Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Product review: comparison of four LED lights from Ideal LED Light

When I shop for LED bulbs the amount of choices is dizzying. When I can't see them turned on side by side I am never quite sure what they will look like when I get home this is because manufactures do not have a standard of how they specify what their light is equivalent to.

In this review I am including a comparison of the 4 IDEAL LED lights by using standard EFI charts and side-by-side photos of the 4 lights.

IDEAL LED 18 Watt Reveal Warm
2900K PAR38 Flood light
800 lumen
65 degrees light beam
Replaces 55 Watt incandescent
Indoor and outdoor use
Cost savings $19 - $6.24 = $12.76 (calculations explained below)

IDEAL LED 18 Watt Neutral White
4300K PAR38 Flood Light
900 lumen
65 degree light beam
Replaces 61 Watt incandescent
Indoor and outdoor use
Annual cost savings $21.08 - $6.24 = $14.84

IDEAL LED 13 Watt Neutral White
4300K PAR30 Flood Light
990 lumen
90 degrees beam
Replace 67 Watt incandescent
Indoor use
Annual cost savings $23.15 - $4.49 = $18.66

IDEAL LED 13 Watt Reveal Warm
2900K PAR30 Flood Light
860 lumen
90 Degree Beam
Replaces 59 Watt incandescent
Indoor use
Annual cost savings $20.39 - $4.49 = $15.90

How I calculated incandescent equivalent
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In my description above I am using efi.org lumen equivalents to calculate the power of the incandescent light this LED light replaces rather than the information provided by the manufacture (manufacture's numbers are higher). I believe EFI numbers are more accurate in giving a consumer an idea of the brightness they will get.

EFI standards are:
75 watts is 1100 lumens
60 watts is 890 lumens

How I calculated cost savings
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
When we use 1000 watts for 1 hour we used a kilowatt-hour.
The formula to figure the cost of running a device:
wattage x hours used ÷ 1000 x price per kWh = cost of electricity

Assuming usage of one light bulb 8 hours a day each day for 1 year and the cost of electricity 0.12 cents per kwh
55w Incandescent bulb ~~~ $1.58 per month, $19 per year
59w Incandescent bulb ~~~ $1.70 per month, $20.39 per year
61w Incandescent bulb ~~~ $1.75 per month, $21.08 per year
67w Incandescent bulb ~~~ $1.92 per month, $23.15 per year
13w LED bulb ~~~~~~~~~~~~ $0.27 per month, $4.49 per year
18w LED bulb ~~~~~~~~~~~~ $0.52 per month, $6.24 per year

Visual comparison of the LED lights
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
To illustrate this review I am attaching 10 photos in two photo collages (they can be located by following 'customer photos' link under the main photo)

✔ Photo #1 shows 18W Watt Reveal Warm and 18W Neutral White next to each other so you can see the color difference.
✔ Photo #2 and Photo #3 show white appliances in the light of each of these two bulbs.
✔ Photo #3 shows 13W Watt Reveal Warm and 13W Neutral White next to each other so you can see the color difference.
✔ Photo #5 and Photo #6 show white appliances in the light of second set of bulbs.

As you see the lightening provided by the 18w and 13w bulbs are very similar (and you would expect that based on lumens). The biggest difference between the bulbs is the width of the light beam. I liked 13w bulbs which have 90 degree beam light better as they lighted up a larger area.

✔ Photo #7 shows 18W light on a digital scale. It weighs in at 9.3 oz. You can also see the front lens of the bulb. It is clear.
✔ Photo #8 shows 13W light on a digital scale. It weighs in at 6.3 oz. You can also see the front lens of the bulb. It is lightly frosted.
✔ Photo #9 shows 18W light on a one inch gridded mat for size reference.
✔ Photo #10 shows 13W light on a one inch gridded mat for size reference.

I liked the lightly frosted lens on 13W better than the clear lens on 18W as it diffused the light and if you happened to look up and see the light it was more attractive to look at and easier on your eyes.

Manufacture of these lights asked me as one of the reviewers who have a history of writing informative reviews to test these lights and post my opinion about them to make it easier for future potential customers make their buying decisions.

Overall, all four lights are well made. They worked well, their finish is neat, they did not rattle when I shook them, there are no visible sloppy soldering as I have seen on some other LED lights. Out of the four lights I tested my top pick is IDEAL LED 13 Watt Reveal Warm with IDEAL LED 13 Watt Neutral White a close runner-up.

You can find neutral bulb on Amazon by following this link.


You can find warm bulb on Amazon by following this link.

You can find warm bulb on Amazon by following this link.


You can find neutral white on Amazon by following this link

Ali Julia review ★★★★★ and ★★★★☆






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