LuzPro LED Lighting Review
So I purchased some MR-16 LED lamps to replace some often failing lamps in the kitchen and dining room. At first I was hesitant due to the price and lack of reviews (these bulbs are fairly new to the market) but being a bit of a risk taker and being into anything new in tech I took the plunge.
Am I glad I did! These LED bulbs by LuzPro are pretty amazing. First, yes they were expensive – about $40 each. But considering they are rated to last about 50,000 hours (over 17 years @ 8 hours per day give or take), consume a mere 5 watts and are replacing 35 watt MR16 bulbs they pay for themselves in about two years according to my number crunching. I also don’t have to worry about changing these guys for a very long time so less maintenance is good with me.
The main reason I ended up keeping these bulbs was heat reduction. It’s INCREDIBLE how much cooler my kitchen is after installing these bad boys! I used to sweat when I was in the kitchen – and I wasn’t even cooking! Now I stand under these lights and feel no heat from them whatsoever. If I touch the base of the lamp I do feel the base a little warm but not the scorching heat my old bulbs used to produce or the 3rd degree burns from touching them. Huge plus and definitely worth the price of the bulbs in my case.
The light is just about the same, maybe a little brighter (picked the 2700K warm white). This is great as I always thought the LED color would be “ugly” or an annoying bright white. Not these – the white is a nice amber color. Very similar to my original bulbs. So no complaints here.
LED bulbs are also “earth friendly” meaning they do not contain any hazardous materials (like fluorescent/CFL lights) and do not generate UV light which damages art. So these bulbs are art-safe! According to the store rep what matters is the chip type in these LED bulbs – they all look very similar but the chip that’s inside is what matters. My rep said CREE is the “king of LED chips” and a brief Google search seems to confirm that. Luckily the LuzPro bulb contains three CREE chips so that makes me feel much better!
To conclude my review, I couldn’t recommend these bulbs more. Yes they are expensive but they are worth the price of admission to get a bunch of benefits and long-term savings. Go to your local lighting store and pick some up or visit their site at http://www.luzpro.com. My local hardware store just recently started stocking these (in the last two weeks). Hopefully these lamps start taking off and the price gets lower – also heard they will start carrying flexible ribbon strips for cove lighting and under-cabinet usage. Looks like I’ll be busy pimping my crib up when these start showing up.
NOTE: Before the LuzPro brand bulbs I tried the Ushio brand due to the more known name but was disappointed to see the bulbs didn’t fit into ANY of my fixtures except one kitchen pendant. The Ushio (and some other brands) are too wide or oddly shaped and therefore don’t fit into most fixtures. The LuzPro bulb actually looks almost identical in size to a regular MR16 and fit in all my MR16 fixtures (recessed housings and track heads).
Filed by Tony at April 28th, 2011 under LED
