EarthLED CL-3 LED Light Bulb

I bought one of these 3-watt bulbs as a "try out" for LED bulbs. I liked that it looked like a regular bulb. So far I've been impressed - most people can't tell it from a regular bulb. It disperses the light nicely and has a nice warm tone to the light. Overall I'm very impressed and it doesn't hardly seem possible that I can get that much light out of just 3 watts!

Having ventured into the realm of LED lighting and replaced my basement laundry room light with a LED bulb consisting of 36 individual LEDs, I felt the time had come to try a suitable living room light bulb replacement. I leave my small table lamp on 24hrs/day with an 11 watt CFL (40 watt equivalent). After discovering earthled.com, I found they had a reasonably priced ~45 watt incandescent replacement bulb that utilized only 3 watts of power. This bulb incorporates what are called, LED light engines. These high-power LEDs range in size, but are typically 1-2 watt each. This particular bulb, consumes 3 watts of power and uses 3 Cree 1 watt light engines. Think of light engines as little teeny (in this case) 1 watt processors.

The analyze I alluded too above is an important distinction between LED bulbs consisting of amassed individual LEDs and LED light engines. This bulb does produce heat. However, you will only feel warmed on the silver colored band around the middle of the LED bulb. That is because this band serves as the heat sink for the LED light engines. Do not be alarmed, the globe is cool to the touch and you will never be burned or deterred by touching the silver (or aluminum) heat sink band.

Having covered heat output, lets talk about light output. This LED bulb is fantastic. I am very pleased with both the construction and design of the bulb. There is an internal mirror assembly, that couple with the frosted globe, help to disperse light in a near 360 degree manner. This is a great advancement and brings LEDs to primetime in terms of household application. I find the light of this bulb to be pleasant, on par with the color spectrum of the warm white CFL, and near target for 45 watt incandescent light output.

Overall, I am very pleased with this LED light bulb and the cost savings over the lifetime of the bulb are just fantastic. Total cost over the projected 50,000 hr lifetime of the LED bulb is, at $0.10 kW/hr, is $15 for electricity and $29.95 for the bulb. This is a total of $44.95. For a comparable 11 watt CFL, rated at 10,000 hr lifetime, taken over 50,000 hrs, you are looking at a lifetime cost of $69.95 (assuming a $2.99 replacement cost for each of the 5 CFLs).

Since the lifetime of this bulb is roughly 50,000 hrs. You will be able to enjoy this LED bulb for 11 years at 12 hrs/day or 5.7 years at 24 hrs/day (like me!).

Look for the price of this bulb to come down as the technology for the LED light engines becomes more commonplace.

Excellent buy and a great product!

This little LED bulb works great in my bedside lamp.  Instead of wasting 40 watts just to read a book, the lamp produces enough lumens to make reading easy and efficient.  While some LED bulbs have strange shapes and produce humming sounds during operation, this small globe fits in any fixture and is silent.

After a couple of weeks I have been happy with this bulb.  It doesn't hum/buzz like the CFL that I replaced with it.  Obviously it has a longer life span, but it does cost quite a bit more.  Although it may be hard to justify the upfront cost, it uses substantially less wattage than any other bulb type out there so in the long run it makes sense.  

Light quality is better than CFL, though not quite as good than an incandescent.