Bright light bulbs for outside fixtures?

[James Spillman]

I want brighter light bulbs to use on my garage and back door entrance. Presently, I'm using 40 watt bulbs.I would like to switch to LED bulbs. I am not going to buy new fixtures. What bulbs would you suggest I use to make my yard and rear entrance brighter? Thanks.

[Bruce Page]

I use 100 watt (equivalent) LED bulbs in some of my shop task lighting. They are pretty bright. I picked them up at Costco, and not very expensive.

[Jim Koepke]

I want brighter light bulbs to use on my garage and back door entrance. Presently, I'm using 40 watt bulbs.I would like to switch to LED bulbs. I am not going to buy new fixtures. What bulbs would you suggest I use to make my yard and rear entrance brighter? Thanks.

It depends on the fixture. Mine is for flood lights and works fine with its motion detector. They were purchased at the Orange Borg. They have been in place for over a year.

Make sure what ever light bulbs you use are labeled for outdoor use.

jtk

[Jim Becker]

"Size matters"...so choose an LED lamp that has the higher wattage equivalent (and color) that you prefer in the format that your fixtures will accommodate.

[Frank Pratt]

You can get LED lamps that are over 100W, but as others said size matters. A 100W equivalent will probably fit the fixture will be MUCH brighter.

[Jerome Stanek]

I have a 300watt equivalent in my yard light. It replaced a Mercury Vapor one both have the same bright white color that I like.

[Curt Harms]

We have 2 60 watt equivalent in the front of the house 1 100 watt equivalent in the back, all LED. We're happy with the amount and quality of the light in both places.

[James Spillman]

Thank you for the responses. The fixtures we have use standard size bulbs. The LED bulbs I use in my shop are larger and would not fit my outdoor fixtures. I think I will go with 100 watt outdoor LED bulbs. Do you recommend a particular brand?

[Dick Mahany]

Thank you for the responses. The fixtures we have use standard size bulbs. The LED bulbs I use in my shop are larger and would not fit my outdoor fixtures. I think I will go with 100 watt outdoor LED bulbs. Do you recommend a particular brand?

I've excellent luck with Philips/Osram and Cree. Conversely I've had terrible results with Feit, out of 12 can light bulb changes to LED, two have failed in less than six months.

[Frank Pratt]

I've excellent luck with Philips/Osram and Cree. Conversely I've had terrible results with Feit, out of 12 can light bulb changes to LED, two have failed in less than six months.

That's been my experience as well. There are so many brands of really cheap LED lamps & fixtures that have just popped up in the last few years & I haven't had good experience (we deal with a LOT of LED fixtures & lamps) with any of them. The either fail outright, lumen output drops off way sooner than it should, or their CRI is so low that they give a really weird color cast to things.

[Aaron Rosenthal]

I've changed almost all of my incandescent lighting and quite a few of my CFLs as well with LED.
Almost always I use a known brand, like Phillips. In my massive building I have 12 chandeliers each using 14 bulbs. I replaced them all in 2007 with Osram CFL units and since then, perhaps 10, total, were changed out.
Go for the quality.

[glenn bradley]

I have not found 100 watt equivalent in an A19 size which my fixtures require. I did find 75 watt equivalent A19 size LED, outdoor, enclosed approved bulbs at Lowes. Working well.

[Bill Dufour]

B e aware that LED's have to be in open fixtures so they do not overheat and burn out quickly.
Bill D

[Tom Stenzel]

I bought a package of four Feit LED 40 watt eqv. bulbs rated for 30,000 hours of life. 6 months later 30,000 hours must have passed as they all had failed! The LED bulbs I bought at the dollar store have held up better- 6 installed and one failure in a year.

None of the 10 Phillips bulbs I've installed have failed yet.

-Tom

[glenn bradley]

B e aware that LED's have to be in open fixtures so they do not overheat and burn out quickly.
Bill D

You can find “enclosed rated” LED bulbs at the BORG. The ones I have have been running in “jelly jar“ type outdoor fixtures without issue.

[Bill Dufour]

You can find “enclosed rated” LED bulbs at the BORG. The ones I have have been running in “jelly jar“ type outdoor fixtures without issue.


Good Info, thanks. Probably last longer as most fail by overheating the power supply.
Bil lD

[Frank Pratt]

Temperature issues are much more of a problem with LED chip that of for the driver. The LED chip degrades at a much lower temperature than most electronics. LED chips don't generally burn out, but rather get dimmer with age. Lamp life is usually express as the number of hours it takes for the lumen output to degrade to 70% of the original.

[Perry Hilbert Jr]

When my house was built 3 years ago, the difference between getting sealed LED units for the exterior and regular fixtures was minimal. Haven't replaced a bulb or fixture in three years. The builder gave me some crap about not finding them. I went to to the local electrical supply house and looked at their selection and order the 8 fixtures we needed and got credit back from the builder. I am told that the exterior wall sconce fixtures (2) that I got are no longer made. But the recessed ceiling lights are, even saw them at my local Lowes a few months ago. I hate that bright white light some LEDs can give. That's why I ordered the warm white. I was afraid the LED's would be too dim and thats why the porch has the six ceiling fixtures in 68 feet. The lights are almost too bright. If I bought another house that had incandescent exterior lights, I would switch them all over to sealed LED. I have switched over some lights at the barn and outbuildings. Less electric, sealed to keep out moisture, no bulbs to ever replace, some have a 10 yr (or longer) guarantee. Seems like a no brainer.

[Frank Pratt]

There is a great, huge problem with decorative LED fixtures that nobody wants to talk about. Most light fixtures have a limited production run, maybe a few years. So if you put in a bunch of dedicated LED fixtures, the kind with a built in LED light engine, not a screw in lamp, then what do you do 3, 5, or 10 years down the road when one of those fails? By now the fixture is no longer made & parts are unavailable so you have to choose between replacing them all, or just the one & having a mismatched fixture.

We've already had to deal with this & customers are not happy. Anytime we spec the fixtures, if at all possible, we select ones that have a screw socket & fit them with an LED lamp.

[Perry Hilbert Jr]

The problem with that is the screw in socket fixture is exposed to the exterior humidity bugs, dirt etc. When the socket corrodes, you will be done anyway because those fixtures are being phased out. I put brand new exterior incandescent screw in socket fixtures outside our old farm house and had to replace the fixtures twice in 20 years. (we live along a stream bottom with lots of fog and mist) Sealed units bypass the humidity, bug and dirt problem. Nothing like seeing a bunch a dead bugs in a light fixture or constantly cleaning them out.