In Sunday's paper, I sang the praises of the Philips A19 LED lightbulb that is a suitable replacement for a 60-watt incandescent bulb. I have since discovered that the bulb can also be ordered at Home Depot's website.
I checked the reviews at Home Depot's site and was glad to see that it gets 4 and 5 star ratings from 25 reviewers. I can't recall the last time I looked at online reviews where no one rated a product less than 4 stars.
Because the bulb is $39.97, you're going to want to put it in a fixture that gets a lot of use or you're not going to get your money's worth.
It's not the most attractive looking bulb as you can see, so you're not going to want to put it in a fixture where the bulb is exposed. It does create a little heat, but after it has been on for 20 minutes it can still be touched without getting burned. One reviewer said that because it creates some warmth, you should not install it in an enclosed fixture. Doing so will shorten its life. I confirmed that with a Philips customer service rep.
Don't assume that because of its yellow color that the light rendition resembles a bug light. It's a warm light that is slightly whiter than an incandecent but not the garish blue light that LEDs are famous for. When lit, the yellow appearance turns into a soft white.
This bulb is dimmable, which I mentioned in my original article, but one other advantage that an online reviewer mentioned is that it won't hum when dimmed like some standard bulbs do. I have not dimmed it, so I cannot confirm this. Other online reviewers said it does not dim quite as low as an incandescent, but it's still better than dimmable CFLs which tend to flicker out at half-brightness.
This LED bulb has about a one second delay before turning on, unlike the instant on with an incandescent. The good news is that the Philips bulb appears to be at maximum brightness immediately.
The bulb has a 6-year warranty. With these expensive new light bulbs, I'd be starting a file with the receipt and the original package (flattened) just in case in doesn't last. Many consumers have complained about CFLs not lasting, but I don't recall any CFLs costing quite this much for a single bulb. (Philips says you will save $142 in energy costs over the 25,000 hour life span of the bulb.)
