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Incandescent light bulbs are officially banned in the U.S. (www.digitaljournal.com)
submitted 3 years ago by [M, B] to c/technology@lemmy.world
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Incandescent light bulbs are officially banned in the U.S.::America’s ban on incandescent light bulbs, 16 years in the making, is finally a reality. Well, mostly.

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[–] 72 points 3 years ago (20 children)

I've been in the industry for over a decade and I find it fascinating how much lighting has changed in that time. When LEDs were first available, they were $60+ per bulb. Now you can get multipacks for under $10. Also, CFL bulbs were almost universally hated by everyone (and for good reason) now we no longer sell them. We strictly sell LEDs for regular lighting and we still sell incandescent specialty bulbs. Also, when LEDs first arrived there was a lot of distain for them, especially by the elderly. They wanted their energy wasting incandescent bulbs dammit! It seems the majority of them have come around because they've learned that LEDs are better.

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  • [–] 23 points 3 years ago (1 child)

    I think the main issue with initial Led bulbs was their color was wrong. Incandescent bulbs emit light at 2700K, a nice warm white. Early LEDs emitted light at more like 5000K or there abouts, which is a really white light. Same with CFLs. Elderly people didn't like that at all. Honestly it wasn't just them, lots of people hated them for their too white of light.

    Today you can get LEDs that are 2700K and/or are adjustable to what ever color you want.

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  • [–] 2 points 3 years ago (1 child)

    Any recommendations? I've struggle with LED light color temp off and on over the years. I haven't looked into it in a while though. It always seems like if you want a low color temp it has to be an edison bulb which is really dim.

    On a separate note I've also had reliability issues with LED bulbs where they will blow out and emit smoke.

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  • [–] 10 points 3 years ago (1 child)

    Look for colour names like "soft white" or "warm". The 2700K is a dead give away for the colour you're looking for.

    Also, separate note: check your appliances or fixtures for power spikes. cheaper LEDs are notoriously sensitive to voltage fluctuations

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  • [–] 1 point 3 years ago (1 child)

    how would you check for that exactly?

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  • [–] 6 points 3 years ago (1 child)

    Look closely at packaging. If you're in North America, Phillips is the most common for bulbs. They have packages marked 2700K, 5000K, and 6500K.

    The colours are as follows: 2700- soft white (yellow hue), 5000- bright white (white hue, almost no colour), and 6500- day light (blue-ish hue, similar to fluorescent).

    If you end up not being able to distinguish... ask an employee and they should be able to help

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  • [–] 4 points 3 years ago (1 child)

    i meant checking for power spikes lol

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  • [–] 3 points 3 years ago* (1 child)

    Lol im dumb... forgot it was a 2 pt question.

    Cheap way is to buy a surge protector/ power strip with surge protector.

    Plug in appliances/lights that burn out faster than others. Periodically check surge protector to see if the internal breaker has been tripped.

    Fancy way is to buy a multimeter and monitor voltage when large appliances turn on/off. That's usually the most likely culprit for voltage spikes (as your home grid has to compensate for sudden increase in usage, which in turn causes voltage to fluctuate slightly)

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  • [–] 19 points 3 years ago (4 children)

    The most amazing thing to me - I’ve been using leds for 10+ years, and I think I’ve had to replace one or two of them. It is a wonder that prices can come down with demand dwindling so much.

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  • [–] 9 points 3 years ago (1 child)

    Man, I remember as a kid we had a box of bulbs for when inevitably one burnt out each month or so. Now, I have a drawer with a bunch of led bulbs I'll never use because they don't burn out!

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  • [–] 7 points 3 years ago (1 child)

    I remember when I was a kid, it seemed like we had to change the light bulbs every other month. Now I'm annoyed because these things last so long I don't keep any spares and I have to leave my house to buy one when it expires!

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  • [–] 6 points 3 years ago (3 children)

    I can't remember ever having to replace a dead LED bulb. And only a few CFLs. But I remember replacing incandescents all the time when I was a kid.

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  • [–] 2 points 3 years ago (1 child)

    In my old apartment I lived in for 6 years I must have had a faulty kitchen light that did something to the bulbs because I changed LEDs in that like more than once a year, but none of the other lights I changed. Granted I also turned on that light way more than the overhead bedroom light so idk. But I definitely killed quite a few LEDs.

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  • [–] 13 points 3 years ago (6 children)

    Is there a brand that's better for LED? I get migraines and the stroking effect of LED bulbs can be a trigger.

    LED christmas bulbs particularly bad. It felt like walking into a rave at the Christmas store.

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  • [–] 27 points 3 years ago

    Regular brand LED bulbs don't strobe at all, only the very cheap ones from AliExpress and the resellers of Chinese crapware (like Walmart) do. IKEA has some nice and cheap bulbs, for example.

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  • [–] 11 points 3 years ago (1 child)

    Yeah, many of those christmas lights use pulse width modulation to control brightness and it is very noticeable. I hope that gets changed over for an analog voltage dimmer soon.

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  • [–] 5 points 3 years ago (1 child)

    Also, cheap ones run directly on AC, so they flicker at 60 Hz (50 in Europe) because the current is only flowing for half the cycle.

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  • [–] 1 point 3 years ago (1 child)

    How do high-end home LEDs get around this? Do they have a battery that caches the current between cycles?

    When my wife and I bought our place, we renovated and made all lights LED. The overheads in the living room and kitchen are quite bright and steady, so they must avoid this somehow.

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  • [–] 6 points 3 years ago (3 children)

    A bridge rectifier flips the negative current to positive, so instead of a sine wave you get a series of humps. Then a capacitor acts as a battery like you describe to smooth out the dip between humps.

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  • [–] 3 points 3 years ago (1 child)

    There are half wave rectifiers and full wave rectifiers. The former only converts the positive AC to DC and shuts off for the negative half (causing flickering). The latter will convert both positive and negative halves to DC and don't flicker.

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  • [–] 2 points 3 years ago

    There are LEDs with CCD power converter. I got one 10 years ago and tested it with a 240 fps camera, no flicker at all. I will not recommend a brand because it's been years,but search for "ccd led bulb".

    Also there's a number called CRI, indicating how well it represents colors. This also may contribute to your headaches. 85 or higher is good, 90 is great. Just don't trust these numbers on Amazon, the cheapest of cheap crap is marketed as " cri 90+" there.

    Or scratch what I just said and find a small store that specializes in lighting and ask the clerk (or email them).

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  • [–] 1 point 3 years ago

    I honestly couldn't tell you. Its been so long since I purchased LEDs and the ones I bought were from the company I work for. They have worked well for me but I don't know if any brand is better than another.

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