Cree BA21-16027OMF-12DE26-1U100 100-watt Equivalent LED Light Bulb, Soft White

EDIT: Burned out suddenly today after 1.5 years of very light use in my closet with no enclosure and thus no chance of overheating due to anything other than defect. It was left on for approximately 4 hours, was manually turned off, and will no longer turn back on in any fixture. Gently shaking the bulb produced a rattling noise. Although I really loved this bulb, the lifespan is simply unacceptable unless my case was simply a rare defect. It has lasted significantly shorter than a standard incandescent. I'm knocking off three stars for now, and will reevaluate after I attempt to claim a warranty. ____________________ A few years ago I switched my personal incandescent out for high-wattage "Full Spectrum" (5500k) Compact Fluorescent bulbs. The extra brightness, cooler color, lower heat, and greater (approximately double) lifespan were all great. I saved a bit of power (85w instead of 100) but the impact was rather negligible, especially considering I live in an apartment with included utility costs. This however is not a review of CFLs. About a week ago, I started switching out the (standard low wattage normal spectrum building supplied ones, not ones I personally bought) CF bulbs outside of my typical workspace (bathroom, hallways, etc) with "warm" (2700k) dimmable LED bulbs. Although I do not prefer the yellower/redder color (other family members insisted on an incandescent-like look) and lower brightness compared to my personal 5500k CFLs, they are still a clear improvement in both regards over the generic CFLs they replaced. The SIGNIFICANTLY lower power consumption, lower heat output, greater longevity, and the ability to dim the bulbs (with varying levels of success depending on the bulb) are all pretty awesome. This is still not a review of 2700k LEDs however. What this IS a review of, is the absolutely lovely 18W 5000k A21 CREE LED. This thing is simply amazing. The last batch of LEDs inspired me to try one of the purer white, higher wattage LEDs for my closet when it's bulb burned out a few days ago. CREE is a name I've heard a lot about in the flashlight world, and this bulb had all the specs I was looking for, so I gave it a shot. Despite the 5000k rating on this LED and the 5500k rating on my large CFL bulbs, this guy actually gives off a cooler, purer white. Despite the lower wattage (18 vs 20) compared to the next strongest LED from another company I've tried, it is actually a brighter bulb (or perhaps it just appears that way due to the whiter light, but we are humans, with human eyeballs, so what appears bright is what functionally is bright as far as I'm concerned). Despite the higher watt rating and smaller heatsinks compared to smaller LEDs from other companies, this CREE bulb is actually cooler to the touch. It isn't quite as bright as my ridiculously large and expensive 85W CFL bulbs, but it isn't far off either. It even comes in particularly well thought out packaging and has an excellent fit and finish to its build. The "glass" (plastic?) part of the bulb even has a nice rubberized coating on it that gives it a frosted look and soft grippy feel. To top it all off, it has a longer warranty than any of the other bulbs I've tried. The only downsides I can see to this bulb are the obviously high cost, and the slightly less evenly distributed light output compared to a few of the high end competitors I've tried (but honestly, you practically have to look directly at the lit bulb itself to notice. If CREE made this bulb in a higher brightness (25w perhaps?) model, I would gladly gobble them up and replace all of my remaining high watt CF bulbs.

Quite satisfied so far - light output good (comparable to 100w incandescents), light color good, amazing simulation of filament glow of old soft white bulbs from years past (not terribly important to me), no audible noise. Can't comment on life yet - but counting on Cree's reputation (I only buy Philips and Cree) - cheapy competitors may have lower initial price tag, but if life is shorter, they cost you far more in the long run. I bought mine from Amazon at $15.99, which was a good price, but at over $19 currently, I feel they are now above their pricepoint. Not necessarily blaming Amazon for this, but having worked in electronics for several decades I know that as newer products gain in popularity and thus sell larger quantities, it is the norm for prices of electronics to trend DOWNWARD, never up - - there may be some illegal "price-fixing" going on here!

UPDATE: 14 months later. This expensive bulb with a 10 year warranty died after 14 months of occasional use in the garage. I'm dropping my star rating from 3 down to 1. Now I'll see how good (or bad) Cree is with their warranty service.... This 100 watt Cree bulb CANNOT BE USED IN ENCLOSURED FIXTURES. Why isn't this restriction stated in the details on Amazon?? I bought this bulb for a garage door opener thinking that LED bulbs would generate no heat. Then I read the small print on the package and on the bulb saying not for enclosured fixtures. I would've given it just 1 star for this understated restriction but the bulb is so bright and white in an open ceiling socket in the garage that I bumped it up to 3 stars. If this expensive bulb were to last say 5 years I would give it 4 stars. But based on other reviews it has a high fail rate. If this bulb lasted say 4 years and could be used in enclosured fixtures I would give it 5 stars. Six weeks later: I wrote to [email protected] making this suggestion: Dear Cree Representative: Consumers need complete, standardized information when buying LED or CFL bulbs. Its very frustrating to find out bulb restrictions (only shown in the fine print or stamped in microprint on the bulb) AFTER a bulb has been purchased. I suggest ALL of this info be printed in an easy to read font size on the outside packaging: Dimmable: yes or no Useable in damp locations: yes or no For outside ground use: yes or no Useable inside lens enclosures: yes or no Useable in a fixture rated for xx watts incandescent. Useable upside down. And clearly print any other restrictions on the outside packaging. The first company to do this will increase their sales before the other companies get wise.