09-07-2014, 07:05 AM
Buzz wrote:
Bought a couple of the Cree 100W equiv LED's awhile back, $20 for 2700K soft white, $21 for 5000K daylight from Home Depot. Did a trial run at a few desired locations, and came to the conclusion the daylight bulb is not for us. The soft white turns out to be not all that soft after all, but is a workable bulb, though nowhere near the color fidelity of the amazing halogen bulbs intended to be replaced. 'Nuff said, the daylight was a go-back. Fast forward a couple of months...
Then, earlier today on a quickie pit stop at Costco, I snagged a Feit 100W equiv 2700K soft white that popped up on the shelf for $16, after not having been there as recently as a few days ago. Similar specs size/wattage/lumens/lifespan, etc., but the Feit's color fidelity is significantly better than the Cree's. The Cree's bulb is more translucent than the Feit's, which is noticeably whiter and more opaque when off. The Cree also has some sort of tackified/rubbery coating on the bulb, while the Feit does not. Hands on "feel" for heft/quality of manufacture actually favors the Cree, but I'm going back to Costco to pick up another couple of Feit's. They're about $10 more online, so maybe I'll but the store's entire inventory...
:-)
FWIW, we did not have great luck w/ Feit CFL's, and jury is still out on lower wattage LED's, but w/ this 100W equiv, it appears Cree has some catching up to do. Light Wars™ are ON!
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Your findings are consistent with my own experience with FEIT LED bulbs-- they tend to be a hair cooler than touted.
"Warm" white (=incandescent equivalent) is around 2700 K; Halogen is closer to 3000 or 3100. Thus you're finding the bulbs that are not as warm as rated to be more like Halogen.