Rated 4 out of 5 by Jayy Recommend
These bulbs are great, especially for the cost. There is no warm-up period like CFL's. They are also brighter than the CFL's they replaced. Only complaint is that they are much shorter. As a result, they are 3" deeper into the recessed lighting can. Don't let that stop you though, I would definitely recommend buying. I plan on buying more as soon as there is a sale or I get a coupon code. Unfortunately, it seems as if they always exclude LED bulbs from sales and specials.
September 29, 2012
Rated 5 out of 5 by Jhens Great choice for the $$$$
I just purchased 30 of these R20 Kobi 2700k led's to convert my Houseboat over to save energy. I have a inverter system on my houseboat to run everything at nite so we don't have to run the generator when we are off the dock. It has a control panel that shows me amps in out etc. I replaced 25 45 watt incandescent r20 bulbs with these led's and what a difference in power consumption. My battery's before would run all the lights,tv's,fridge etc 8 to 9 hours now with the led,s installed it will last over 30hrs it was pulling 145a before now it pulls 29a with all the lights on after they warm up. I can't believe I waited this long, My house is next. The color is also great it's a little cleaner look than the 45w r20 incandescent's. great value.
May 18, 2013
Rated 5 out of 5 by fish exactly as described
I switched from CFL's to these LED lights in the kitchen/dining room where I have 12 recessed lights. These are definitely dimmable, and goes down almost to zero. It starts out immediately, and then dims a little (opposite of CFL), but not by much. What I like about these are that they are almost affordable, and the color temperature is pleasant, and not harsh white.
Highly recommend them.
March 14, 2013
Rated 2 out of 5 by 444rose Only good for certain applications, in my opinion.
I should have listened to the other reviews, although others complained about the size of the bulb, i did not find it to be a problem because i had extenders anyway, but the light color is awful for my family/TV Cinema room, the color is far from warm white, more like cool white, w/a bluish hue, further, my Lutron Dimmers that have a slider and a paddle switch at the bottom could not sufficiently dim these lamps, at the lowest dimable setting, the lights were brighter than the r-20 incandescent counterparts, and lastly, if i turned the lights off on the lowest dimmer setting, upon turning them on, they would not light till you slide the slider 3/4 up until they illuminated, so there maybe a special dimmer needed for these led bulbs. I only bought 5 to test them, i wound up removing them from the family room immediately and reinstalled them in other 4" cans in other parts of the house like a hallway and other areas that bright undimmed light was needed. i would not recommend these bulbs for a setting that you like to dim deeply, stick w/incandescent as long as they are available.
February 27, 2013
Rated 4 out of 5 by tnlegendracer Hope they're as good as the 12W.
Just as described. Quicker to start than some other LEDs' I've used.
November 26, 2012
Rated 3 out of 5 by DarrenU ok product, but look at other options
I tried 4 different types of R20s to replace older bulbs while satisfying my wife who was used to the incandescent ones. I tried the TCP 2700K CFL, the TCP 2400K LED, the TCP 2700K LED, and the Kobi 2700K LED.
The CFLs were the cheapest but they do take 30-40 seconds to warm up and give you full light. I didin't have a light meter but would guess you get maybe half the light (maybe less?) when you turn it on cold, then it gradually gets brighter. That's fine for applications where you're going to leave the light on, but it's not a good choice for entryways or other rooms you go in and out of often, so it got vetoed.
The LEDs are more expensive but come on immediately.
The TCP 2400K LED appeared slightly yellower than incandescents so that got vetoed too.
The Kobi appeared to me to be whiter than our incandescents and whiter than the 2700K TCPs, even though it was nominally the same 2700K color. Kobi also prints their name and the bulb info on the FRONT of the bulb where it's visible when the light is on, which I thought was annoying.You also see 14 separate LED lights on the Kobi as opposed to one point of light on the rest. That wasn't a big deal to me but it will stand out if you want a bulb that looks like an incandescent.
So the verdict for us was the TCP 2700K LED, It's virtually indistinguishable from an incandescent. It IS expensive unfortunately, but it uses only 9W and is supposed to last 23 years. If it does, it'll more than pay itself off while allowing us to "go green". It only seems to come in the dimmable version at the moment but you can use them in your on/off sockets no problem.
Hopefully this experimenting will help someone else from having to go through the same process. Good luck. I don't work for any of the companies mentioned!
July 28, 2012