Good quality trustworthy red LED light bulbs?
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I'm going to Menards tonight to get 2 of those Feit red LED bulbs. They have 2 left, and I need 2. lol The reviews of its color on Amazon.com are very good.
This Menards that I'm going to also has 4 of the Feit orange LED lights in stock, so I might pick two of those up as well just to try them, but I am pretty sure I'd rather have pure red. I am an "all or nothing" type of person.
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Ok, I am testing the bulbs now.
Its color is excellent, but I feel that it might be too bright for this use. It's brighter than the 13W red Feit 60W equivalent CFL, and I already felt that that was too bright. If I were to guess at its incandescent equivalence (it's not listed on the package), then I'd call it 75W. The funny thing is, it seems that it won't be too bright for the beginning of my bedtime routine where I'm sitting at the computer with f.lux at 1200K and all that, but the lamp that I need it to be in is right next to my bed. So, when it's time to go over to my bed, it's too bright. Argh! lol
Menards has some Westinghouse 1W red LED lights I might try:
I almost picked some up because of their price, but I'll keep these Feit LEDs for a few days just to see how they work out for me. Fortunately, I have to take melatonin supplements anyway so it's not like the brightness of these red lights is a problem for suppressing melatonin production, but a dim red light would still be a lot less alerting. lol
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I'm discovering a new, additional use for my red LED lights: movie time! It's like the room is dark, but it's not dark at all. The movie on my monitor right now is standing out just as much as it would if I had most of my lights off, but I have both of my red LEDs on, which is actually rather bright.
By the way, even though these FEIT red LED lights aren't dim like I would want, the pure red color is still working exactly the way that I wanted! I'm still going to try others though, like those 1W red LEDs made by Westinghouse. I might also try this red LED light made by Polaroid:
http://www.menards.com/main/p-2757375-c-7482.htm
It consumes a little more power, but it claims to be a 40W equivalent. I'm assuming that if it's made by Polaroid, then it should be a pure red as well like for use in Dark Rooms as a cheap Safe Light.
I hope that you can find a red light that you like too. There's nothing quite like sitting in pure red light for an hour or so before going to bed with f.lux set to 1200K, dimmed a little with the monitor's brightness all the way down.
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I'd probably go with a filtered red light. I think it's lower price as well.
Glad you found some that work.
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If you want a monitor with stronger contrast then get an AMVA panel from BenQ.
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@timpster said:
I'd probably go with a filtered red light. I think it's lower price as well.
Glad you found some that work.
Thank you. So am I. I still wish they were dimmer though.
Why would you worry about the price when they will probably outlive you? I'm barely using these for 1 hour per day and they're supposed to last up to 25,000 hours. Even if I were to use them for like 12 hours per day or longer, their price is still extremely low.
So, don't look at the cost that you pay for them on the day that you pay for them. For how long they last, they're significantly cheaper than incandescent bulbs.
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If you want REALLY nice lights by Philips for a really really low price, look for the packs of "everyday" bulbs they make!
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@timpster said:
If you want REALLY nice lights by Philips for a really really low price, look for the packs of "everyday" bulbs they make!
Red LEDs?
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@timpster said:
If you want a monitor with stronger contrast then get an AMVA panel from BenQ.
I'm not looking for a new monitor. I don't know where you got that impression from. lol
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"and this red CFL is making it clear to me that this setting still has blue in it thanks to my monitor. "
Just save $2-3 a day and in a few months you'll easily have $200+ to spend on a monitor that has a much better black level, and much less light leakage because AMVA is just great like that.
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@timpster said:
"and this red CFL is making it clear to me that this setting still has blue in it thanks to my monitor. "
Just save $2-3 a day and in a few months you'll easily have $200+ to spend on a monitor that has a much better black level, and much less light leakage because AMVA is just great like that.
That's not related to contrast. That's due to the color output of my monitor. Maybe.
So what I was saying was, I used to think that 1200K was quite red. However, when the only light in my room is a very red CFL or LED, the 1200K setting seems to reveal itself as not being quite as red as I thought. I blamed my monitor, but in hindsight, I think that it's just because 1200K is a colder color than I once thought. Maybe I am looking for about 800K. I don't know. Regardless, I wasn't saying that I want a new monitor.
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I think you may have some backlight bleed as 1200k should be a strong orange red. With backlight bleed the color doesn't output as strongly as a CRT would.
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@timpster said:
I think you may have some backlight bleed as 1200k should be a strong orange red. With backlight bleed the color doesn't output as strongly as a CRT would.
It is a strong orange red, but what I'm saying is that I used to think that it was just plain red. I learned that it's not just plain red due to having nothing but pure red ambient light.
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@TwoCables said:
@timpster said:
If you want REALLY nice lights by Philips for a really really low price, look for the packs of "everyday" bulbs they make!
Red LEDs?
Warm white.
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Some posts deleted, off-topic, incorrect advice, and recommending copycat programs.
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@TwoCables are the Feit bulbs you got the "sea turtle safe" ones? I just bought a few to put under the spectrometer, and they look very good.
@lorna
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@timpster said:
@TwoCables said:
@timpster said:
If you want REALLY nice lights by Philips for a really really low price, look for the packs of "everyday" bulbs they make!
Red LEDs?
Warm white.
