R20 light bulb replacement.

[Short Round]

I am looking for reliable brand recommendations so I don’t have a Chinese meltdown in my can lights.

My current bulbs in the recessed cans in the kitchen are Phillips R20 bulbs with the standard light bulb socket. Standard incandescent types and some of them have made it two years but a lot never made it that far. Granted the biggest problem is they’re probably not handling the kitchen cabinet doors snapping shut well. They euro hinges kind of snap closed near the end. I try to remember to soft close them. I have gone through a big box of these since I moved in. Not sure how many bulbs in the Phillips box as I threw the box out last time I swapped out four dead bulbs and just packed the dead ones in the box for the trash.

Anyway I was hoping to replace the incandescent R20 with with a quality R20 LEDs. The trouble is when I go to amazon I don’t recognize many of the makers. I have had curly the fluorescents get hot and burn out their base before leaving burn marks. I would like to skip that! Besides who wants mercury vapor in the house.

Is there a GJ tried and true go to brand?

 

[cybrdyke]

Philips probably makes the best screw base LED bulbs. You'll probably find an R20 or a BR20 at Home Depot.
Satco products are also good.
All the no-name brands you find on the internet are junk.
Good luck,
CD

 

[Short Round]

Thank you. There are so many of those “never heArd of it” brands and expected that the majority won’t live up to their claims and if they really bomb out they will just pop up under another label. I’m sure there are multiple brands on the same junk too. Trying to avoid the roulette wheel bad choice.

 

[rhastings80]

I bought a bunch of these Cree bulbs. They are great but about 8 bucks each. https://www.homedepot.com/p/Cree-75..._pcrid_222656100686_pkw__pmt_b_product__slid_

 

[DieselNut88]

Sylvania ultras are great and easy to find. We get TCP brand bulbs from our supplier which are also great bulbs.

 

[bigb56]

Why not go with retrofits and dump the old, unsightly and leaky baffle trims?

 

[yeldogt]

Why not go with retrofits and dump the old, unsightly and leaky baffle trims?

Don't like them -- light is terrible, visible and no direction ... defeats the whole reason for recessed.

 

[Short Round]

Don't like them -- light is terrible, visible and no direction ... defeats the whole reason for recessed.

Yea I’d have to see them lit first I think.

So far I’ve seen online Philips, Westinghouse (which were more money) and Feit which I’m not real familiar with brand wise.

 

[PhysicsDude]

CREE bulbs are top notch, along with Phillips.

I've had good luck with EcoSmart bulbs, which is like the Home Depot generic brand, a little cheaper, but still better than the chinese junk you find online.

Why not just get the Phillips LED lights? $6/bulb is not a bad price for Phililps LEDs.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B014392GX2/?tag=atomicindus08-20

You could also consider getting soft close hinges for your cabinet doors, you get them for like $5/each if you buy in bulk, and you typically only need to replace 1 hinge per door. I personally think soft close hinges are a must have in a modern kitchen.

 

[bigb56]

Don't like them -- light is terrible, visible and no direction ... defeats the whole reason for recessed.

What do you mean "the light is terrible?" There are dozens of color temps and CRI's available many of which rival incandescent, and fully dimmable. No direction? They do come in directional gimbals. Visible? How are they more visible than an R20 or R30 in a baffle trim??

We have installed literally thousands of these over the last five years or so with exactly two customers objecting to the 3K light, which was resolved with 2700s. The vast majority of the public is thrilled with them.

Anyway my suggestion was directed toward the OP who is looking for a solution for kitchen lighting.

 

[yeldogt]

What do you mean "the light is terrible?" There are dozens of color temps and CRI's available many of which rival incandescent, and fully dimmable. No direction? They do come in directional gimbals. Visible? How are they more visible than an R20 or R30 in a baffle trim??

We have installed literally thousands of these over the last five years or so with exactly two customers objecting to the 3K light, which was resolved with 2700s. The vast majority of the public is thrilled with them.

Anyway my suggestion was directed toward the OP who is looking for a solution for kitchen lighting.

They make for ugly light IMO -- don't like to see the bulb. I never liked the cheap can lights either because the bulbs sit flush with the ceilings. It's an ugly way to light a room. And the so called directional ones .. are really not very directional.

It depends on the amount of glare you want or can stand.

 

[Short Round]

CREE bulbs are top notch, along with Phillips.

I've had good luck with EcoSmart bulbs, which is like the Home Depot generic brand, a little cheaper, but still better than the chinese junk you find online.

Why not just get the Phillips LED lights? $6/bulb is not a bad price for Phililps LEDs.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B014392GX2/?tag=atomicindus08-20

You could also consider getting soft close hinges for your cabinet doors, you get them for like $5/each if you buy in bulk, and you typically only need to replace 1 hinge per door. I personally think soft close hinges are a must have in a modern kitchen.

If I was building new I would have them. I might redo the kitchen at some point. The original builder put in decent looking but probably lower mid grade cabinets. I have considered making the whole kitchen bigger. More projects before that. I might look into swapping out a couple hinges though that’s not unreasonable.

 

[Short Round]

As far as color temps neither is wrong. Everybody has a preference.

For general lighting I like yellow that simulates incandescent. It just feels right if you grew up with incandescent. I liken it to when the radio actual plays off vinyl for a change. My ear suddenly notices the subtle needle hiss in the background. I think it’s subconsciously reassuring. Younger ears would probably notice it as a defect. Yea I am getting old.

My wall sconces had 4000 curly cue fluorescents which I hated. I left them in for a while because they were there. As they failed to half gone with a mix of incandescent replacements. I bought GE LEDs for cheap on sale. I bought their daylight and soft white types. Well their daylight was way too harsh at 5000. Their soft white was 2700 and nicely yellow and not irritating. Perfect for general lighting. While I can read a book under a 2700 I would use the 5000 for more detailed oriented work like a work area.

I’m just getting this color spectrum thing down. My garage four footers nfrom Platonic Solids thread I got in 4400 and they’re about right for a workshop and I think my upper limit.

Well if Philips is still recognized as a good product I will probably buy theirs as they seem commonly available. Probably just use amazon and find them on my door step when I get home. Saves an hour round trip.

 

[Short Round]

Thank you for your experience and counsel.

ETA I bought a six pack of Phillips from amazon.