Have you found any of the new 'non-incandescent' lights to your liking?

I’ve used the curly compact fluorescents for many years. Whatever are the cheap ones at Lowe’s or Home Depot. I see a box here that says Ecosmart brand Soft White.

On the web I see 14 watt (incandescent 60 watt equivalent) $2.97 per 4-pack at Home Depot.

There were early ones which had a flicker and bad light quality, but it’s been almost 10 years since I’ve seen any like that. And I am very aware of flicker, I used to work in photography and we had to pay careful attention to lighting, fluorescent tubes presented a few difficulties.

I have a ceiling fan with 2 compact fluorescents opposing 2 incandescents. I have to carry my clothes into natural lighting to match colors. It’s maddening. Of course the fluorescents are old, from the time that the American government threatened to require them, but I’m too cheap to throw them out.

Crappy light that lasts 30 years and saves you $15.

Thanks, @jaytkay.

I have about half of the bulbs in my house replaced from incandescent. CFL’s and a couple of LED floods in the the ceiling lights. I plan on replacing the bulbs as they wear out with high quality LED’s.

Damn, the LED’s are expensive though, @Tropical_Willie!

Yes, but I budget them for the next six years,. I’ve replaced a couple of ceiling lights twice in three years. LED’s are for ten years or more, they use 12 % of the electrical power.

What if I don’t LIKE them after a while, @Tropical_Willie?

Seems to be just you and me here

What is not to like about the light costing 12 % of the current light bulbs monthly bill? it is more than $15 dollars!
I don’t mind if it only the two of us.

The cost and brightness are the same (to me) as the other bulbs they replaced.

Yes. I have been replacing most of the lights in my apartment with LEDs. Each bulb has cost around $8—$12.

Only issue I encountered is the bulb I used in the dining room light; if it’s left on for a long time it starts to flicker. Could just be a bad bulb, but I hope that’s not a general trend of LED bulbs.

@DominicY sounds like a bad bulb.

LED’s are more or less long term investments. If you don’t see yourself living in the same place (or using the same lamp) in the next 5–10 years, possibly not worth it. Planning to settle down for a longer stretch? Totally worth it. Brightness is more than satisfactory (for my tastes, i don’t know about you, perhaps you prefer something akin to flash bulbs), and they are supposed to last a REALLY long time while saving you energy and thus less money spent on the electricity bill which the savings will cancel out the price of said bulb.

Then again, if you don’t see yourself staying in the same place in the next 5–10 years, you could still buy the bulbs and then when moving out, dick over the new home owners by taking those bulbs with you and leaving them with the crummy incandescents that were originally in those sockets.

No, not the CFL’s. I suppose if they are left on forever they might last as long as advertised, but otherwise they fail much too quickly.

Yes. I use led strip lights which sell for $17 by the foot from flexfireleds

I use these led strip lights for the cove lighting design in my home. The style of my cove lighting looks similiar to these link only in a single color (natural white light).

Initially I was not aware that they came in “tones.” I brought a bulb home that has a blue cast; it makes my hallway look like an operaing theater. Next time I choose pink.

Yes @gailcalled I think it’s Menard’s that have all the bulbs lit so you can choose your light. I think I tend toward yellow because, to me, the old incandescents had that tone.

Here is a color chart that compares all different types of lighting and their LED equivalent.
If you live in a colder climate, like me, and have your heating system on, the low wattage of an LED saves you nothing over a cheap inefficient incandescent bulb that is indoors. All the heat from the incandescent is going to heat your home.
If you have air conditioning, that is a different story. You absolutely benefit with the lower wattage bulbs.

I would never change a bulb until it burns out. Every day you wait, the LED bulbs improve and the price goes lower. Now you can get some really good LED bulbs (60 Watt equiv) for $9.00. They used to be $50
Replacing a bulb for no reason does not “help the planet”.
I too pair up incandescent and old CFLs. My CFL bulbs were an experiment from back in the day when they took a second or two to turn on. I will replace them when they die. If they last as long as the BS written on the cartons, the Smithsonian might eventually want them.

Not all CFLs are the same. There are some that are warmer colored and some that are cooler. Personally, I’ve had good luck with them, and am not going to fix what isn’t broken.

@LuckyGuy Where I used to live in NH, we had our water pump and water heater in an insulated part of the crawlspace under our house. During the winter months, we used a 100W incandescent bulb to keep it (and thus, the entire plumbing system) from freezing.

@jerv Exactly. That is a perfect use. I use incandescents in my basement. The heat rises and warms the floor upstairs. A watt is a watt. Sometimes the heat is useful. In general it is right where the person is sitting.

There was (keyword: “was”) a push here to replace the older streetlights with efficient LED bulbs. A few were changed as an experiment. Unfortunately the old bulbs had an advantage that was not considered. During snow storms the bulbs get hot and melt off the snow and ice that tries to collect on the lens. The LED bulbs didn’t.