Usable/Likeable LED Bulbs?

Eensete · Aug 21, 2021

+1 looking for the same info.

In the far past, Cree bulbs seemed not to bother me.

I just bought a pack of the GE Basic LED's at Lowes and they seem to be "OK". Certainly a million times better than the cheap LED bulbs used to be when they first came out. The technology has come a long way it seems.

GGregAtkinson · Aug 22, 2021

I have the same experience with getting headaches, tinnitus and nausea from LED lights, especially in restaurants.

I made a pwm detector using this guide: https://ledstrain.org/d/312-homemade-oscilloscope-to-detect-pwm-diy-guide/42

Then I went to Menards and fortunately the guys in the lighting department were geeking out and thought it was totally cool. So they let me open every brand of lightbulb that they sold and test it using the oscilloscope/pwm detector. I was literally there for about two hours.

Anyway, I found this brand to have absolutely zero pwm. The output from the oscilloscope was completely flat, unlike many others that were jagged or displayed obvious PWM.

https://www.amazon.com/MaxLite-Equivalent-White-Dimmable-A19/dp/B07K3227KB/ref=sr_1_10?

I was surprised that it was a dimmable bulb, as I (incorrectly) guessed that a dimmable bulb would be more likely to have PWM. (To be clear, I don't put these in dimmable fixtures - I even changed a couple light switches in my house so that they're no longer dimmable.)

The other funny thing is that these are quite cheap. Right now, Amazon has them for $11.50 for a 4-pack. I would have literally spent$ 100 or more, just to get rid of the headaches.

These are 2700k (soft white). I honestly don't remember if the 5000k (daylight) bulbs had PWM or not.

The 60W, 75W and 100W all have no PWM.

GGurm · Aug 25, 2021

GregAtkinson

So they work for you? I don't care about if they have PWM, can you use them and look at them without pain?

GGregAtkinson · Aug 25, 2021

Gurm

Yep. Many LED lights give me headaches, etc., but I've had these for over a year and I'm super happy with them - no issues at all.

Rrumpty · Sep 1, 2021

Hi I recently stumbled upon 2 which I quite like - both from Phillips and available at Walmart.

UPDATE: KEEPING COMMENT FOR POSTERITY - NO LONGER RECOMMEND - Bulbs have Significant flicker.

They sell them in 60w, and 100w, warm glow 2700k and daylight 5000k. They are about $10.

Ive tested these with slow-mo, and they don't flicker at full brightness - haven't tested dimmed. They both have 90 CRI which is quite good given the price.

__528491__ · Sep 11, 2021

When you say they're usable, you mean that they're as good as halogen / incandescent or just better than the traditional LED lights?

GGregAtkinson · Sep 11, 2021

__528491__

For me, they're just as good as halogen/incandescent.

__528491__ · Sep 11, 2021

GregAtkinson

Hmm, that's quite something. Let me try them.

Eensete · Sep 13, 2021

I have read many good things about Phillips.

In my experience Cree also makes LED bulbs that dont seem to cause me issues

CClokwork · Sep 13, 2021

I will say that I have issue with Litnonia wafer LED recessed lights. While this doesn't help much with your whitelist, it maybe be one to definitely blacklist.

I do have TCP 9w 2700K bulbs around the house of which I have no issue. I will be replacing them with the same bulb when they go out.

Jjrhack · Sep 17, 2021

I bought 4 different brands of LED bulbs off of Amazon and tried them out. Currently, I only have slo-mo phone camera for testing, but am working on an oscilloscope solution to get better results. With slo-mo camera, I can detect flickering (from AC current) in my incandescent and halogen lighting for control. I notice that some LED bulbs flicker similarly to incandescents and some flicker much more sharply. Below are my findings on four brands.

Energetic PAR38 3000K- I detected no flicker with slo-mo video. It's not a perfect test and I wish I had an oscilloscope, but it's the best I can do at the moment. I figure if I can detect incandescent flicker and nothing on these, then it's reasonable to deduce that they don't flicker at all. I only tried their PAR 38 bulb but would hope that their other bulbs would have similar technology. They also make an A19 bulb. My only beef with Energetic is their warmest bulb I can find is 3000k. I prefer warmer light indoors. However, I do like this cooler/whiter light for outside and I'm going to put these bulbs around the exterior of my house.

