LED Lightbulbs and antique lamps

[TreasonousBastard]

4. I'd suggest you look for a CFL that fits...

I know all the talk is about LEDs, but a direct comparison between LEDs and compact fluorescents show very little difference in "wattage per lumen" so there's no effect on your electric bill whichever you choose.

LEDs also have really lousy color. There's something called the "color rendering index", or CRI, used by lighting engineers and designers where 100 is perfect and anything below about 85 is crap. Fluorescents can be found in the 90s, while LEDs are up there are extremely rare and tend to cluster around 70. Incandescents and quartz/halogen are about 100.

And the the price-- 10-25 bucks for a dim bulb with lousy color?

There's no reason why LEDs won't become cost effective and have better light in the future, and some say they should be there now, but for now there's little reason to go there. The one big problem with CFLs in your case is that the more light you want, usually the bigger the bulb, so you are limited in wattage if you want to fit under that harp.


And, incandescent bulbs haven't completely disappeared, just some shapes and wattages. Quartz halogen, which are slightly more efficient than incandescent, might be around forever.