Reply To: LED or lost empty dollars?

You can check home Depot prices or Amazon and unless you get them on sale, the brands such as Philips or the like will end up costing you $6 and up for a bulb. Even if you do get them for less it still takes many years for the price you paid to reward you for the savings in electrical bill.

Of course LED is supposed to be the step up from CFL but first of all CFL are still brighter if you look at the package details and much cheaper than LED. There is no reason for a bulb to cost so much when incandescent used to be 4 for a buck. How long do we have to wait for LED to become the norm and not some breakthrough with high prices.

Sort of like how flat screens are still called flat screen TV as if it’s something special. What are we comparing it to tube TV’s? Those don’t exist anymore. (Flat screens have gone down in price substantially though).
Since LED have been around for more than a decade I’m sure it’s as cheap to make as incandescent. But they still make a big fuss over it just to sell it for a lot of money.
And besides, its a fact that many LED bulbs including the brand names don’t last even close to what it says on the box. You can check tech sites online for that. And personally I’ve used Sunbeam or other American companies and many of them if they hadn’t burnt out they start to flicker which is just as bad maybe worse. It’s an issue with LED and old wiring. So ya unless you are rewiring your whole house which already will be more expensive than using old incandescent then be prepared for this.
But then again you can see the new streetlight LED which many will flicker from time to time on the street or highway, so while you are at it replace the whole city grid as well.
So ya most of the time the bulbs aren’t the problem (obviously the Chinese made are bad quality duh) but it’s the compatibility issue with the old wiring and circuits. CFL didn’t have that issue. And btw not a huge saving difference from CFL to LED especially when you factor how much more you’re paying for an LED bulb. The watts difference is minute. And even if you claim LED is lasting you for now, they are advertising 22 years. So even if it lasts 3 years for you, thats nowhere close to 22 and is the same life as incandescent.

Of course I’m a fan of LED but if they aren’t lasting due to old NEW YORK wiring and grid, then it gets kinda frustrating.