So happy to finally have (and the beauty of the design) that I took the shade off the socket in my closet and I use it bare. Here's hoping Switch releases their 100w equivalent bulb soon -I think they're currently estimating March '13 release. I will buy a bunch of those! EarthLED fulfilled my order and shipped quickly and packed the bulb excellently.
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I purchased several LED bulbs and discovered out, to my extreme dismay, that they can't be used in "enclosed fixtures," I believe because they get too hot. For me this was a dealbreaker, because all the high-up hallway lights I most wanted LEDs for are enclosed in glass globes on the ceilings. I hate climbing up high on the ladder and unscrewing the glass globes to change those, and would love to do it, say, once every two decades!With this bulb, presuming you believe that it remains functional for 25,000 hours (which I sort of do, see below) that is finally possible. The Switch bulbs, made by a California company with manufacturing done in Thailand, is constructed with a special cooling system that allows it to be used in enclosed fixtures. I did a couple of tests in floor lamps, and was shocked to see the bulb got *extremely* hot--comparable to an incandescent I couldn't remove it without using a towel to protect my hands. I was concerned about this and called Switch Lighting, San Jose, Calif., and asked whether I might have a bum bulb. I got the following reassuring response a few hours later by email:
The bulb is supposed to get warm because we use the entire surface of the bulb to dissipate heat. When it is warm on the outside, it means that the heat has been more efficiently removed from the inside where the LEDs and other electronic components are. However, it is running at about half of the surface temperature of an incandescent.
I like buying from a company that responds quickly and personally! Right out of the box, the bulb impressed. it was the fifth LED bulb I've purchased in the past week or so, and there was no comparison with the others. From the printing on the box to the construction and beauty of the bulb, this struck me as a quality product. It's subjective, I know, but that's the impression I got.
The company estimates the bulb is going to have a 25,000-hour life. If the fixture is on three hours a day, that should mean it will last 23 years; an hour a day and I'll be dead before it runs out! But...here's the catch bulb life for LEDs is determined by testing for a much shorter time and then extrapolating...so on the face of it, I tend to be skeptical of such claims. Also, unlike other bulbs, LEDs don't typically die with age--they just fade. The life estimate means at the end of the listed life, the bulb will be 70% as bright. For some areas, that's fine. For other places, if I need a brighter light, I may need to replace much sooner.
That said, if it even lasts ten years, it's a bargain and a major savings in hassle! There are two reasons why I'm willing to bet my money on this one: 1. The build on this looks great, and the fact that it has fewer restrictions than other bulbs on its use (more on this below) suggests a superior construction. I am happy to pay for this superior construction. 2. The company offers a lifetime warranty for residential use. Will I really bother to go find Switch Lighting in ten years if my first floor hallway light burns out? Probably not. But it's nice to know the company stands behind the product.
The light on this bulb is decent--a good 2700 color spectrum like my favorite incandescents. But still for me--and this is why I'm taking off a star from an otherwise excellent product--the quality of light is not as good as an incandescent. I may be reacting to Color Rendering Index, or the way it renders colors; incandescents are 100 and most good LEDs (like this one) are 80 or so. Or it could be something else, I tried this first in a floor lamp in my living room and I couldn't handle it there. It gave me a mild headache sitting next to it and if I ever glanced at it, it felt glaring and dizzying. Since the color spectrum was identical to the incandescent that was there before, I was puzzled. My first thought was maybe it was brighter--but I checked the lumen count and it is the same. Not sure if others respond this way, but I don't think LED lights are usable for me in places where I want to sit and relax. I ended up installing this in my first floor hallway (which is where I most wanted it anyway) and even now it is a bit jarring ...somehow less cozy in my otherwise very warm and friendly hallway. I'm going to live with it a few months and see if I get used to it.
So here's the rundown on this bulb:
PROS:
More flexible than other LED bulbs. Can be used in fully enclosed fixtures and also it is also UL listed for "damp locations." That means I can put these on my front porch where the light burns out all the time! Score.
Omnidirectional. Light comes from the entire globe of the bulb, making this light more usable in a variety of applications. Directional LEDs shine straight down and are best when you just want a narrow beam under them...like in a can light application.
Dimmable. I did not test the dimming.
Gorgeous. Hard to describe, but you have to see it for yourself. It's impressive.
Evident good build.
Spectrum is 2700 Kelvin, the same as a standard incandescent. Many other LED lights are labeled "warm white" but several I purchased are really 3000 Kelvin, which feels kind of cold to me--like halfway between a good home light and the kind of light in corporate offices, hospitals etc.
