The Best LED Light Bulbs

Buying Guide for LED Light Bulbs

Why buy LED light bulbs? 

Perhaps a dying electric device, the incandescent light bulb, produces light by heating a wire filament to a specific temperature. The wire filament sits inside a glass bulb filled with inert gas. Incandescent bulbs release 90% of their energy as heat, a substantial waste. LED light bulbs contain an electrical diode, a device whose voltage goes in one direction: from the positively charged anode to the negatively charged cathode. Add to the diode a semi-conductive material, and the current produces light. LEDs emit very little heat; they last 30 times longer than incandescent bulbs. Also, LEDs emit light in a specific direction making them more efficient for recessed downlights and task lighting.

What should you look for in LED light bulbs?

• Lumen (lm): Typically, we look for high wattage for the brightest light bulb and visa vera. However, wattage measures how much energy the bulb draws, not its degree of brightness. For example, a 100-watt light bulb is not necessarily brighter than a 40-watt light bulb. With more-efficient LEDs, you want to look for lumen. Also, some LED light bulbs are more efficient than others. An 8-watt LED bulb may produce more lumen than a 12-watt LED bulb, depending on the quality of the product. So look for lumen when shopping for LED light bulbs.
• Hue: LEDs produce different colors depending on added semiconductor materials with photons at different wavelengths. Various wavelengths are associated with temperatures, measured as kelvins. Chances are you’re more familiar with tiny, colorful LEDs used in holiday light decorations. But LED light bulbs offer a spectrum of colors, too. Ideally, you want to use lighting that best illuminates each room, depending on your needs. Popular hues for interior LED light are cool white, natural white, and warm white. Warm white produces a cozy atmosphere, whereas neutral or cool white can energize people, making it perfect for home offices, kitchens, and bathrooms.
• Efficiency: As mentioned, efficiency varies among LED light bulbs. Since greater efficiency is a major motivating factor in buying LEDs in the first place, why not buy the most efficient ones? Look for bulbs with low wattage and high lumen. Keep your eye open for ENERGY STAR-certified LED light bulbs. The star rating correlates with its level of efficiency. What is the star rating? The star rating (1 to 6) is about energy efficiency; more stars mean greater efficiency. Another sign of quality and safe LED light bulbs it are listed as an Electric Testing Laboratories (ETL) product.

What should you know about CRI?

Color Rendering Index (CRI) measures how colors render under artificial LED light sources when compared with sunlight. On a spectrum between 0 to 100, an LED light with CRI 100 indicates will illuminate your interior colors as they would appear outside in natural light. You want the highest CRI possible, but finding an LED light bulb that meets your ideal hue, brightness, shape, size, and the best CRI is challenging. CRI 80 and above is excellent, while below 80 could be better.

Our Picks for the Best LED Lightbulbs

Pros: These daylight color bulbs use only 13 watts to provide 1600-lumen; that’s outstanding efficiency. The brightness is equivalent to 100-watt incandescent bulbs, but they save up to 87% of electricity based on three hours per day usage. How? The SANSI-patented ceramic technology uses a nonconductive ceramic heat sink instead of the commonly used conductive technology in LEDs. Both approaches work to dissipate heat. However, with a SANSI LED light bulb, 15 LED chips are soldered directly to the heat sink, creating faster heat conduction, reliability, and better light efficiency. 

Cons: If you don’t want 5000K daylight white color, you’ll want to look elsewhere. 

Bottom Line: It’s hard to argue against a product that’s fire-retardant, energy-saving, and impressively efficient, especially when the product is a powerfully bright light bulb. These are also flicker-free, neutral in color, and quiet operation.

 

Pros: If you want to stay alert as you work from your home office, cook, or work on cars in the garage, you want the bright white color of these 3500K LED light bulbs to provide. They use 8.5 watts to produce 800-lumen, a more impressive energy-efficiency ratio than comparable 60-watt incandescent bulbs. And yet there’s more: the SYLVANIA LEDs last up to 11,000 hours compared to 60-watt incandescent bulbs that last only 1,000 hours. The frosted bulbs are nontoxic and produce no ultraviolet or infrared radiation. 

Cons: These may come off as harsh and are not the highest quality.

Bottom Line: Considering the low price and high quality of the SYLVANIA LED 4-pack—why not try them out? You’ll save energy and money over time and receive energizing bright white light. 

 

Pros: This 7-watt LED light bulb gets its unique look from two of the most popular lighting trends today: modern energy-savers and metaphysical healers. It’s an Edison filament LED bulb filled with Himalayan salt crystals, known as natural ionizers; when heated by light, they produce healing negative ions released through the bulb’s vent holes. With its soft amber glow, this LED bulb creates a warm ambiance in any room and fits all light fixtures.

Cons: The salt crystal-filled bulb is heavier than most, making them easier to lose grip on and break. At 550-lumen, this bulb isn’t very bright. Also, it’s expensive for a single lightbulb.

Bottom Line: Mood-setting and functional, the Himalayan salt crystal LED bulb makes a fun purchase. It enhances any vintage-themed space and, like other LED bulbs, is safe to leave on for long periods. 

 

Pros: Maybe it’s time to loosen up and add low-risk fun to your day. These CRI 85 color-changing LED light bulbs are insanely cool. They’re 5-watt, 450-lumen, emit warm white, 2700K, light, and feature infrared, remote-controlled color-changing entertainment. Use the remote control to select flash or smooth light modes, brightness levels, single-color color-changing, and more. The bulbs have a beam angle of up to 270 degrees.

Cons: Though the color options are impressive, they don’t include uncolored white light. 

Bottom Line: The bulbs offer instant party or mood-setting convenience. Unlike the permanence of painting a room green or blue, these LED light bulbs give you control to change them in and out as you like.

 

Pros: We had to share these bulbs by Ledvance for their unreal variety of light colors and shapes. They range between 2700K, 3500K, and 5000K in color brightness and A19, B10, BR30, and PAR30 dimensions, plus various bulbs per pack. Though the variety is tremendous, they share important qualities. They last longer and run more efficiently than incandescent bulbs. Exchange your household’s 100-watt incandescent bulbs for these Sylvania ECO LED bulbs and save up to 85% of your lighting costs.

Cons: Customers disappointed with this product found the bulbs too bright, dim, and the wrong color.

Bottom Line: To get the most out of these quality LED lightbulbs, get an idea of what you want from an LED bulb first, then carefully read each product description. The wide assortment of energy-saving bulbs is glorious but confusing if you don’t pay attention.

Final Thoughts

Now you know there’s no reason to stay in the dark to save energy. Get a few LED light bulbs instead. The specifications may be overwhelming, but the variety of brightness, hue, and style is fantastic for meeting your needs and preferences.