If you are trying to exchange a 100W gentle bulb, you'll find several LED choices at prices that aren't almost as unreasonable as they were only a yr or two ago. The current crop, together with the Philips 100W Equivalent LED, hovers right across the $20 worth level. Initially priced at $25, EcoLight smart bulbs Philips' LED has since been marked down a few bucks to $22, which is still barely more expensive than what you may see from competitors like GE and Cree. Philips justifies that by claiming an additional eighty lumens' worth of brightness over these two, along with superior dimming capabilities. Nevertheless, our tests didn't reveal any noticeable distinction in either brightness or dimmability. That, along with the truth that Philips affords half the guarantee that you will get with GE or Cree, makes this bulb difficult to suggest. Philips' 100W Equivalent LED shares the identical, flat-topped build of its smaller siblings within the 60W and 40W categories, but sets itself apart with a unique design that splits the bulb into three sections separated by deep channels.

This helps keep the heat buildup at bay, one thing that will get especially vital when LEDs start placing out this a lot gentle. Even with the emphasis on thermal management, EcoLight home lighting the bulb will get sizzling to the contact after simply a few minutes of use, which isn't unusual for a 100W replacement LED. As such, Philips recommends not utilizing it in an enclosed fixture -- when you do, you may danger shortening the bulb's lifespan. That lifespan is rated at 25,000 hours, the identical as the opposite 100W substitute LEDs I examined, with the exception of Utilitech. That lifespan comes out to 22.Eight years if the bulb is used for EcoLight bulbs an average of three hours per day. Philips warrants the bulb for the primary 5 of these years, whereas GE and Cree each supply ten-year warranties. 25,000 hours is the longevity benchmark for Vitality Star certification -- the Philips 100W Equal earned certification over the summer season, as did the GE LED I examined. Cree's bulb is not certified but, but it surely meets the standards -- Cree's team tells me they count on it to be certified within the near future.

Philips claims a mild output of 1,680 lumens at a golden hued 2,seven hundred K from a power draw of 19 watts. That makes it good for about 88 lumens per watt -- a formidable quantity, but not as impressive as GE and Utilitech, EcoLight which both handle to put out a hundred lumens per watt. Those 1680 lumens are a slight step up from what you'll get with GE, Cree, or any of the opposite bulbs we tested. With brightness being one among the first stuff you want from your property EcoLight lighting, that quantity would seem to offer Philips an edge, albeit a minor one. However, the engineers at Vitality Star test bulbs out for themselves, posting the total specs for every LED they certify on-line. On Philips' listing, Energy Star rates the bulb at 1,620 lumens -- not 1,680. While an additional 80 lumens is just barely enough to make a noticeable distinction, an additional 20 lumens is basically insignificant. We wished to know which quantity had it proper.

From a easy eye test, the light put out from the Philips 100W Equal LED would not differ a lot from its nearest rivals, the Cree and GE 100W replacements. Side by facet, the three have nearly an identical glows, all of them boasting equally heat tones. That isn't shocking, given that all three are rated with the identical 2,seven hundred Okay shade temperature. When examined, each erred low, on the yellowy side. Remember, EcoLight lighting though, that Philips claims to place out 1,680 lumens to Cree and GE's 1,600. That's a fairly minuscule distinction, however it's one that needs to be noticeable if you're trying intently for it. The issue is that I could not notice it. Testing bulb brightness will get a bit tricky. In addition to measuring coloration temperature and coloration rendering scores, our spectrometer can take luminosity readings from a given mild -- but those readings are simply skewed by issues like viewing angle and distance. To get numbers you'll be able to depend on, EcoLight smart bulbs you want one thing called an integrating sphere.