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[bkenobi]

Costco sells 2 versions of the Feit LED PAR30 bulb.  One is a 5000K and the other is 3200K (from memory).  The lower color one is noticeably cheaper, but I don't know what the light quality is for the different versions.  Does anyone have an opinion on whether 3200K is good for a living/TV room?  I just replaced a burned out incandescent last night in one of these fixtures and dropped the ladder.  I'm tired of dealing with this location and LED would solve it once and for all (I hope).

[racerfern]

5000k is stark white almost bluish. I use 2700k in the "living" areas as it is a soft pleasing light and 3000k in the kitchen where I like it bright.

Do a google image search for "color temperature chart".

[dave w]

3200K is about the same color as a 100W incandescent. A halogen bulb will be about 3600K if that is any help.

[bkenobi]

Reviews for the ones at Costco don't look too promising.  I'm not sure if these are the same as what users here have tried, but it looks like there are possible issues with dimming, life span, and FM interference.  I can get them for ~$2/bulb (the same as my incandescent) but other than those burning out somewhat frequently (they last ~1-2 years), I have had no issues.  I think I'll keep using the incandescent bulbs until they run out and look again.

[racerfern]

Depending on the bulb source, LED bulbs are closing in on the price of incandescent bulbs. Fortunately, the power consumption is nowhere near the incandescent equivalent. Unfortunately, it's almost impossible to figure out which ones are the good ones. I've had one LED failure (sheer luck I fear) in my house over the last 18 months (+/-50 bulbs) and the supplier sent me two as replacement for the one failure. Energetic Lighting and Hyperikon stand out as superior but I'm sure there are many other top names.

[JeffVolp]

I'm not sure if these are the same as what users here have tried, but it looks like there are possible issues with dimming, life span, and FM interference.

The Feit PAR30 and BR30 LED bulbs we bought were about $17 each a couple of years ago.  All are still running fine, and I have noticed no interference on anything.  A set of 3 on a 2-wire dimmer switch didn't work until I put one incandescent back.

Jeff

[rroscoe]

I found that Sylvania LED9BR30/DIM/827/10YV floodlights [dimmable] work just great with an X10 lamp module but when I decided to try them in fixtures connected to an X10 wall switch module, they don't work well at all!  The don't dim all the way down like they do with the lamp module, and once turned on they won't shut off with the remote.

I suspect this has something to do with the wall switch module being wired in series with the fixtures, while the lamp module provides dimming current to both prongs of the lamp attached to it.

Does anybody have a fix for this problem?

Thanks,
Ron

[Brian H]

Your suspicions are correct.

The two wire X10 Dimmer Switches. Get their power through the load and are made for incandescent bulbs only.

The Lamp Modules get their power from the Line and Neutral AC input on the back side. So they do not have to steal power through the Load. Many dimmable LED bulbs will work. Though not all of them will. Trial and error sometimes has to be used to find ones that work.

Do you have a Neutral Power connection in the X10 switch boxes?
I have seen modifications to add a Neutral Power connection to them.
I have seen a post saying dimmable LEDs where working.
Another way maybe leaving one old incandescent bulb in the circuit.

[racerfern]

FWIW, I have an older X10 dimmer without a neutral. It powers four BR40 Hyperion LED bulbs that work almost perfectly. No flickering, 100% brightness and nothing on when off. The only downside is they really only dim to about 30%, not a true down to a candle brightness. I can easily live with that shortcoming since it's a room that should never be really dim anyways.