Originally we saw this new technology at LightFair and were cautiously skeptical.   Show booths are of course designed to make things look the best they can – hiding every possible flaw.  Further, it’s very difficult to evaluate color temperature and output when your standing in the middle of a convention center. 

Cree’s display for this lamp consisted a multitude of these lamps landing on a bunch of fruit demonstrating its application for the grocery store market place. 

To be honest, at the show, I thought the lamp looked like it might read a bit too pink off the trade show floor. I knew I had to reserve judgement because I realized I was also immersed in cool color temperature metal halide. Fortunately, Cree agreed to send us a sample of this lamp to review.

So we mocked it up in the toughest environment for LEDs possible … residential.   This is the domain of the incandescent and halogen bulbs.   The results,  I have to tell you,  were very impressive.   We put this 12 watt lamp side by side with a 50 watt 25 degree halogen IR. The output was very comparable. It appeared to us that the Cree color temperature was ever so slightly pink compared to straight halogen but definately, in our opinion, a workable lamp in residential and hospitality design projects.

The LRP-38 beam spread was exceptionally smooth.  It far surpased it’s halogen predecessor in that department.  The glare control is outstanding due to the design.   The LED is actually in the fin in front of the reflector and aims backwards not towards the occupants in the space.    Awesome!   We can’t wait to see more bulbs in this family. 

Congratulations Cree!! on an outstanding accomplishment in LEDs.

And, more good news, the box comes labeled with a lighting facts label. How will this affect consumers in the future? See our post Legislate this!

For more about this lamp from the Cree website go to http://www.creeledlighting.com/lrp-38.htm

We’ve found this lamp for sale online as various vendors for $160 – $179.

For more detailed information on our comparative testing please email us at
editor@lightrightnow.com

Some LED linear lighting fixtures used for undercabinet lighting produce what is called multi-source shadowing.

It looks like this:

This is because they use many smaller points of light that have a directional quality.

Regardless of the color temperature or output, we bet this would be very likely to give just about anyone a headache if they are working next to it.

So while you’re testing for color and output, you might also want to take a look at the shadow pattern you’ll get. It varies with the configuration and treatment of the LED lamps in a fixture.

Some shadowing may be tolerable for an application but it does need to be considered in your selection.

Jim, Congratulations!
LightRightBlog

Photo 1 – Jim Benya with winning photographer Doug Salin. Photo 3 – Jim and other GE award recipients.

One store general manager was quoted as saying   “A lot of our customers are not convinced that these new bulbs, which will end up on landfill sites, are any better and do not see why they should not have the choice to buy what they wish. We are selling lots of the traditional bulbs, sometimes at up to 50 at a time, and we keep having to scrap around to find new suppliers to restock the shelves.”

Another said consumers are buying as many as they can carry,  20 – 50 at a time.

So the question is …If you had 15 incandescent bulbs in your house which you dimmed them to 80% output and ran 6 hours per day on average, how many bulbs would you have to buy to last you a lifetime?  How many if you wanted to leave any for your children’s inheritance?  

See the Original Article

This type of legislation would certainly be a bonus to the lamp industry.  Imagine owning and having the Federal government legislate that all consumers would have to switch to the new products you invented over the next 6 years regardless of application or their demonstrated quality or usefulness in purpose!

This legislation calls for high efficiency lighting sources that are evaluated in Lumens per Watt.   What exterior lighting needs to be effective is well applied sources that cannot be considered separate from their application.

Please see the IALD position statement on this legislation which was released on May 15, 2009.

Please write your congressman and senator and tell them that this kind of legislation is not what  we need.