LED for every socket coming soon

A couple of years ago, the overly bright glare of LEDs could make you feel uncomfortable. Today's LEDs can cast a warmer glow. They're also available in colors.You can easily use them in recessed cans and most fixtures. They're not widely available for chandeliers or smaller fixtures because they haven't figured out how to hide the driver, a part that makes it work inside a small bulb.They seem to work better as down lights in cans than in table lamps. But improvements keep coming.A manufacturer, Cree Inc., has started marketing an LED replacement bulb for a 40-watt incandescent for use in many household lamps and fixtures. It looks just like an incandescent bulb and will cost just $9.97.You can also buy very contemporary chandeliers and fixtures designed just for LEDS. Also available is LED strip or tape lighting for under cabinets or along floorboards. The strips come on reels and are fairly easy to install for do-it-yourselfers who have done electrical work before.How much will your electric bill go down? Manufacturers estimate that LEDs are up to 85 percent more efficient than incandescent bulbs and 10 percent more efficient than CFLs. So eventually, LEDs can help pay for themselves with energy savings.

 You can't grab a box of LEDs and throw them in your shopping cart after checking only the price and the watts. You may have to study charts in the hardware store; you may have to talk to someone in the store about what you are buying; you may have to start comparing lumens, a measure of light emitted by the bulb, instead of watts, the measure of power used by the bulb.Not all LEDs are highly efficient and long-lasting, according to the U.S. Energy Department. Poorly designed products usually cheaper bulbs can flicker, shift in color and dim out as they get older. The department urges consumers to buy Energy Star bulbs that have passed tests to prove that they are as bright as or brighter than incandescents and CFLs.Meanwhile, however, incandescents have not become extinct yet. Manufacturers can still legally produce them in 60 watt sizes or less. So stop buying boxes of bulbs to hide in your garage. And next week, we'll talk about how you can use LED lighting in your backyard.