Picture of the Cree™ 60w LED daylight 5000k dimmable A19 light bulb, operating in bedroom lamp.

CREE 60w LED Daylight Dimmable Light Bulb Review

We have a couple of the daylight white CREE LED dimmable daylight 60w light bulb in the A19 form factor.  Now they’re well on their way to lasting as long as CREE predicts.  If they make it, they’ll pay for themselves at least several times by the time they burn out. So far, we’ve had none stop working.





CREE 60w LED Daylight 5000k Dimmable Light Bulb Intro

We’ve used two 9-watt (60-watt incandescent equivalent) units as kitchen counter lights for nearly four years now.  These bulbs have run in that time, at least ten hours per day, and haven’t burned out. While lasting so long, they cost us only $13 apiece at Home Depot in 2013. But a hot filament light bulb would have gone out at least a few times in that same period!  So LEDs like this one are indeed a step forward in lighting tech.

Picture of the A19 LED bulb, held in hand.
Cree™ 60w LED daylight 5000k dimmable A19 light bulb, held in hand.

Cree™ LED bulbs run silently, without buzzing, even when dimmed.  On radios, they’re also very quiet; generating no detectable interference on the AM shortwave frequencies most vulnerable to interference.

While a bit harder to clean, you can cut dust buildup by placing the bulb in approved enclosures.  This keeps the dust away, and so, prevents overheating and early burnout.

But though still somewhat pricey, these CREE 60-watt LED light bulbs are now among the most sensible lighting choices.  Finally!  They now make a light bulb that you might never replace again.  That’s not only great for the consumer, but better for the planet as well.

These bulbs sport a big heat sink just above their bases as shown in the pictures.  So they indeed operate with substantial heating.  But they don’t become nearly as hot to the touch as the incandescent bulbs. But you still want to be careful handling them, as when they’ve been operating for over a half-hour. In that case, the heat sink can become too hot to handle.  Even these 60-watt versions can still get too hot to touch.





Benefits, Features, Advantages, and Pros of the CREE 60w LED Daylight Indoor Outdoor Light Bulb

Popular 60 Watt Brightness  

These bulbs come in 40, 60, 75, and 100 watt (we’re reviewing the 60-watt daylight version here) incandescent equivalent outputs.  Note that this rating IS NOT the amount of energy that this LED bulb actually draws from the power line.  Rather, it expresses the amount of equivalent incandescent lamp light output that you get with this bulb.

Cool, Daylight White Light Output

The color temperature of this CREE™ LED bulb is 5000k. This is about the color of light you see from the sky on a bright but overcast day.

The Way More Light per Watt

For the CREE™ 60-watt bulb, you get the same amount of light that an incandescent light bulb emits.  Yet you only pay for 9 watts!    This CREE™ gives 60 watts of “incandescent” light, while drawing just 9 watts.

The CREE 60w LED Daylight Dimmable Light Bulb Runs Cooler

With so much more power actually producing light in LEDs, there is less put into wasteful heat. Indeed, LED bulbs give off far less heat than incandescent bulbs.  In fact, CREE says that their bulbs are much more efficient than incandescent bulbs.

Long Life

They rate these at 25,000 hours average life expectancy.

Durable Build

Does not break easily when dropped.  The globe part appears to be made of a thick glass or very heavy plastic.  And of course, you have that hefty heat sink just above the base.

Instant-On, Full Brightness

You get full brightness almost instantly upon LED turn-on.  No need to “warm up” this bulb.

Near Flicker-Free Light

At full brightness, we detect no perceptible flickers or blinks, no matter the ambient room temperature.  Even when dimmed to very low output values, flicker is a bit noticeable but by no means severe.





Full Brightness, Even in Winter Cold

Like incandescent lighting, but not like compact fluorescent lamps, LED bulbs operate efficiently, even in very cold temperatures.  These CREE™ units are no exception to that rule. you get full luminosity even when the room is freezing cold.

The CREE 60w LED Daylight Dimmable Light Bulb Offers Less Light Loss Over Time

As incandescent bulbs run, the hot filament evaporates some. So the metal from it builds up on the inside of the glass globe.  So, as the bulb nears the end of its service life, its light output has dropped somewhat. This is due to the darkened glass that results from these metal deposits from the evaporating filament.

But this loss of light does not happen as much to LED bulbs.  LEDs retain much more of their new-state brightness over their lifetimes.

Dimmable

This line of CREE LED bulbs works well with standard dimmers. Plus, these bulbs stay quiet no matter how dim you make them.

More Constant Color Rendition Index (CRI) While Dimming

Unlike incandescent bulbs, CREE dimmable LED bulbs do not change color output nearly as much.  This was a big problem in incandescent bulbs, whose color output did change when dimmed.  It would shift from bright white to light yellow. Then to yellow-orange. Then to orange and to orange-red. And finally to deep read as you’d dim them down from full brightness. But with LEDs, even when dimmed to 10 percent of full, you still get mostly daylight (5000 K) output.  Dim an LED, and you get less bright but same-colored light.  The spectral output changes little, no matter how low you turn the dimmer.