Sunperian BR40 2700K - On this one I could detect flicker, but it was very similar, if not the same, to the flicker of incandescents. Interestingly, when you turn this bulb off, it "glows down" like an incandescent. You can see it slowly get dimmer and dimmer before turning off. It "glows down" more slowly than the incandescent bulbs that were right next to it. So, my thinking is that they have introduced some technology in LED bulbs to have them show some afterglow just like incandescents when the power to them is cut. If this afterglow also takes effect with the oscillating AC current, then I would expect an oscilloscope wave for these bulbs to look similar to an incandescent's wave and MAYBE be ok on our eyes and heads. I didn't love the color of this bulb either, they call it a 2700K but it felt more like 3000+K to my eyes, that's all very dubjective though.

Torchstar BR30 3000K - This one behaved very similarly to the Sunperian above as far as flicker. It MAY have been a slightly sharper flicker than Sunperian's but that's really hard to know for sure just using video. Even though this bulb is a 3000K, it felt slightly warmer than Sunperian's 2700K. I would like to try a 2700K version of this bulb for a bit of time to see how they feel with long-term use.

Sunco BR30 2700K - The Sunco bulb displayed a very noticeable, very sharp flicker. It is noticably distinct from the flicker of incandescents and the other 2 LEDs. I suspect that it would show the blocky waveform of the instant on/off oscillation that many LEDs do. This one also seemed to strain my eyes right away and I imagine would give headaches with any prolonged usage.

Summary:

Energetic - Seems good and usable

Sunperian - worth trying

Torchstar - worth trying

Sunco - Stay away

I'm also going to try Greg's recommendation above. Thanks @GregAtkinson for that info!

Next step is to find/build an oscilloscope of my own and test more bulbs.

Rryans · Sep 20, 2021

Unfortunately it's becoming much harder to find non LED Bulbs in USA (NYC Area).

I tried IKEA 's LED Bulbs and they are absolutely horrendous. Dizziness and anxiety as soon as the light switch goes on.

I am hopeful I can find the halogen bulbs.

__528491__ · Sep 21, 2021

ryans

Yeah, IKEA's bulbs are as bad as they can get. I hate having to go to IKEA.

SSolf · Sep 23, 2021

I would suggest OPTONICA LED bulbs. They are a great relief after wasting a lot of money on Philips and Osram bulbs. However, one OSRAM E27 model was good.

KKM · Sep 29, 2021

List of EU bulbs available in Germany, claimed to be "flicker-free technically"* by flicker-tester website derlichtpeter.de specifically from 2020/2021:

https://www.derlichtpeter.de/de/lichtflimmern/markttests/

* Sadly, he does not mention if those bulbs do flicker during the warm-up phase, which could be minutes-long. He also does not mention any frequencies. Also, I noticed his Amazon review of the first bulb (https://www.amazon.de/gp/customer-reviews/R2PAJYA0Q4F5X1) says he "views" it as flicker-free. This does not sound like it actually "is" flicker-free (in the sense of absolutely no measurable flicker, like you would expect from a term like "flicker-free technically"). But perhaps bulbs from this list are worth a try.

Edit: Bought the Rossmann bulb, pretty obvious 100 Hz flicker:

Ttomek · Oct 10, 2021

Due rising price of energy in Poland I’ve decided to give one more chance to LEDs bulb’s. I’ve tried some before but with no luck. I went to local building store and bought for testing some Osram and Philips bulbs. With first one direct strain, but Philips felt no bad on start. So I gave it try. After 2 days felt little discomfort but no strain as with other bulbs, maybe it was due stronger power of this leds. Now after 2 weeks I can say that I feel no strain at all also with other bulbs with sign Philips eye care. Now I’m switching whole home to LEDs. They are no expensive so if you have this in your store you can give it try.

I also use GU10

all with warm white 2700k and classic bulbs

Philips website:

https://www.usa.lighting.philips.com/consumer/led-lights/eyecomfort

LLukasz1 · Dec 30, 2021

tomek

These filament light bulbs did not work for me. After a few minutes under its lights and I started to feel eye fatigue. The same product number product number, bought in Poland as well.

Ttomek · Dec 30, 2021

Lukasz1 wiesz co, ja też tak miałem na początku. Daj im chwile, ważne dla mnie było 2700k, bo zimniejsze tez mnie od razu bolała głowa. Do tych z większa mocą tez musiałem się chwile przyzwyczajać. Te z castoramy GU10 od razu mi pasowały.

Rrumpty · Feb 26, 2022

rumpty Sorry guys, but these bulbs actually do flicker after much testing - I wouldn't recommend getting them. Worth paying the extra money and getting the Waveform flicker free bulbs if you can get your hands on them.