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I ordered a couple of these as replacements for 50 watt halogens we were using in a track lighting fixture above our kitchen sink. The 50 watt bulbs were too bright, and since I read that LEDs are a bit less intense, I thought it would be interesting to try these rather than just get a lower wattage halogen.
I had looked at LED bulbs before, but had trouble finding standard sized par20. (The ones that have bulky metal heatsinks and/or are longer won't fit in my particular fixture.) Also, the ~$30 price of was way too steep. When I saw these, they seemed perfect for trying.
Fulfillment and delivery was fast. Each bulb was packaged individually using recyclable material.
As expected, the exterior looks identical to standard par20 bulbs and they clip perfectly into my fixtures. Overall, their appearance and light quality is very comparable to the what you'd expect. Unless you point out to someone that they're LED bulbs, and you carefully compare them side by side with a halogen, I bet most people would be unlikely to notice the difference.
But I can be a lighting enthusiast, and do notice the differences. Here's my take:
The biggest difference by far is the HEAT! The 50W halogens would get very hot, very fast, and would become too hot to touch after being on for just a few seconds. These LED's run much, much cooler. Even after being on for several minutes, the LEDs are still only slightly warm and can be handled directly. More importantly, before, whenever I stood over the sink, I could really feel the heat from the halogens radiating down. The LED bulbs have no such "heat lamp" effect. They're clearly designed to produce just visible light. I imagine this is a big part of why they're more efficient.
One thing that surprised me was that the LED bulbs have a slight delay when turning them on. It's perhaps a half second, so they're not exactly "instant-on". There's no flicker or ramp up, just a slight delay. It's less than most fluorescents, though, and acceptable.
The light quality is pretty good. The spectrum is warm, (warmer than I was expecting,) and not unpleasant. Food still looks OK under it. It's still not quite as warm or food-friendly as halogens, (which I still must insist upon under the cabinets) but it in the right spot these will do. It's certainly nicer than many "full spectrum" florescents, by which I've been totally disappointed in the past. That said, I'm glad I got the 'warm white' version. I wouldn't want a light for a kitchen to be any cooler. I bet you could creatively mix these with incandescent to good effect in many scenarios.
The brightness intensity is indeed slightly less than that of the halogens. As mentioned, I was expecting this difference, and it better suited my application. The 50 Watt halogens might be OK for recessed cans, but produced too much glare at the angle and height I needed them to be. Distribution and configuration is often just as important to good lighting as brightness, anyway, so the LEDs work much better... Without measuring it's hard to quantify, but perceptually they 'feel' maybe 90% as bright. I'd put them at between 30-40 watt equivalent.
Another thing I noticed is that the spread is slightly wider (less directed) than the halogens. I think one reason for this is the LED array is closer to the glass front of the bulb. The filament of the (flood) halogens sit deeper inside the housing than the LEDs. This, combined with having several LEDs distributed instead of one bright filament, makes the light cone more spread out. For my space and application this broader spread was actually a positive, but a prospective buyer should keep it in mind if looking to replace a tight spotlight.
So while I wouldn't say these will replace every bulb, they have their place. I'm curious to see how long they last, and how prices trend as more people adopt them...
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I have just purchased and compared a variety of Par 20 bulbs and this one is clearly my favorite. While most bulbs are way too blue this bulbs has a color temp that's very similar to halogen and is appropriate for the home. If you are picky, LED bulbs can be hard to buy right now but this one is fantastic. It's dimable and visually to appears to be the equivalent of a 40 watt halogen bulb.Best Deals for A Par20 LED Spotlight Bulb Lamp 36 Leds Warm White, Equivalence
I just started getting into LED bulbs and know very little other than they are very expensive. I just installed a 6 bulb track light fixture over our bartop. The halogen bulbs that came with it provided great light but you could have kept food warm under those things. These LED's give off a light somewhere between the warm color of an incandescent and the bluish glow of a compact flourescent, with zero heat. These are probably the best you'll get at this price. By the way, the people working for the vendor are really nice and very helpful.Honest reviews on A Par20 LED Spotlight Bulb Lamp 36 Leds Warm White, Equivalence
The bulbs arrived quickly and in good condition. Unfortunately, they would not work on the dim setting in our stove vent where we normally use 50 watt Par20 bulbs. I wrote an email to the vendor and received a fast refund of my payment minus the rather high shipping cost. My advice to anyone buying led bulbs that they want to dim--make sure they are advertised as dimable.Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for A Par20 LED Spotlight Bulb Lamp 36 Leds Warm White, Equivalence
I bought this for my range hood. The hood had 2 places for this type of lights. The hood originally had 2 halogen bulbs that would heat up very quickly and drain lots of wattage. I was looking for LED light bulb to replace those for a long time. Finally I bit the bullet and ordered these.They worked very well. The light was bright enough to light up the cooking area fine. Only draw back is they stick out the the hole just little but I guess it makes it easier to unscrew them. I am quite happy with the product.
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