Love where you live. Sign up for our newsletter

Test Lab: The Cree LED Bulb – In Action

by on Mar 13, 2013


This week we’re running a great giveaway with Cree (click here to find out how to win 10 Cree LED Bulbs and a $250 Home Depot gift card), so I got a chance to try out their new bulbs. If you haven’t been following along with the development of energy efficient lighting technology, it’s safe to say things have changed a lot in the last five years. CREE LED bulb testYou now have real, affordable, decent-looking options for energy efficient bulbs, and Cree is one of the best. Read on to find out why.

I’ve tried all kinds of light bulbs, as I’m sure you have. You know those giant packs of CFLs you always see near the checkout line at IKEA? Yeah, I can’t seem to stay away from them. 

Now, I don’t want to knock on CFLs too hard – after all, they’re a  big energy improvement over incandescents – but let’s face it, they’re kind of a drag. Walk into a room lit up by CFLs and you’ll know if right away; it’s fluorescent light, after all, and your eyes know it.

LED bulb technology has been up-and-coming for a few years now, but as with all new technologies, it was expensive, unproven, and not quite ready for primetime. The Cree LED bulb seems to change that. You can read all about them here, but the bottom line is, they’re affordable (under $10 for the 40w equivalent), durable, energy efficient, and best of all, produce a normal-looking light! 

Here’s our living room lamp, with a 900 lumen CFL, and then the 900 lumen Cree LED bulb:

CFL bulb
LED bulb

(Exposure settings: 10/100, f5.6 )

I definitely prefer the color temperature on the LED bulb, and also liked that it came on instantly, unlike the CFL. You can see the bulb is almost identical in shape to what you’re used to:

created at: 03/14/2013

What’s your experience trying out energy efficient bulbs? Have you decided to make the switch to CFL or LED, or are you happy with the cheap, but less efficient, incandescents? Let me know in the comments!

And don’t forget to enter our giveaway to win 10 Cree LED bulbs and a $250 Home Depot Gift Card!

This post was sponsored by Cree, and I was given samples of their products to try out. All opinions are mine alone.

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *