LED lightbulbs that aren't awful

[py_megapixel]

Does anyone have any tips on what LED lightbulbs I should buy? I'm looking to replace some CFLs which are wearing out a bit and I thought I might as well buy LED ones rather than another batch of CFLs. Feel free to ask any questions you need, but the main thing is I want the colours to look right. (I've heard and seen that some cheap LED bulbs can make the environment feel either clinical or just plain strange by rendering colours poorly)

The room in question is decorated in blue, so you can treat an Arriva Rail North refurb Sprinter as what I want it not to look like

 

[robbeech]

Colour temperature is the key here, without doubt. Cool white is brilliant if you want to work on someone's teeth, (of course there are other benefits to it) but warm white is generally much more pleasant for general living. I use 2700K led lamps everywhere. you can get lower colour temp for a very "homely" feeling but generally 2700K should do the trick.
I generally use Philips stuff, mine are dimmable (despite some of the rooms not having a dimmer, but it is a standard product to have in the cupboard now and futureproof). They're not the cheapest but they do a great job.

2700k should be 2700k and you'll see this between reputable brands if you mix them (i'd still recommend not doing) but you'll find that 2700k is, give or take there abouts on the budget brands, so you could buy one batch and another batch a month later and have a different ct.

Brightness, doesn't really matter, because you'll buy what you need to get the job done. The cheaper ones tend to not be as bright but often aren't bad. The higher colour temperature ones tend to not seem as bright, they are, but it isn't as useful.
I use 8w ones in most areas, a single is enough for a bedroom, 3 is too bright for most things in my living room from experience.

 

[dgl]

IKEA ones seem fine and are usefully cheap, even the remote controlled dimmable ones can be had for as little as £10 with the controller, the 400lm (approx. 40w incandescent) non-dimmable bulbs are less that £1.

 

[pdq]

I've used some Wilko ones recently. They do some attractive filament bulbs which work well with certain lampshades, as well as the standard ones. Colour temp seems pretty natural.

I suspect the Wilko / Sainsburys /Tesco etc own brands are much of a muchness, and probably the same manufacturer.

 

[Mojo]

I just buy them from the Poundland. Cheapest ones I've come across & work fine.

 

[Non Multi]

Another recommendation for Philips LED. Their 8w (60w) and 13w (100w) warm white bulbs (2700k) are exactly that. Screwfix sell the non-dimmable Philips 60w BC (806 lumen) for £3.99, John Lewis also sell the full Philips bulb range. Just don't expect them to last the claimed 15,000 hours of use.

Tried Ikea's Ryet E27, 75w 1055lm 2700k. I thought it produced colder and whiter light than the Philips bulbs.

I'd expect most bulbs by Philips, Osram (formerly a division of Siemens), or GE to be as described.

 

[dgl]

Supposedly the best LED bulbs are those made by Philips for Dubai, they use a lot more LED's per bulb and are more efficient than regular LED bulbs. Unfortunately you can't get them anywhere but Dubai.
They are specifically made in response to a request from the Sheik who wanted longer lasting and more efficient bulbs and AFAIK are the only ones allowed to be used (at least in new builds) in Dubai which designer are not too happy about as there aren't that many variants (about 4/5) so very limiting as to what fittings can be used.

LEDs From Dubai: The Royal Lights You Can’t Buy

[Clive] had an interesting video about LED lights from Philips. You can’t buy them unless you live in Dubai. Apparently inspired by the ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, …

hackaday.com

 

[Trackman]

I bought some cracking ones from Asda, very bright. Got an empty box for them somewhere.

 

[jthjth]

I bought some cracking ones from Asda, very bright. Got an empty box for them somewhere.

Colour Rendering Index (CRI) is a critical parameter for how good you find an led bulb. 100 = sunlight. 90 is very good, you should be aiming for more than 80. What you get with expensive bulbs is a better CRI and better, more reliable electronics.

White leds natively generate light up in the ultra violet part of the spectrum. Phosphors down convert this into visible light. Each phosphor type produces a spike in the visible spectrum, ie one colour. A good, expensive, mix of phosphors produces a wide range of different colours, fooling the eye into thinking this is broad spectrum sunlight. Cheap phosphors produce a limited range of colours, which although seemingly appear to be white in total, have missing bits in the spectrum. As we perceive coloured objects by the light they reflect, if some of that light is missing in the spectrum it can’t be reflected and so the object appears to be the wrong colour. This is what leads to a low value CRI. An extreme example is yellow sodium street lighting.

I’ve tried the attractive looking “filament” led bulbs. My experience is that after a year of use their light output declines quite markedly. This is probably because the string of leds in the filament run too hot as there is no heat sinking. This degrades the phosphors.

TLDR: buy the expensive brands.