# PAR 30 Bulbs



## AeR0 (Mar 16, 2014)

hey guys... currently having a bit of a hard time with some light bulbs.


i have 6 in lights in my basement that i need to replace, they must be dimmable. Currently ive been using a par 30 sylvania 75W bulb.


need to go to something that is uses alot less energy.


any help?


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## Wuzzat? (Mar 16, 2014)

Just did one of these.  The lamp socket could stand 60w max and I wanted a bulb that is 
100W equivalent, 
2700K color temp,
not a flood or a spot, and 
dimmable.  

HD didn't have it so I got it online, an LED assembly about the size of a 100w bulb.  The range of control leaves something to be desired but overall I'm OK with it.  It has a low hum that you can hear within a few feet.

The take away for this was, the more constraints you have the less chance you will find it in a bricks and mortar store.


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## AeR0 (Mar 16, 2014)

any pics you can show me?


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## Wuzzat? (Mar 16, 2014)

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00B2KUA3Y/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20
Our similar bulb was about $30 including shipping.

If you want half brightness and you go up from zero you get no light.  You have to approach the half brightness from full brightness and go down.


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## AeR0 (Mar 16, 2014)

do i need to change dimmer switch if i put LED lights in?


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## slownsteady (Mar 16, 2014)

You shouldn't have to change the dimmer. The quality of LED bulbs varies a lot so far. And since most of the manufacturers are new names to me, I can't remember which bulb is in which fixture. But some come on instantly, some have a little delay.

They also make dimmable CFL bulbs, which you can find in a big box store. But I am moving away from CFL in favor of LED. More expensive, but CFLs don't seem to last as long as they claim.


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## Wuzzat? (Mar 17, 2014)

That was the other thing; my wife didn't want the spiral tube appearance.


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## havasu (Mar 17, 2014)

I'd recommend checking the dimmable LED lights. I installed 6 in my kitchen and I'm very satisfied, except for the initial costs, which run about ~$40 a piece.


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## slownsteady (Mar 17, 2014)

Wuzzat: your dimmer may be shot.


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## Wuzzat? (Mar 17, 2014)

slownsteady said:


> Wuzzat: your dimmer may be shot.


I suspected that for a while, bought a new one but did not install, then the lamp socket started crackling so I replaced the lamp and I figured it was a lamp socket loose connection.

Anybody else notice my symptom with their dimmable LED bulb?
If no, at some point I should take this new bulb in the basement and hook it to the new dimmer with clip leads to test your idea.  This'd be a half hour, max, but currently I'm doing the taxes and even with the tax course I took I am still pulling out my hair.  My backup plan is Turbo Tax but the odds of me getting the same answers the first time around is close to zero.


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## beachguy005 (Mar 17, 2014)

You can also get r30 dimmable compact fluorescent.


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## slownsteady (Mar 17, 2014)

Wuzzat? said:


> This'd be a half hour, max, but currently I'm doing the taxes and even with the tax course I took I am still pulling out my hair.  My backup plan is Turbo Tax but the odds of me getting the same answers the first time around is close to zero.



when it comes to taxes, I'm definitely not DIY:hide:


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## Wuzzat? (Mar 17, 2014)

Two weeks into the tax course I took at the community college, my tax guy died.  Is this some kind of omen?  I didn't even know he was sick.


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## nealtw (Mar 17, 2014)

Wuzzat? said:


> Two weeks into the tax course I took at the community college, my tax guy died.  Is this some kind of omen?  I didn't even know he was sick.



How much is your time worth?
Have you done a spreadsheet to see how long it will take to recover the cost and time to take the coarse and then the odds that you will miss something perhaps costing some taxes or overstepping the boundries and bringing unwanted attention from the feds.:hide::beer:


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## AeR0 (Mar 17, 2014)

hey to kind of get back onto my original topic 


i went out today and bought some LED retro fit kits for my recessed lights in my downstairs here is the problem i am having is that the top of the LED is hitting inside the socket, and i cannot adjust the socket.


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## nealtw (Mar 17, 2014)

You may have to search a little but bulb extensions are made, they just screw in.
http://www.ledwholesalers.com/store/index.php?act=viewProd&productId=855


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## AeR0 (Mar 17, 2014)

beachguy005 said:


> You can also get r30 dimmable compact fluorescent.



tried that the halogens has a smooth bottom like a glass where the CF has a bubbleish design that sticks out ...


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## AeR0 (Mar 17, 2014)

nealtw said:


> You may have to search a little but bulb extensions are made, they just screw in.
> http://www.ledwholesalers.com/store/index.php?act=viewProd&productId=855





i dont need a extension i need the one i have there already to be a bit shorter so i can get the led retro kit to fit in properly.

take this video to 2:12
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9oCX_ZBga5A[/ame]


that is what i need, i cannot move my socket up or down.


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## nealtw (Mar 17, 2014)

I don't know what is allowed but looks like you could pullthe can and remove the socket and wire the connecting wire directly.


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## Wuzzat? (Mar 17, 2014)

So there are mechanical constraints on matching bulbs to fixtures and we don't know and maybe cannot know what they are in advance.