Company is responsive and helpful.
Lifetime warranty for residential consumers. Company says the bulb will last 25,000 hours. Since the location in which I put it probably is on about 45 minutes a day or so it should last about ten years.
CONS
More expensive than other bulbs. I think the additional cost is justified by superior light and better construction.
For reasons I don't quite understand, all LED bulbs (including this one) give me a headache when I put them in a floor lamp in my living room where I spend a lot of time sitting. Even in a glass globe in the hallway the incandescent glow is still cozier and mellower to me. I don't think this is psychological as this bulb is so gorgeous I really was favorably disposed to want it to be perfect. I can say the light of this is among the best I've tested....way better than the G7 for example.
I'm doing my best to get used to LED lights, since I don't want those mercury-filled CFLs in my life. It's been a rough road for me so far. I don't think I'll be doing a full-scale LED changeover any time soon, but I have installed four of the five bulbs I've tried in my home. I will repost on reliability, energy savings and my tolerance level once I've tried them all for a few months.
Best Deals for SWITCH Lighting A23201FA2-R Classic A19 LED Light Bulb with 75-watt
The only experience that I have with LED light bulbs have been a pair of Phillips A19 17w (60w replacements), and although I have been very happy with tham as nightstand lamp bulbs, I tried tham in the kitchen ceiling fixtures and was very unhappy with them in that setting. The Phillips bulbs are only 17w and 2700K and I was trying to replace a pair of GE reveal 60w incandecents at 590 lumens and 2900K. I think because of the reduced wattage and the slightly yellower color is what turned me off to them in anything besides the night stand lamps.When I read one of the last few Popular Mec magazine and they had the article about the Switch bulbs and thier liquid cooled insides, I was intrested and read more about them. Not only did they look cool, but a liquid light bulb? Ok so I looked around and found them at Amazon for $52 a bulb. $52 BUCKS!!! I was aghast at the price, i thought the $32 I paid for the phillips was bad. So I put these pentagon priced bulbs out of my mind, but I kept thinking about them as being interesting, so a few days later I went back and read more about them on the SWITCH website. And I figured that since they only used 20w (for the frosted and 18.5w for the clear versions) that I could get away with putting them in the 60w sockets in the kitchen lights.
Plus since I was going to be putting a 75w equiv. in stead of a 60w equivalent, it should give more light and might be good enough to overcome the same 2700K vs 2850K coming from the current GE Reveals. Plus the 75w SWITCH was supposed to be putting out 1100 lumens per bulb as apposed to the 590lumens the GE were supposed to be putting out. Plus at the indicated 3hrs a day for a year costing $7.23 per bulb on the Reveals vs. the $2.41 a year for the SWITCHes, and figuring that I seemd to replace the GE about every year to year and half (1.8yrs. indicated life) and the SWITCHes estimate 22.8yrs, I figured that should increase the amortized savings. I figured what the heck, try and see right.
So I ordered up 4 SWITCH 75s. Not that enjoy spending over $200 on four lightbulbs, and if my wife decides to look up the cost of these I'm going to be in trouble, but I got them anyway. She always complains that she can't see well at night to begin with and I thought that going from 1180 lumens (2x GEs) to 2200 lumens (2x SWITCH) per fixture that she would appreciate the increased amount of light in the kitchen.
The bulbs were shipped from EarthLED and I must say that thier shipping has something to be desired. They shipped all 4 bulbs seperately and they arrived over a 6 day stretch, but hey Amazon is the one that absorbed the shipping anyway, so whatever. The first two went into the fixture and I must say that eventhough there is a slight more yellow look the increased light output offsets it so that it is not too noticable.
After the net two bulbs arrived I was disappointed to see that the 4th bulbs had a 3/8in air bubble in the liquid silicon cooling goo. I called SWITCH lighting directly and asked if that would effect the efficiency of the bulbs or possible cause a premature failure as the air would heat up differently that the rest of the area in the bulbs and put undue stress on the glass globe. Since I read the SWITCH patent application and specs which specifically addressed air in the liquid as being detrimental and a counter efficient anomaly. But the standard customer rep didn't know about that, and she put the question over to someone else for more indepth scrutiny and two days later, I was called back and was told that they told me that they would like to recall the air bubbled bulb for testing. So back it went. Unfortunately, my wife had already taken the returned addressed box to UPS to return to Amazon since I had it already to go anyway regardless of what they said and had shipped it back the day that they called, so hopefully it will get back to SWITCH through EarthLED and not resold. I would have rather sent it to SWITCH but she thought she was doing me a favor by taking it herself instead of waiting for me to do it. Yeah well.
