Replace Recessed Flood Bulbs With LED Bulbs-Review of Feit Electric BR30 LED Flood Bulb

Hardware:

• Feit Electric BR30 13Watt LED flood bulb
• Philips 65W BR30 indoor flood incandescent bulbs (what I have been using)

We’ve gone through quite a few 65W incandescent BR30 flood bulbs over the years replacing all the recessed lighting we have in our home.  It’s been on my mind to replace them with something energy efficient, but wanted to make a smart choice.  I’ve never found that great of reviews on the florescent bulbs and I had a list of requirements:

• I don’t want to have to wait for the bulb to “warm up” before it gives off the full light
• I don’t want to sacrifice brightness.
• I want it to look like a bulb when you see it installed
• The color of the light should be very close to what an incandescent puts out

So the bar is pretty high for me.  Recently I read Consumer Reports and they highly rated a few bulbs, one of which I decided to purchase:

Feit Electric Br30 Flood Dimmable 13w/65w LED Light Bulb 750 Lumens 120° Degree (paid $19.49 at amazon.com)

I purchased one and decided to give it a try.  I installed it right above our kitchen sink.  I would say that the color of the light is a little more “yellow” than the incandescents we have.  There is a window treatment that the light shines down on so it is not a perfect comparison since its light is being reflected off a horizontal surface.

Feit Electric BR 30 LED flood bulb on the left, normal incandescent on the right

Some days later we had a “brown out” in our area.  Our home was getting approximately 50% of the voltage as normal (i.e. ~60 VAC) when I checked the outlets.  The surprising thing was that the LED bulb I had installed was performing very nicely at almost full brightness and a lot more in comparison to the incandescent bulbs:

“Brown out” condition comparison: LED on left, incandescent on right — LED wins!

One thing to note is that there is a slight delay to the bulb lighting up, not even a second, but a delay.  It comes on full brightness when it does come on though.

Conclusion:

• The Feit Electric BR30 LED is an acceptable replacement to a 65W incandescent
• The Feit uses only 13W compared to the 65W of the incandescent
• In an unusual brown out condition you’ll have a brighter house if you have Feit LED bulbs installed
• There is a slight delay to it lighting up when you flip the switch
• LED flood bulbs put off very little heat (you can hold your finger on the bulb without any discomfort–it is barely warm to the touch)
• The LED is predicted to last 22.8 years compared to <1 year for incandescents (depending on usage).  Chances are, the other electronics in the bulb in the AC to DC circuit will go out before the actual LED’s do.
• This LED bulb has a 3 year warranty

I’ll keep adding feedback as we continue to use this LED and hopefully buy more in the future.