Incandescent bulbs somehow seemed to do a much better job of not having these problems.

Maybe me not having this kind of problem was the exception and not the rule. 

So back to the bricks and mortar store and this time you try each energy saving candidate bulb in several of their fixtures.  The problem is you'd need to check with a multimeter if the bulb is making contact and I doubt the store clerks would put up with that.
A cardboard profile of the bulb might also work and it's not difficult to make one.


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## AeR0 (Mar 17, 2014)

solved my problem tonight... found one that had a more shallow inside and it works wonderful!


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## slownsteady (Mar 17, 2014)

So, the video shows a self-contained LED unit - not just simply a screw-in LED bulb. is that what you got? And why did you choose it? I'm curious to know if it works better / is more cost effective etc.


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## CallMeVilla (Mar 18, 2014)

Hope this is helpful ...  Just finished installing about 30 of these retrofit kits for old recessed lights.  The LEDs are dimmable and do not hum.  The light is really white and quite bright ... brighter than the "squiggly" bulbs which had been there.

The kits are available at Home Depot and manufactured in Canada.  They are easy to install per this video:

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HqrwlHf7fkc[/ame]

ONE NOTE:  A pigtail screws into the standard socket.  It clips into the wire connector on the light.  They have had manufacturing problems with certain runs on the pigtails ... requiring replacement.  The company is excellent at providing new pictails ... free ... and promptly.


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## Wuzzat? (Mar 18, 2014)

I guess one moral of this story is to get one of these outline drawings 
http://www.google.com/search?q=LED+...%2Fwww.kamidenki.jp%2Fled_resq_e.html;227;227
before you relamp downlights with CFLs or LEDs.


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## slownsteady (Mar 18, 2014)

Yeah, but why? 
Sure the installation is pretty easy looking, but what is the advantage of the this unit over a regular screw-in LED bulb. The earlier video claimed the unit was water resistant, so that's good in a bathroom for instance. It seems like heat is the enemy of the electronics in all of these new bulbs, so how does this unit shed heat?

Warranted for 30 years?! The company won't be around that long!


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## Wuzzat? (Mar 18, 2014)

slownsteady said:


> Warranted for 30 years?! The company won't be around that long!


It seems you're right.
http://www.technologyreview.com/view/519226/technology-is-wiping-out-companies-faster-than-ever/
Kinda' puts a new slant on warranties.  :

I guess the companies really believe they will be around forever so a warranty over 20 years is not a lie, it's just very likely a false statement.

Today I have learned something and it's all the fault of that guy from Joisey!  

BTW, for a long time I lived 6000' W of the GW Bridge.


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## slownsteady (Mar 18, 2014)

> Today I have learned something and it's all the fault of that guy from Joisey!
> BTW, for a long time I lived 6000' W of the GW Bridge.



Funny, I lived on LI for about 4 months, but I am Brooklyn born!


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## slownsteady (Mar 18, 2014)

> I guess the companies really believe they will be around forever so a warranty over 20 years is not a lie, it's just very likely a false statement.



Yep. First of all, it's an easy bet for a CEO to make - that the business won't last. It could fold or be sold or they can just change names to avoid their commitments.

But it's not just that. Companies like Nutone are just ignoring their warrantees on old products. I have a Nutone bathroom fixture (light, fan, heater) that I installed about 25 years ago. (first, give them credit that the unit works at all, and that they replaced parts in the early years).

The problem is that it is *warranted for life* and they are not supporting it any longer. I bought it with that warranty in mind, and I have not breached my part of the deal. Now that it needs a new fan, they are just saying "NO". (just a little rant... didn't mean to pollute the thread)


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## nealtw (Mar 18, 2014)

slownsteady said:


> Yep. First of all, it's an easy bet for a CEO to make - that the business won't last. It could fold or be sold or they can just change names to avoid their commitments.
> 
> But it's not just that. Companies like Nutone are just ignoring their warrantees on old products. I have a Nutone bathroom fixture (light, fan, heater) that I installed about 25 years ago. (first, give them credit that the unit works at all, and that they replaced parts in the early years).
> 
> The problem is that it is *warranted for life* and they are not supporting it any longer. I bought it with that warranty in mind, and I have not breached my part of the deal. Now that it needs a new fan, they are just saying "NO". (just a little rant... didn't mean to pollute the thread)


We as buyers always consider life as ,as long as we live, the seller is thinking, the life of the product. Somewhere in the warrentee you will find a well thought out and ambiguous statement that could take them off the hook.


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## slownsteady (Mar 18, 2014)

I looked carefully, didn't find any excuse. 
Actually for the last several years, whenever a salesman says "it's guaranteed for life", I ask, "whose life, yours or mine?"


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## nealtw (Mar 18, 2014)

Warrenteed against faulty material or workmanship for the life of the product, is somewhat the standard line. Even if you could prove a product should last twice as long, you would be intitled to half you money back or you would pay half price for a new one, that would likely be their wholesale price and they would loose nothing.


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## slownsteady (Mar 18, 2014)

You would think that it would be totally worth it for a company to preserve their reputation.

My apologies to OP. did not mean to hijack this.


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