So if you do shell out the money for these bulbs and you get an airbubble in the liquid call up SWITCH and they'll take it back. At least I feel confident in thier customer service as they seemed to air on the side of caution and actually paid attention to the information they provided to the patent office.
I would be happy to purchase more of these bulbs to replace my others at home, but not until the price comes down. And down quite a bit, because even though they look VERY cool (even the frosted ones that I have) I'm not sure if the coolness factor is enough right now to cost $52 a bulb.
SWITCH does make a clear version of my bulb, and it is says on thier spec sheets that the clear bulbs are slightly more efficient (18.5w vs 20w for the frosted in the 72w equivs.) they also make a 40w eq. frosted (~8w @ 450lumens), a frosted and clear 60w eq.(13.5w+12w @800 lumens), and a 3way. It doesn't give the equivalents for the 3way but it is a 6, 13.5 & 20w output with 300, 800, 1100 lumens outputs. So I would guess maybe like a 30w, 60w, & 75W bulbs going by thier other other outputs. Also they just released a 100w eq bulb, and the spec sheets list it as a 1600 lumen 4000K bulbs running at ~20w. I haven't found a price o the 100 yet, but going from the $35 60w eq to the $52eq, I would guess it'd be around $70+. And I don't care how cool they look, I'm NOT spending that on a light bulb.
Maybe if the price drops to around $30 a bulb for the 75s I'd consider making a more significant "switch" to these LEDs as I'm happy with thier performace so far in the kitchen, but would just prefer if they could bump the color to more Reveal quality (2900-3000K). 200K doesn't seem like much but it does make a difference. Like everything else that is new and cutting edge it starts out costing alot (look at HDTVs) and eventually the prices will fall and I am confident that they will make a bigger impact than the nasty CFLs that are getting pushed now. At least with the LEDs they don't have that annoying warm up period that CFLS have, however that might be the one noticiable drawback. While these bulbs can be used in a dimmer socket, and they are actually rated for damp areas, that instant flick to full brightness does take a little getting used to.
Since I have one fixture on the LED bulbs and one still with the GE Reveals in them you can flick the GEs on and it doesn't hurt your eyes at night when your in a completely dark room, whereas if I turn the SWITCHes on it at night it can "sting" alittle when it blasts to full on so quick, where as the good old incandecents give you that nice "slow" on. Relatively speaking of course. Kind'a like the incandecent vs LED brake light argument. Not really a negative, but like all things takes some getting used to.
Overall, I'd say that I am pleased with the bulbs right now. The true test will bein how they perform over the long run. If anything crops up with them I will be sure to update this review, and if I ever GET THE LAST BULB FROM EarthLED I'd be even more happy (waiting on 2 weeks now).
I would have given it 5 stars had it not been for a 25% defective rate of 4 I bought and for $52 I would not expected an airbubble in it.
Honest reviews on SWITCH Lighting A23201FA2-R Classic A19 LED Light Bulb with 75-watt
After being unimpressed with the LED light bulbs on display @ local hardware stores I decided to take a chance on a Switch Brand light in my nightstand reading light.It is replacing an aproximately equivalent output rated CFL twisty bulb.So far I am very pleased.The light color & output is subtly brighter & feels easier on the eyes.Mayhaps it doesn't have the same flicker.For all intents & purposes it is instant on,instant off.The only (slight) peculiarity is an almost unnoticeable tendency to produce shadows with multiple edges.
Something else,perhaps of interest,is radio interference.I often curl up with a good book & have some AM talk radio playing in the background.The CFL bulb this replaced produced additional static when listening to faint stations.The switch bulb does not,except strangely,if you reach up & grip the heat sink firmly,something the heat won't let you do for long.I checked it on FM too & it produced no interference there either.A small benefit perhaps but welcome.
All in all,I am really enjoying this bulb & intend to replace a few more of my most used light bulbs with Switch lighting bulbs of various outputs (one @ a time ) & then wait to replace the rest until prices eventually come down.
Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for SWITCH Lighting A23201FA2-R Classic A19 LED Light Bulb with 75-watt
The advertising for this LED lightbulb says that its staggering $58 cost will be justified by its immense working lifetime. Please see my review after that lifetime has been ascertained. Meanwhile, it has worked fine in the two months we've had it.In other news, the light produced by the bulb is bright and warm, very satisfactory for the kitchen where it's installed.
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