockets, bulb bases, and contacts with thinly plated steel screws- a guaranteed path to corrosion- and we get fancier fixtures less resistant to the elements and environment they live in. This cheapening also affects indoor fixtures too :frowning:

LED home lighting is just past it’s infancy and has more maturing to do before it becomes universal. In time it will get there, and it’s an exciting time to be involved with it even with it’s occasional frustrations. I personally believe the end will be integrated fixtures with long lifespans instead of separate bulbs and sockets since that can be both minimalized and optimized for each intended use. There may even be new mounting systems developed where changing the whole fixture is as easy as changing a bulb. I’m looking at the future of lighting and it’s brighter than ever before in every way :+1:

Phil

^
Phil, that fixture is everything you say and more. It’s cheaply made, old, leaks like a sieve and it needs to be replaced.

Last year I found this huge, used fixture for $10 at the ReStore. I haven’t yet put it up as it may look too “commercial” for a residence.
Here it sits next to a 1 to 7 adapter containing 7 CREE 60W equiv bulbs. With the high price of 100W CREE’s around here, it is cheaper to go that way.

Being a commercial fixture, it is made very well. Cast Aluminum everywhere with a hinged top and built in photosensor. There is a nice rubber gasket that seals to top onto the base to keep the water out.

Originally it used perhaps a high pressure sodium bulb. Huge socket. If I were to convert it over to standard E27’s I would strip out the ballast and socket to make room for the many E27’s I would want to use.
(1 CREE 60W equivalent for scale)

BTW, The reason I believe all this is relevant to this thread is because as of yet, it is not easy to find a decent or cheap 100W equivalent LED bulb. It seems to me that if one needs a lot of lumens, it is more cost effective to use many cheaper, 60W equivalents. Recently I was able to get some Philips 100W, 1500 lumen bulbs for a decent price but I don’t like them.

60W equivalents can sometimes be picked up super cheap. I just got these boxes of 24, 60W EcoSmart LED bulbs for $10 each.
(Home Depot is clearing these out, and some stores are down to $10) There is no instant rebate associated with that price.

I could have sworn Costco was selling a 10 pack of Feit 100W bulbs for $50 a few months ago. I found some reviews on what appears to have been the same bulbs, and they’re bad, but that’s offset by Costco’s excellent customer support. I think Feit has decent support too. Unfortunately Feit bulbs now come in smaller packs at a greater per bulb price. That said, it looks like there are quite a few selections of 100W LED bulb packs that bring the per bulb price down to about $3. I have one of those 7x bulb adapters too. They’re a great way to get lots of affordable lumens with the bulbs we have now. Hopefully in a few years I can replace it with a single normal size bulb that puts out 10 thousand lumens, high cri, 4500k tint, dimmable or 3-way, and doesn’t crap out in less than two years. I suggest getting a socket extension for the middle bulb so that it’s not shrouded by the outer bulbs. I’d like your current old fixture if it were rehabbed. It has lots of space for bulbs, has more volume that should help the bulbs stay cooler in its enclosed environment, and has more glass to let the light out.

I was in Costco yesterday and saw these 10 packs. The price is right, although only because of the CT subsidy. Trouble is they are daylight bulbs. Even so, I was VERY tempted to buy one.

That looks like it. My store doesn’t have those now. I would have bought it at full price, nevermind that huge discount you get in Connecticut. The biggest now is a 4 or 6 pack, and I don’t think it’s daylight. I prefer daylight since I’m used to high tints from living further south. The 60 watt 10 packs are still there.

The Feit 1600 lumen 100W eq uses 15W and claims on the package it is rated for enclosed fixtures, it works remarkably well. Though with subsidy it was $5 a few months ago, i bought 5, great bulb, i should have bought more, i replaced those not so great Philips bulbs with the Feit bulbs, the Philips are now unused and take up space.