I'm curious: why are you recommending warm white LED lights? As I said in my original post, I already have the SWITCH brand 3-way lights, and they are excellent. I like them so much that my heart has been crushed ever since they went out of business. The quality and color of the light they produce and their liquid-cooling technology is simply awesome.
Besides, I made this thread to have red LED lights recommended to me. I don't want or need any other lights right now.
@lorna said:
@TwoCables are the Feit bulbs you got the "sea turtle safe" ones? I just bought a few to put under the spectrometer, and they look very good.
Yep, they are! :)
I am very glad that they look good under the spectrometer. Thank you for telling me! The only thing that I don't like is how bright they are. lol So, I went back to Menards today and I added those Westinghouse 1W red LED lights to my little red LED collection here, and they are definitely dimmer, almost TOO dim. So, FEIT's 3W LEDs are extremely efficient. I kept the FEITs because I want to be able to do the following at my bedtime: swap both of my SWITCH 3-ways out for my FEIT red LEDs until it's time for me to turn my computer off. When it's finally time for me to turn my computer off, I'll swap my red FEITs for my red Westinghouse's. So, I'm dimming my red light without using a dimmer (because these aren't dimmable). lol
If you're wondering what I will do when my bedtime ends up being sometime during the day, I will probably just keep the FEITs on in order to drown out the bluish light that bleeds through my room darkening blinds during the day. The Westinghouse LEDs are extremely dim. I don't think they're meant to really light up a room, but they're almost exactly what I wanted: very dim red light when I turn my computer off at night when I'm going to bed. So, I'm very happy now. I just wish I had more floor space for additional floor lamps. lol It's a good start though.
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Damn SWITCH went out of business?! Well that's not cool. Maybe they didn't get enough recognition and liquid cooling may have confused a few people. Ever since you described them a while back I always thought they were awesome.
I recommended the $2.50/bulb 6 packs so if you ever need more warm white light in other areas you wouldn't have to spend much and save your money on other stuff -- I'm even going to buy a few packs.
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Here's what happened to SWITCH
https://gigaom.com/2014/12/01/the-sad-state-of-switch-its-liquid-cooled-led-bulb/
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@timpster said:
Damn SWITCH went out of business?! Well that's not cool. Maybe they didn't get enough recognition and liquid cooling may have confused a few people. Ever since you described them a while back I always thought they were awesome.
I recommended the $2.50/bulb 6 packs so if you ever need more warm white light in other areas you wouldn't have to spend much and save your money on other stuff -- I'm even going to buy a few packs.
Aw, thank you for your thoughtfulness, but I'm not looking for any or asking for any recommendations. ;) I'm only interested in red LED lights right now. Fortunately, I think my fear of FEIT as being a crappy low-quality manufacturer is being washed away by this experience so far. Even these cheap little 1W red LEDs made by Westinghouse are nice. They're a bit too dim, but fortunately they're just bright enough for what I will be using them for - at least after sunset (they're not bright enough to use during the day unless I can block 100% of the day light). If you're wondering, here's how it will go down when I'm at the last couple hours of my day:
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Turn my SWITCH 3-ways to their lowest setting so that they can cool off while still providing plenty of light. Of course, this also helps me begin relaxing.
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After about 30 minutes, they are usually cool enough to handle without being burned (they're still hot though). So this is when I will replace both SWITCH 3-ways with my red FEIT LED lights. Before anyone says that LED bulbs don't get hot, YES THEY DO. They just take like 15 minutes to heat up.
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I'll sit here with those on for 1-2 hours, and at some point I will also choose 1200K in f.lux and dim my monitor all the way down. I'll also press Alt+Page Down just once because this helps reduce the washed-out appearance that I get (you might not see this on your monitor, I don't know).
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After maybe 45 minutes to an hour or whatever feels right that day with my red FEITs and f.lux at 1200K and all that, I'll reach a point where I'll decide that it's time to turn the computer off "soon" and go to bed. So, I'll take my melatonin when I know I'll still be using the computer for another 15 or 20 minutes.
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After 15 or 20 minutes, I'll turn the computer off, replace the FEITs with the Westinghouse 1W LEDs and begin getting ready for bed. This can take 5-15 minutes and I want my light to be even dimmer during this period and fortunately, these little lights are like red night lights. They're freakin' awesome for me. Menards has discontinued them though, so I hope they last. I might go buy a half a dozen more or so just in case. My local store still has 27 in stock and they're all a bit dusty, so yeah. lol
Even before buying these little Westinghouse LED lights, just going from having both of my FEITs on down to just one wasn't bad at all. It's a bit too bright when I have to go up to the lamp to turn it off, but still.
My only problem with this plan is, these Westinghouse lights are tiny and they go in a normal socket. So, I have this fear of being electrocuted if I'm not careful. lol With a normal-sized bulb like A19 or bigger, my hands are much further away from the socket thanks to the bigger size. These Westinghouse 'bulbs' are like little stubs.
@timpster said:
Here's what happened to SWITCH
https://gigaom.com/2014/12/01/the-sad-state-of-switch-its-liquid-cooled-led-bulb/
I know. It's old news too. lol
The problem that this person experienced is a new one to me though! Still, with as many as they manufactured, I'm not surprised that they had a few leaky ones. After all, we humans are incapable of creating absolute and consistent perfection. Nature dictates that imperfections arise in everything that we create sooner or later.
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