Domestic LED Lighting: Finding the Right Lamp for Your Home

[sophiecentaur]

I keep looking at adverts for LEDs in the home. None of the LED lamps I have seen in the shops look 'right'. They look like something in The Hitchhiker's Guide.
Has anyone actually installed a lamp which looks nicer than (or even the same badness as) a CFL? I get really fed up with the slow start of CFLs.
I would really like to go for LEDs - even if they are a horrific price.

There is the point that they only really save significant money in the summer, when your heating is not on. No one seems to acknowledge that the 'wasted' energy from tungsten actually goes to heat up your home. The only difference in running cost is the differential in Gas / Elec prices. If you heat with Elec, then there is no difference at all.

 

[Snoogans]

The only LED lighting I have seen perform well is in the commercial sector, and they are generally too expensive for residential. They are also specially designed fittings as opposed to a retrofit lamp.

You could use CFL's with separate electronic ballasts, again this is a commercial product and would require purpose built fittings. They do turn on to full brightness instantaneously and are dimmable with the right control gear.