CC.Vivid Plus 36-LED Light Bulb
by C. Crane
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List Price: Our Price: $9.77 You Save: $20.18 (67%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Category: Tools See more product details |
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Tools and Hardware Reviews of CC.Vivid Plus 36-LED Light Bulb
Customer Review: Bright for a 2.5 watt bulb
Summary: 4 Stars
The first thing to keep in mind about any energy efficient lighting is they always exaggerate about the wattage of bulb you can replace, because they don't always compare based on the output, but the consumption instead. You should always make light bulb comparisons and judge replacements on how many lumens the bulb puts-out.
Color: This is a blue-white LED bulb, not quite as blue as some, but more blue than incandescent light.
Power: It's rated consumption is 2.5 watts, and claims to work well with dimmers (will test this later this week).
Compares well to: 7W candelabra microbright CFL
Brightness: about as bright as a 30W standard incandescent bulb, maybe better. This is the brightest 2.5W LED bulb I have seen, about as bright as a 7 watt "mirobright" CFL bulb. Since the microbrights put out more "colors" (a more complete spectrum), the LED light looks "thinner" than the microbright.
Coverage: This product has a clear diffuser with internal faceting, dispersing the light quite well. Not as well distributed as a 7 watt microbright but more appropriate for down-facing fixtures. It still works well in ceiling fixtures or outdoor fixtures for hallway or porch use.
Shape: This bulb is shaped like a mushroom, the "cap" about as large as a normal incandescent bulbs "bulb". It should fit any fixture that does _not_ require the light bulb "neck". This bulb is not quite as long as a standard 60W light bulb.
My usage: I currently have these bulbs in a hallway light I leave on when I'm out, the front and back porch lights, and an overhead reading light in the living room. I also have one mixed into an overhead fan fixture with a microbright and another 1W LED bulb. I've ordered more to use in a 4-light recessed system with a dimmer, will edit this review after I've used those for a month to see how they hold up.
Customer Review: Just bright enough - very cool
Summary: 5 Stars
First of all, this is NOT your standard desk/floor/ceiling lamp-incandescent replacement. If you intend on lighting the area where you're working/playing/reading etc buy a compact fluorescent, or at least something with more LEDs and warmer color. It is simply not bright enough for these uses.
This is a very, very cool bulb, in every sense: the light color is almost blueish, it's so cool. It also doesn't get warm in temperature at all. And of course it's cool to show off to your friends the high-tech bulb.
It is also quite rugged. While I don't recommend you kick it around, it is hard plastic and will survive being dropped a couple feet onto concrete, something you cannot say about any other kind of bulb.
What it's not, is very bright. It's a rather dim bulb by most standards, but this is not necessarily a knock against it. Given how little power it draws, it's very ideal for anywhere you need a little bit of light, that's on all the time.
I placed it in our hallway - it is bright enough to make walking safe, dim enough to not wake up someone who's walking through the hall half-asleep, and also not shine excess light in people's bedrooms (like our 14 watt CFL did). The low power consumption also means we leave it on all night.
Customer Review: 40 Watts for $1.30/year running 24 hrs for 365 days @ $0.10/kwhr !!!
Summary: 3 Stars
Who can argue with that value!!!! ONLY $0.16/YEAR IF RUN ONLY 3 HRS PER DAY X 365 DAYS OR $1.30/YEAR IF LEFT RUNNING 24HRS FOR 365 DAYS!! Let alone the miniscule carbon footprint!!!
I bought mine for 6 dollars at Walmart and use it for background light for when I am out and want some light around for seeing my way around when I get home at night. Not all walmarts carry these bulbs. I am trying to replace my Fluorescent bulbs with these because the carbon footprint in almost nil and the cost is fantastic!!
I can't wait till they come out with brighter bulbs that will replace a 100 Watt bulb, 75, and 60. My current 40 watt is very dim and only good for night light effect. Even with four of them burning at the same time in the same area is not strong enough to read without eye strain. This is a start. I am sure the brighter bulbs are coming. I can't wait!!!! If Walmart is carrying them, then I am sure the better ones are coming soon!
Current use only limited to night light function and leaving light on for pets so they are not in the dark when I get home from work. Three cheers for the manufacturers of these bulbs. I hope they will make the brighter ones SOOOOONNN.
Customer Review: Dim blue light
Summary: 2 Stars
Please note that this is a very dim bulb. I purchased Crane lights (including this one)about two years ago. Have not purchased any more since. It is NOT bright enough for reading. This bulb will work well as a porch light or such thing, but LIGHT IS VERY BLUE.
A high quality globe style LED bulb good enough for reading will cost about $40 - $50.00. If used a lot, it will pay for itself in a few years. If not used a lot, it will likely outlast you on this earth if you don't break it (say by knocking a lamp over).
NEVER buy an LED bulb without knowing color. 3,000 - 3,500 K is warm white (yellowish, usually favored for residential interior), 4,000 - 4,500 K is white tending to blue (good for office work, production line or warehouse, security light), 5,000 to 6,000 K is bluish (security light? I would avoid 6,000). The higher colors also tend to have 10% or so higher lumens outputs for same wattage in LED bulbs.
At present (February, 2010) LED bulbs produce about 35 lumens per watt, with light wanting to be projected in a linear fashion. A 65-watt par 30 incandescent light bulb produces about 700 lumens projected in a diffuse fashion.
Customer Review: LED Output
Summary: 3 Stars
When selecting an LED bulb it is important to check the wattage of the bulb and compare that to how you intend to use the bulb. Most LED incandescent replacement bulbs are in two wattages:
3 Watt, which is about equivalent to a 20 Watt incandescent bulb
7 Watt, which is about equivalent to a 50 Watt incandescent bulb
If you are familiar with compact fluorescent bulbs then you may notice the wattage equivalence is not the same. There is a difference in light output between a 7 Watt fluorescent and a 7 Watt LED. On the whole, you will need many LED bulbs to replace incandescent or fluorescent bulbs in the same lighting situation. A typical light in a living room, for instance, may use a 150 Watt incandescent bulb. In order to get somewhere near the same amount of light, that living room need three LED bulbs to replace the incandescent bulb. Finally, the type of LED bulb needs to be chosen carefully unless you are OK with a very blue cast to the light rather than the light orange cast of incandescents or soft white of the more popular brands of compact fluorescents.