Posted on 04/14/2015 8:22:42 AM PDT by Citizen Zed
The least expensive LED light of the bunch at $14.97 per bulb, Cree’s Wi-Fi enabled, soft white 60 watt-replacements cast a good glow over my kitchen table. In fact, when I installed the new web-connected Edison bulbs, they replaced older (by a year), non-Wi-Fi-enabled, 60 watt Cree LED bulbs — and these newer bulbs seemed even brighter, though they boasted the same 815 lumens.
Luckily, I could dial back the Cree’s brightness through the Philips Hue app I used to control them, which is another feature worth mentioning. The Connected Cree bulbs are marketed as being Wink App compatible, which means they require a Wink Hub (a small piece of hardware that starts at $49 and works as a go-between from the bulbs to your Internet router). But that specific piece of hardware isn’t the only bridge that will do the trick, and since I don’t have a Wink Hub, I was able to connect the Cree bulbs to my Philips Hue hardware using these instructions. (Full disclosure: Only two of the three Connected Cree bulbs I tested could be detected by my Philips Hue bridge, but I feel that’s what I get for not going with the recommended Wink hardware.)
Otherwise, the Connected Cree LEDs work great. They are responsive to the inputs I make in the Philips Hue app and never miss a beat on my very regimented IFTTT triggers. I imagine they would only work better with a Wink Hub, so if you’re starting your smart home lighting efforts from scrap, be sure to pick one up.
(Excerpt) Read more at time.com ...
I’ve gone LED with a lot of applications. Especially those without a lot of additional internal components. Failure mechanisms in CFLs pretty much tells me they aren’t a long lasting item....but I’ve had some LEDs that have been phenomenal in reliability and efficiency.
IOW, I’m not all incandescent, especially where my lighting needs can be met with an LED at a reasonable cost.
Great...so we can have hackers intentionally turn-on and turn-off interior lights to see from outside if anyone is home. Perfect.
So, THEY will be able to hack into your lights and keep you in the dark. /tinfoil off
Dollar store bulbs.
I’ll provide the “smarts”.
I found an LED bulb on sale at Lowe’s for seven bucks.
Uses six watts for the equivalent of a 40 watt incandescent. It’s the one I leave on if I am out of the house at night. Waiting to see what the savings look like, if any.
Hmmm, TIME is incompetent beyond measure as simple things such as politics and the economy.
And they’re trying to say things about something that involves real science?
As it happens, they may be like the stopped clock - and are correct occasionally...as they are with respect to LEDs.
However, ‘twould be interesting to see what they had to say about the General Motors of lights...the CFL - years ago.
Hah me too. I have a lot of cfl’s around the house but they are pretty cheap now too. I’ve bought them at the dollar store too.
incandescent bulbs have been phenomenal in reliability and efficiency why in the world would I change. I will not use anything else.
LEDs are great. I use them all over my shop. I replaced the sodium vapor lights with LEDs. Sure it cost $400 but WOW what a difference. They take the beating that is common in a shop. And if you get water on them they don’t blow up.
In the house... It’s all 25 cent regular old light bulbs.
I HATE the curly cue fluorescent light bulbs. Total junk.
I just bought 2 cases of incandecent 100 watt bulbs from Amazon because we can’t get them here anymore. I can see again!
At last the EPA will be able to meter citizens’ light use and turn them off when the daily ration is exceeded. That might prove inconvenient in the middle of an appendectomy, but gosh darn it, it’s for The Earth.
I was on LEDs when CFLs were being promoted, LEDs make perfect sense for indoors, and at least the Christmas lights did not break and worked when I inadvertently ran those LEDs over with my Impreza.
Web-connected light bulbs? Someone needs to get a life! I dim my lights as needed by walking to a wall switch, where I installed the dimmers myself. I have old-style incandescent bulbs still, where they are best. I have a lot of CFL, but only where I can tolerate their quirks. I have a few LED, and that number will increase as they get cheaper. What I will never pay for is silliness like Wi-fi for light bulbs.
Agree. The one thing I do not believe are the reliability numbers on CFLS (MTBFs). There are some components in the that are just not that high on that scale. LEDs are a different story IMO.
A big consideration for me is the light quality. Yes, I’m high maintenance in this regard, but I don’t want a light that changes the color of things, like my food.
yeah, how hard is to flip a switch?
I not sure where the energy savings are with wi-fi lights as outlined. Out of pocket $65 with one low level LED bulb plus powered hub which needs to be always on for the concept towork.
“June, where’s the damn light remote?”
“I think that the Beaver took it outside. I noticed the neighbor’s lights going and on. Ward you don’t think he’s...”
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