Customer Reviews

MR16 3x1 Watt LED Spot Light Bulb 20W, warm white, 1230WW

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

We had three 35W bulbs and five 20W bulbs for a total of 8 bulbs in our front yard. They were installed by a landscaper, so unsure of brand or reason for varying wattages. These are used in an urban environment for the dual purpose of ornamentally highlighting the home and for adding extra light (security) for passersby on the sidewalk. They aim light up the side of the house, through small bushes and small trees.

Because LEDs are new I just ordered one of these 3W LEDs. I was concerned about color of the light, lumens, and width of the beam. I was also concerned about whether or not this MR16 LED would fit into the landscape light fixtures.

We were unable to tell the difference between the color, lumens, or beam width between this LED and the pre-existing 20W and 35W bulbs. That raises the question of why we can't notice a difference between the 20W and 35W bulbs. After consideration, it's probably the outdoor use and application that makes it difficult to notice. The outdoor lenses are covered in dust and dirt. All of these lights shoot upward toward the house through bushes, trees, or other plants. '

We would, however, perceive a color change. We tried other LEDs inside the home and note that they have a green color compared to incandescents. In contrast, these 3W MR16's (warm white version) have a light color indistinguishable from the 20W and 35W halogens the landscaper had installed - presumably from home depot's lighting aisle.

We'll probably order 7 more of these LED's, which will take our total wattage from 205W to 24W.

The math is pretty interesting on this. Our electric cost is $.11/kwh (from electric bill). These landscape lights probably run about 12hours/day throughout the year (longer in winter, shorter in summer). An online electricity cost calculator says that the current 205Watt MR16 setup costs $98.50 per year. The new 24W LED system will cost $11.50 per year; electric bill savings of $87/year. Amazon is selling these for $12.50, so it's $100 for eight bulbs.

Of course, the number of hours that the old bulbs last is much lower than the expected lifetime of the new LED's, which would be part of a cost-comparison, but that's really an open question. In other words, when CFL's were claiming great efficiencies and extended bulb life, we believed the packages but were disappointed. Some of the CFL's burned out faster than incandescents because we installed them into places with frequent on/off switching. For that reason, we'll just wait to see how this LED makes it through the winter.

I used this product to successfully replace my 50 Watt halogen bulbs which are on a low voltage track light with a dimmer. They are not quite as bright as the 50 Watt halogen bulbs but I had those dimmed 30% so for my application it is perfect. As for dimming, the LED is dimmable but isn't capable of dimming to extremely low light levels like a halogen bulb. The only negative with the new bulbs is that with their riveted exterior makes it somewhat difficult to squeeze them in between the brackets on my track light fixtures.

I did some quick math on my application and because I spend 10 cents per kWh and use the bulbs about 4 hours per day, the new bulbs will pay for themselves in 1.8 years with an IRR of 47%. For my 24 bulbs I will spend $300 and save $165 per year. I'll take that kind of return all day long. This doesn't even include the fact that LEDs will last significantly longer than halogen bulbs or that they emit less heat (which is a factor as I live in Arizona).

These are very bright even in warm white. And reasonably priced. Highly recommend. Swapped out my MR16s out front and my wife had no idea. Put one next to an MR16, it is VERY close. And my total measured usage went from 445W to 115W yahoo! Problem I have is these are wonderful but I need more floods instead of spots and they are more expensive?

I bought the MR16 3x1 Watt LED Spot Light Bulb 20W, warm white, 1230WW to replace a handful of 20W halogen landscape bulbs. In terms of light quality, I can not tell a single bit of difference between the LED bulbs and the halogen bulbs in terms of brightness, color, etc. I now have some halogens and some LEDs and they match each other exactly. From a cost perspective, these are a GREAT deal at $12ish per bulb vs. $7ish for a halogen and $20 for an LED from the local big box. I have no idea how long these bulbs will last, but they should last a good long time if the perform as advertised, which makes this price point, when combined with electricity savings, very attractive. I will note that I bought one of the "white" bulbs when Amazon was temporarily out of the "warm white" bulbs and the light is a lot brighter/harsher -- nothing wrong with that, but if you are looking to replace or augment halogens, go with the warm white.

I've been looking for LED replacements for my Malibu yard lights (purchased on Home Depot). These bulbs replaced the MR16 style bulbs found in two of my Malibu light fixtures- the 50W Cast Metal Flood Light (8301-9601-01) and the 35W Well Light (8301-9500-01). The bulbs fit both of these fixtures perfectly fine.

