You are incorrect, this does not prove this program is ineffective, it proves they are subsidized and should sell more because of the low price leading to more energy saved. Around here energy programs are calculated by the TRC (total resource cost) and the rebates are designed to be less in cost then the energy saved, so its cheaper to give the rebate then to generate the energy the incandescent would have used over its lifetime.
Also they are home depot exclusive, they are comparing to another brand Lowes sells but these bulbs are only sold by Cree to Home Depot, and these were designed to be cheaper then the competition even without subsidies (i suspect cree got into this because there was no real competition so LED profits were sky high along with the prices)
Looks like Cree made some new high-CRI versions of their bulbs. 93 CRI, but I think they only come in 2700K and they’re nowhere near as efficient as the original Cree bulbs. The original 2700K bulbs were 84 lm/W, and the high-CRI ones are only 59 lm/W.
I think I’m just going to rig up some Nichia 219s somehow, connected to a switched wall outlet. Probably just a copper star bonded to an old aluminum CPU heat sink, maybe with a removable cover to shield it from dust. It won’t be more efficient than Cree bulbs, but at least it’ll be a good color temperature and high CRI.
Or maybe MT-G2s would be better. I wonder how hard it’d be to make my own “puck” lights with a single MT-G2 on each. Or perhaps a XP-G2 triple on each, with three vastly different tints in the triple. And probably a NLITE driver, no mode memory, with a level selected by flipping the wall switch on/off for low/med/high. That sounds nice.
The 60W equivalent Cree should have been reduced from $12.97 to $6.97 at your local store. The 40W should have been reduced from $9.97 to $6.97. Here are the links
My local Home Depot doesn't have any of the 100 watters in stock yet. That said, I'm not going to pay $19.99 for them. I'll wait until the price comes down
I don't even want to think how much I've spent on LED bulbs in the last year! I own over 20 of the CREE 40 and 60 watters, also a couple of the CREE BR30 flood hi-hat bulbs, and 10 of the Philips latest 60 watters... My wallet is screaming at me "Glenn, you're retired living on a limited budget!" Does that stop me??? NO IT DOESN'T!!
Interesting, i assumed they were the same size, but i don’t really care if they are a bit bigger, as long as they fit my fixtures and if i can afford it i will never buy a 60W for household use.
I own about a dozen of the CREE light bulbs from Home Depot in both 40W and 60W. I like the 2700K tint. They are nice. They will supposedly pay for themselves in the long run. But I agree that they are priced too high for the average homeowner. I, like you are retired and living on a limited budget.
Incorrect, you can’t just pull numbers out of the air like that. Let’s assume electricity costs 23.2 cents per kilowatt hour (about what it is on the east coast of the U.S. now) and increases by 2% per year. And we’re buying GE 26 Watt Energy Smart CFL - 100 Watt Replacement bulbs on Amazon and paying sales tax.
In your first scenario of several hours per day (let’s say three), the LED w/a rated lifetime of 25,000 hrs would cost more than the 4 CFLs w/a rated lifetime of 8000 hours each that it would take for the same period ($21.79 vs $10.40). However, electricity for the CFLs would cost 26 watts/18 watts = 44% more. Even so, the LED wouldn’t be cheaper until about the 8th year and then you’d only save less than $50 total after 23 years.
In your second scenario of a bathroom or hallway (let’s say a few minutes at a time for 30 minutes/day), even if the CFLs only last 1/6th their rated lifetime, the LED will not be cheaper because the cost of the bulb is greater than the cost of the CFLs plus electricity saved which would tiny (34 cents the first year). After 23 years the CFLs would be cheaper by about $1.60.