Less Radio Interference (EMI, RMI)

These LEDs draw less current through the dimmer, since they’re LEDs. So any switching noise normally heard when dimming incandescent lamps, is cut way down with LEDs.





Less Dust Build Up

With the lower heat output of LEDs, these bulbs run cooler, and so attract less dust and dirt.  The fine dust particles that do accumulate, do not stick as much to these, as they did on incandescent bulbs.

Nearly Omnidirectional

The light spread patterns are very much like traditional incandescent lighting.  They give off light in nearly equal amounts in all directions except for directly underneath the bulb, toward the socket. But they do radiate more light from the sides than from the top. Not much of a problem though in most lamps.

Lightly Frosted Exterior

Softens shadows and helps spread the light more evenly.

The CREE 60w LED Daylight Dimmable Light Bulb has a Ten Year Warranty

Easy to Find in Stores

Home Depot, 1000 Bulbs, and numerous other stores and online vendors carry the CREE™ brand of LED bulbs.

Picture of the Cree™ 60w LED daylight 5000k dimmable A19 light bulb, operating in bedroom lamp.
Cree™ 60w LED daylight 5000k dimmable A19 light bulb, operating in bedroom lamp.

Disadvantages, Cons, Problems, Limitations of the 60w CREE Daylight LED  Light Bulb

Cleanup can be a Challenge

Due to the tackiness on the globe part, dust can be harder than simply wiping off, to remove.  Also, the heat sink fins can accumulate dirt when you put these bulbs in dusty places.  Too much “clogging” of these channels make for early bulb failure.  Why? Because when dirty, the sink does not as efficiently get rid of the component-damaging heat.  So better heat sinking design, one with wider and fewer channels, may ease bulb cleanup issues.

May Not Fit in EVERY Light Fixture

The extra width of the heat sink near the base may not fit into some light fixtures.

The CREE 60w LED Daylight Dimmable Light Bulb is Heavier Than Incandescent Light Bulbs

Due to the electronics inside and the thick heat sink, these bulbs can weigh several times more than traditional bulbs.





Do Not Dispose in Regular Trash

These bulbs, due to the electronics they contain, should be properly recycled.

Initially Expensive

CREE bulbs pay for themselves at least a few times during their lives.  Yet the cost of roughly $10  to buy each bulb may still turn away many buyers.  But the pricing is getting better.  Over the past few years, prices have fallen a lot. Plus quantity deals are common, and sport very deep discounts.  So, we expect the higher single-unit prices to fall over the next few years.

Picture of the 5000k bulb, operating in bedroom lamp, with the shade removed.
Cree™ 60w LED daylight 5000k dimmable A19 light bulb, operating in bedroom lamp, with the shade removed.

Suggested Improvements for the 5000k CREE 60w LED Daylight Dimmable Light Bulb

Ditch the Heat Sink Fins

Removing dust and debris from the small heat-flow channel spaces between each fin can be grueling.  Wider channels, or no channels, would allow for more complete and probably more frequent cleaning.  Hopefully however, increasing LED efficiency will reduce the need for such heavy metal radiators in future generations of this product.

Remove Outer Tackiness

This would facilitate rapid bulb dusting.

Lower the Price

Many 100w LED bulbs these days cost less than half of what you pay for the CREE™ bulbs.

Our Rating for the Dimmable CREE 60w LED Daylight 5000k Light Bulb

We’re pleased that CREE now makes an affordable yet highly energy efficient 60w replacement light bulb.  So the average consumer can now go green, without going broke.  We’ve found the CREE LED bulbs to last many years.  Plus, given their ten year warranty, we do not worry as much over the cost of replacing them.

The bulbs provide a decently full, natural-looking daylight in most places.  So it’s good to see LEDs finally getting into mainstream lighting markets. Indeed, they sure took their time getting there.

We believe that CREE has done an bodacious job ushering this tech into mass consumer markets.  With this affordable LED product, they’ve convinced many that it really is worth the cost to upgrade to LED.  We therefore, rate this bulb at 97 out of 100.  But if the price drops a few more dollars, our rating will go up.

Picture of the Bulb, glowing, showing the darker top part of the globe.
Cree™ 60w LED daylight 5000k dimmable A19 light Bulb, glowing, showing the darker top part of the globe.

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References for CREE 60w LED Daylight 5000k Dimmable Light Bulb

  1. CREE™ LED Bulbs   Official Product Web Site
  2. Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs)   on Wikipedia
  3. Where to buy   CREE™ 60 Watt LED Light Bulbs

Revision History

  • 2019-08-19: Added key word targeting for ‘CREE 60w LED Daylight’, removed ad script code, and added more tags and links.
  • 2018-02-28: Updated the tags list.
  • 2017-02-14: Originally published.