The bulbs arrived in great condition and there was nothing special to replacing the old bulbs.

The light output is almost equal to my 50W spots and greater than my 35W well light and looks the same as the original halogen bulbs that came with the fixtures. These bulbs are available in the cooler light but I opted for the warm light version which looks the same.

So:

1) Perfect replacement bulbs.

2) No heat output at all.

3) Same light.

4) And, for me, I'm saving over 120 watts of power just with these 3 lights alone meaning lower electricity bills.

5) LED lasts longer than halogen.

If you're looking for LED replacements for your Malibu yard lighting system, these fit the two models I mentioned perfectly and look almost identical.

If you have bi-pin halogen or MR11 style bulbs, I bought those too- see the review of those: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002L4L606/ref=oss_product

Updated:

Choosing a LED is a hard thing (even for a professional landscape light person like myself)

Now that the bulbs have come WAY down in price, it makes sense that everyone start considering switching. Less wattage means less money. At an electric cost running around $0.14 per Kilowatt-hours cutting your wattage down can really pay off over time. This LED light bulb gives a nice light with the light spectrum slighting cooler (more white guessing closer to 3150k-3450k) than a standard halogen 35 watt bulb 2800-3050, acceptable. I think ALL the LED manufacturers need to design their LED bulbs so they are slighting shorter than a standard halogen bulb. I find these will not fit in all MR16 enclosed fixtures. For the price, they can not be beat, even just to try one. Time will tell how they hold up. If you are using this on red brick or a white brick/siding home or a white river birch or green shrubs, these are perfect. Anything dark brown you probably will need to try another more warmer (yellow) type of LED.

I bought Multiple different LED brand MR16s to try out to find the BEST; I will review each and update each of my 'reviews' as I can.

FYI:

Standard Halogen Bulbs give a 2750k-3050k color. The colorer closer to white/blue would go into the 3550-10000 range. Normal Daylight spectrum is around 5500k-7500k and usually are very hard on the eyes to look at night. If you are lighting things that are white or green. This is a great light.

Bulb Lumens or LM are affected by voltage reading at the bulb, if less than 12 volts, dimmer, more than 12 volts brighter, if voltage is not in range of 10.5 and 12 volts, bulb will burn out faster. LED bulbs have wider voltage ranges, and tend not to change brightness in these larger ranges like other halogen bulbs.

EG: 10 Watt Halogen=100+/- lumens ; 15 watt gr4=150+/- lumens; 20 Watt g4 Halogen=200+/- lumens; 35 Watt mr16 Halogen=320+/- lumens; 50 Watt MR16 Halogen= 590+ to 1500+ Lumens

Halogen bulbs last around 1,000 to 5,000 hrs depending on voltages idelaly (10.5-12v)... LED bulbs 20,000 to 50,000 hrs not so much dependant on voltage changes (8-16v).

If this review helps, please let me know by commenting or hitting the YES button below.

So far so good with my "test bulb" for my outdoor landscape lights. It has lasted 5 months now, through a few storms to boot. The color is a warm white, not blue/white, matching the halogens I have everywhere else. Hopefully these will save money in the long haul to make up for the high sticker price. I'll be replacing the halogens, as they die off, with these ones.

Awesome, replaced all of my 50 watt Halogen bulbs for all new LED bulbs. They have the moset natural warm light I have been able to find in an LED. The bulbs stated they are equivilet to 20-30 watt halogen but I have to say they are very close to the 50 watts I replaced. You have to strain hard to tell the difference. Great value for what you receive. 3.7 watts versus 50 watts its a now brainer. 500 watts down to 30.7 watts total. Great product fast shipping. You wont be dissappointed.

I really like this light. It is only 3 watts yet it appears brighter than my 55 watt warm white white halogen lamp while producing much less heat. The pictures don't lie this thing is really bright at a great price. I will definitely be buying more and would recommend them to anyone looking to save money.

Not sure after paying a higher price to save energy and money for a LED blub, I am very disappointed that the bulb just made it for a year and then died on me. I almost believe it is a big marketing scam, since I have now several energy light blubs failing. Don't give me wrong the part of saving energy is great, but not when you have to replace the 10 x 15 times higher priced bulbs every year.