Philips LED 100w A19 daylight white light bulb 2-pack, front view.
We’ve tested a few of the Philips LED 100w A19 daylight white light bulbs in our apartment bedroom bedside lamps. Indeed, if they last as long as CREE LEDs we used prior, they’ll pay for themselves many times over.
We’ve run these five for sixteen hours each day for a couple weeks now. This Philips bulb has run throughout much of the day. Yet it neither flickers nor failed. Further, it cost us only $12 for a 2-pack at Home Depot. Not the cheapest LED bulbs we’ve bought. But still pretty cheap given how many years they last.
This common A19 form factor allows these bulbs to fit in almost any light fixture that supports an incandescent bulb. A19 lights look like traditional Edison-style bulb in size and shape. This bulb also about mirrors an incandescent in its low weight.
Gone are those heavy metal heat sinks at the base of many older 100w LED light bulbs. This is a good thing, because these not only made the LED heavier and hotter. But they also raised the transport costs of the bulbs, due to the extra weight. These units are quite light in fact. So, they’re cheaper to ship. This, among other factors, results in inexpensive, state-of-the-art lighting for the consumer. Bravo Philips! Philips has made these LED bulbs more affordable than the CREE models of past years that we’ve sampled; currently about half the price per bulb.
Now these LED bulbs run with SOME heating. But they don’t get nearly as hot as their 100 watt incandescent counterparts. Plus, they’re not much warmer than the 60 and 75-watt LED bulbs we’ve tested. They run way cooler than CFL lights with the same brightness.
Plus, they operate silently, with neither buzzing, humming, hissing, nor whistling. On radios, they’re also quite mum; generating no detectable RF or EM interference on those most likely medium wave AM frequencies.
These bulbs come in 100w incandescent equivalent output. Note that this rating IS NOT the amount of power that this LED bulb actually consumes. Rather, it’s the amount of equivalent incandescent lamp light output that you get with this bulb. At 1500 lumens light output, this bulb, though producing 100 watts of equivalent incandescent light, actually only draws 14 watts. So, operating costs are much cheaper than similar 100 watt incandescents.
Softens shadows and helps spread the light more evenly. The bulb itself lights very uniformly; no dark or bright spots on the lighted globe surface.
The radiation characteristic is very much like traditional incandescent lighting. These LED lamps spread light around in nearly equal amounts in all directions. The only dark space is right under the bulb base.
This is 14-watt LED bulb (1500 lumens). So you get about the same amount of light that you’d see from a 100-watt incandescent light bulb (1530 lumens). Yet you only pay for 14 watts!
With LEDs, so much more power goes into making actual light. Less of it goes to wasteful heat. So LED bulbs give off far less warmth. Thus, they are up to 83 percent more efficient than incandescent bulbs.
These bulbs have an 11,000 hour average life rating. Now if you run them for three hours each day, the’ll probably last you around 10 years.
Less metal in these units, owing to the greater efficiency electronics and LEDs themselves. This also makes handling them while hot much safer. No surface on this Philips LED bulb ever gets so hot that it produces burns when briefly touched.
Stands up well to shocks and drops.
You get full brightness almost instantly upon LED turn-on. Instant on, Instant off.
Humidity will not harm these bulbs. However, we suggest not getting them wet. Do not install where the bulb can be hit with rainfall.
We detect no flickers, no matter the ambient room temperature. There are no reduced brightness fluctuations from things like air conditioners starting up. The light output here remains constant through a wide range of input voltages.
Like incandescent lighting, but not like compact fluorescent lamps, Philips LED bulbs operate efficiently even in very cold temperatures. You get full brightness even when the place where you have the bulb is freezing cold. These bulbs work all the way down to -4 degrees Fahrenheit and beyond.
As incandescent and CFL bulbs glow, the filament inside evaporates over that time. Then the metal deposits itself on the inside of their glass envelopes. This darkens them. So, by the time the bulb burns out, its light output has dropped due to the darker glass. But Philips LEDs do not drop as much in brightness. Indeed, they retain most of their new-state brightness, even as they near end of life.
They offer a CRI of 80. So, particularly the “daylight” models serve as acceptable photography lighting.
There’s lower heat output from LEDs, these bulbs. So they draw less dust and dirt. The fine dust particles do not stick as much to these, as they did to the hotter incandescent bulbs.
We find no carriers from these bulbs on the AM radio, shortwave, medium- and long-wave radio bands.
These are by no means bargain basement LEDs. That said, Philips LED bulbs usually pay for themselves many times over throughout their lives. Their cost of about $6 per bulb makes the investment slightly greater than CFL lamps. But, prices have fallen. So as LEDs become more mainstream, we expect Philips prices to fall more as well. Gone are the $12 to $20 single-unit prices.
This is shorter than the Ecosmart™ brand, which offers a ten year warranty. But still…, not too shabby for a light bulb.
The color of this lamp light is definitely a bluish sort of white. But it has a hint of green or yellow-green light mixed in. Perhaps Philips was trying to simulate the afternoon light in the sky on a partly cloudy day. At these times, a bit of yellow sun reflects off of the clouds. Then it mixes with the bits of blue sky showing through to make a slightly warmer white. If that was what they wanted, they got it. But we prefer more of the blue-sky color or the deep gray overcast day hue above our kitchen table. This is like you’d see through a skylight.
These bulbs, due to the electronics they contain, should be properly recycled. Dispose of these just as you would any other electronic device. Do not just throw them out in the regular trash.
Due to the internal support electronics, these bulbs might weight a little more than a traditional incandescent bulb. However, with the minimal heat sinking, the Philips 100w bulbs are not much heavier at all.
This line of bulbs is not compatible with any light dimmers.
We’re pleased that Philips has created a reasonably affordable yet highly energy efficient LED product. It’s now practical for the average buyer to see big savings on his electric bill. Plus, he won’t have to spend as much to do it. The three year warranty, sub $6 price, and shock-resistant build, all make this bulb a good energy saving choice. Anyone who says that LEDs aren’t as bright these days as older light bulbs, has never seen Philips LED bulbs.
Given the multiyear warranty, we fear little over accidental failure due to excessive vibration, drops, and shocks. It’s wonderful to see LEDs finally reaching mainstream lighting markets (they sure took their time getting there). We’d therefore, rate the Philips LED 100w A19 Daylight White Light Bulb at 96 out of 100. Lower the price a bit more, Philips, and you’ll get a perfect 100 from us. Awesome product!
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