the past week, after being repeatedly told we were living like moles (in the dark) i finally got around to buying a replacement light for under the cabinets (and over the counter where we do a lot of prep work). it's the most frequently and most extensively used light in the house.
a replacement CFL bulb was about $9. uck! i've replaced enough of these bulbs over the past few years and even replaced the light too when the old one fried some component so it was time to look at LED replacement options. the battery operated stuff doesn't make much sense to me at all. why spend a lot of money for an efficient fixture and then waste the benefits by using batteries? i mean, what are they thinking??? the other options were the wire lines of LEDs and a direct wired type like the one i was replacing. $35 is a bit steep, but at new bulbs running $9 each i think i'll be ahead after a few years.
direct wiring, always fun, especially when you get the thing apart and realize the wire from the wall is short and the wire connectors inside the light are also not long enough. hmm, thought i was going to have to become more extreme to get some more wire length out of the wall, but it turned out i could squeek another inch on the wire and so it would hold long enough after i twisted it on. certainly did some choice wording about the process along the way.
however, once it was back up and the power turned back on the new light certainly is much brighter than what we had before. in fact, it is almost too bright. i'm sure we'll get used to it... :)
LED prices continue to fall. per lumen the least expensive non-dimmable bulbs are about half of what they were a year ago. picked up a three pack and used them to replace the useless lights over the sink with much brighter lights and the spare went in here so i can test it for a photography project. eventually the track lighting will get replaced, a lot of 60w and
75w bulbs getting towards the end of their time.songbird