LEDwholesalers Dimmable Par20 5 Watt LED Spot Light Bulb Review

Customer Ratings:

Finally, a bright-enough LED par20. I replaced 50W halogens for almost the same light output. They dim great (Lutron electronic dimmer, don't know the model). They CAN be installed with halogens at the same time and will dim together fine, which is great for the undecided or for the ones who don't want to fully commit to a slightly colder color. (They aren't quite warm white, but close)

I'm sure that as my review ages, my rating will go down for them, but right now, these are hands down the best energy efficient par20 dimmables for the price. CFL dimmables do exist and cost half of these upfront, but they tend to die fast. Maybe I have bad luck, but dimmable CFLs are known to have much shorter lives when cycled often.

For me, the big win is that in California, energy is really expensive. For a typical bill, the last 100kWh of the month costs me 35 cents per kwh. These let me reduce electric consumption in kitchen lighting from 45kwH per month to 4kwH. That's $14 a month, or $168 a year. They'll pay for themselves pretty quickly, though I'm sure I'll leave them on more now.

The bulb is never more than slightly warm to the touch. My recessed lights are 18 inches above my head, so I could always feel the heat when under the halogens. It never bothered me, but with these, you won't get that.

Overall, the only downside for me is the slightly colder light temperature. Not quite as warm white as I'd like, but certainly not white. But the fuzzy feeling of saving money makes it warmer.

The light is a bit less diffused than a standard halogen, so it may create dark shadow spots depending on your setup. You can get around that by mix/matching these with halogens, and they'll still dim just fine.

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I tested this item against a 40 W incandescent flood and two PAR20 LED bulbs from Home Depot: "Philips AmbientLED Dimmable Indoor Flood R20" (model 6E26R20) and "EcoSmart LED bright white PAR20" (model ECS20 WW FL 120 on the bulb, 866 623 on the box). I didn't test dimmability or longevity.

What the LED bulbs have in common: They weigh between 5 and 6 ounces. Due to their heat sinks, none got particularly hot during operation. They should all save lots of money over their lifetimes compared with an incandescent flood, and they don't have mercury like compact fluorescent bulbs. Their light is more directional than other types of floodlights, so "spotlight" is probably the best way to describe them.

Now for the important differences. First, this bulb has no markings on it and comes in a small cardboard box, as opposed to the other LEDs which have model numbers etc. printed on them and are housed in large plastic clamshells. Maybe the packaging for this bulb is slightly more environmentally friendly, but I would have liked to see a Lighting Facts label, manufacturer's name, country of manufacture, etc. for this bulb.

Second (see Customer Image), the light has a slight greenish tint compared with the other two LED bulbs, the incandescent flood, and even a CFL bulb. (Another review here has noted that the light color may vary from bulb to bulb, so perhaps the problem is specific to the bulb I received.) In contrast, Philips states its LED bulb is "soft white"; its Lighting Facts label says "warm white" and gives it a 2800K color temperature. EcoSmart states its bulb is "bright white"; its Lighting Facts label says the same thing and rates it at 3000K.

Third, with 5 watts (per the box), the light output was noticeably less than the EcoSmart bulb at 8 W. However, this bulb's brightness was comparable to the Philips at 6 W and to the 40 W incandescent flood.

Fourth, at 3-3/8" high and 2-3/8" in diameter, it is shorter and/or narrower than the other two LED bulbs. The Philips is 3-7/8" high and 2-1/2" in diameter; the EcoSmart is 3-3/8" high and 2-5/8" in diameter. So it might fit into narrow recessed light fixtures better than the other LED bulbs.

You might want to try one of these bulbs before buying a lot of them. I'm giving it only 3 stars primarily because of the light's greenish color which makes it unsuitable for use indoors except in basements, utility rooms, etc. Good luck!

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I just received three of these bulbs and installed them. I replaced 35 watt halogen bulbs with these LED bulbs and hands down they produce considerable more light. The color is a touch cooler than I had hoped, and they don't dim quite as far down as the Halogen bulbs (I'm using Lutron Diva dimmers), but in all I'm very happy with them. For the price when compared to other dimmable LED bulbs they are a great deal. I installed them in a very hard to reach high ceiling area above a stair and I'm hoping that due to the longevity of the LEDs I won't have to hassle with swapping them out again for a very, very, long time. If the color was just a touch warmer I'd give them five stars.

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This was a breakthrough light bulb for me. I wanted an LED bulb that was good enough to replace some of my halogen track lights and finally came upon this one. It is quiet, turns on instantly, is continuously dimmable on a normal dimmer switch, is bright enough to replace a 35 (and maybe 50) watt halogen bulb, and is warm white enough for some living spaces. I also like the small size and the low price. I now own 14 of these and will probably buy more.

The cons? The 30 degree view angle is quite narrow, so it spotlights features of a room rather than acting like an ambient light; I compensate by using a few more lights per room than I had before. The color temperature is not quite warm enough for a living room or dining room; I am using them in bedrooms, offices, and my kitchen for now. Some friends have noted that it would also be good for lighting artwork.

By the way, there is also a 7 watt, PAR-30 version of this bulb if you need more light. Give this bulb a try. It could be a breakthrough bulb for you too.

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This is amending my comments I've made many months ago after I first purchased these bulbs. About 2 weeks ago I came home from being out with my family and when I walked into my house it smelled like something was burning in my entryway. No I left these lights when we left and they were on for approx. 3-4 hours at about half brightness since they were dimmed. I tracked the smell back to one of these bulbs in my track lighting. The black plastic part around the contact was broken and burning, it smelled awful. Well I decided I didn't want to take any chances so I'll slowly start replacing them with Pharox bulbs. I didn't leave a negative feedback after I found the first faulty bulb because maybe it was just one bad bulb out of the 5 I have. Well today I got another one of the Pharox bulbs in the mail and when I pulled out the next bulb to replace, one that still seems to be functioning fine, I noticed that this one is also cracked on the black plastic near the contact. This makes me believe that this bulb was getting close to failing too. This is also suprising seeing as the bulbs do not get that hot. I am not a professional by any sort and just your average consumer, but this would make me believe there is a fatal flaw in the construction of these bulbs. DO NOT BUY THESE!