I would be concerned about using that 7x device unattended, as far as i know its not CSA/UL/CE rated, and some adapters from chinese websites have been found to be unsafe (low gauge wire, cheap plastic that combusts etc.). For example i was looking for GU24 to E26 adapters and reviews complained about these type problems in an amazingly simple device thats just plastic and some terminals

I wish i could buy one of those 7 bulb adapters at a big box store that is approved, i would buy a dozen of them :slight_smile:

The last of my original daylight 100W bulbs has failed. Unlike the other bulbs, I caught this one before complete failure. One strip of LED’s doesn’t light up.

It’s weird that the 100W ones didn’t last. I replaced most of my bulbs with Cree 60W back when they were released, and none have given me any trouble at all. Well, except the one I hit with a light saber… but it only knocked the glass off, and it works fine after gluing that back on.

Does that mean your light saber works well in knocking the top off or badly for not chopping through it? :smiley:

There’s not much room indoors to swing around a meter-long sword. So… I was being gentle. :slight_smile:

So you successfully “dedomed” a 60W equivalent CREE with a meter long light saber?

I’m impressed :smiley:

I haven’t had a problem with the 60W bulbs either.

Home Depot rejected my attempt to return Cree bulbs for the first time. So much for recommending buying LED bulbs there for excellent customer service. This will be the first time I try Cree’s customer service. The replacements came from Costco this time. Feit dimmable 100W bulb 4-pack for $17. I was tempted to bring some back from my trip to Seattle where they were subsidized to $8, iirc.

The only Feit bulbs I’ve tried are some ~150 lumen candelabla-style bulbs. They work really well though, have had them for ages, and they were advanced for their time. They get a lot of use because they’re in two uplamps on top of my desk.

I used Cree’s customer service several times before finally simply asking for a full refund. I bought a pair of 100 watt Cree equivalent lamps from Home Depot, and all up I went through both, and 3 replacements before calling it quits. Between the maximum of 1000 hours I got out of each lamp (and some lasted as little as 20 minutes), the $6 each it cost to return each of them, and average of 4 weeks it took Cree to replace them, I was really unhappy with the product and Cree. I calculated the payback period was the 21st of never. Cree did refund the purchase price eventually. This seems to have been a problem unique to the 100 watt equivalent lamps. I have had no trouble with the 40 and 60 watt equivalent lamps. The fixture that used the 100 watt lamps now has CFL’s that have been relatively trouble free by comparison. It is likely to be a long time before I try 100 watt equivalent LED lamps again.

A little while back I tried some Philips 100W equivalent bulbs and wasn’t happy with them. They just didn’t seem that bright.
Recently I came upon 3 of these 60-100-150W at a very good price :wink: They are FEIT brand and are 3 way bulbs. 800, 1500 and 2200 Lumens.
This bulb is larger than a regular 60W equiv. and can be converted to a single way bulb by soldering a small wire at the base as shown.
I wouldn’t recommend doing that though, but at 2200 lumen, this bulb is bright!


Compared to a FEIT 60W equivalent bulb

Great tip! I didn’t know about shorting 3-way bulbs, so I had a couple of bulbs that were seriously underperforming. You just got me 2500 lumens.

Today I found these Maxlite 100W equivalents at a regional chain in New England called Ocean State Job Lot.
99 cents each.

I am familiar with the Maxlite brand and they are decent. When CFL’s first started to become popular about 20 years ago I bought quite a few at a Utility Company energy promotion.

I tried this Cree bulb. It is good. But recently I bought a Sansi 17W led bulb (150w equivalent) on Amazon.I didn’t know what to think when I turned it on its so bright,just love it ! Maybe you can have a try if you like bright but energy-saving lights.

Dimmable is good. I rarely want full brightness but it’s nice to have sometimes. :slight_smile:

Hello! I have been crazy about LEDs since I got a LED bulb last Christmas. I got it for free to review and was amazed by its performance.I had replaced almost all my lights into LEDs. These brand name Sansi LED lights have 17W (150W equivalent)and 30W(250W equivalent) which may help you. And I also saw some blogs from other reviewers. “http://gazettereview.com/2017/05/sansi-17w-led-bulb-review/ http://www.theoutdoornerd.com/2017/04/review-sansi-warm-white-15w-light-bulb.html