PHILIPS AMBIENTLED 16-WATT MEDIUM BASE PAR38 INDOOR FLOOD

Review: We just purchased and installed several Philips AmbientLED PAR38 (16W)and PAR30L (11W) floodlights to replace several 45-Watt Halogens and a handful of compact PAR-type fluorescents (all Philips). Our motivation was primarily to reduce energy consumption in high traffic areas where we have several recessed lights and eliminate the long ramp-up to full brightness on some of the CF’s. I have been eyeing LED replacement lamps for some time, but have been disappointed previously in the light quality (poor CRI — Color Rendition Index) and a typically bluish cast to the light — typical of early LEDs.

After trying these new Philips AmbientLED bulbs, this marks an inflection point in the promise of architectural-grade LED lighting for residential and commercial use. While they still don’t quite match the warmth and instant-on of halogens, they come close enough to consider them as acceptable replacements in most situations.

As with all new technologies, there are tradeoffs, which I highlight here. Since many details are left off the product description, I will provide key highlights. All in all, I rate these as “4-stars”, but with a 5-star build quality. I deduct 1 star for the “early adopter” price point at the time of writing (about 10-15x the price of a high quality, comparable Halogen lamp). This alone will be a show-stopper for most consumers until the prices come down to earth. That said, let’s take a look at the pros and cons of these lamps:

PROS:

BUILD QUALITY. Build quality is superior to any lamp I’ve seen. These have a cast metal housing that feels substantial. The metal helps to dissipate the heat generated by each of the LEDs. The heat is small compared to traditional incandescent — hence, these are much more efficient. However, removing heat quickly from the core of the LED is essential to maintaining long-term reliability and avoid overheating the junction temperature of the LED. To avoid overheating, these should not be placed in an “enclosed” downlight, but rather, an “can type” recessed light with an exposed underside (where you can see the bulb directly).

SIZE. Compared to some of the PAR-type compact fluorescents, these lamps are quite compact and seem to recess well into the cans (we have Lightolier — but other cans like HALO should work well).

LIGHT QUALITY. Although a halogen technically has a CRI of 100 (CRI is a critical factor that determines the precision of color rendition), these have a respectable CRI of 85 — which is better than most compact fluorescents. If you stick with a color temperature in the 3000K range, these lamps give off a bright white light that brings out the natural colors in the room. If you stare straight at them, they are very bright. I expect that the CRI of these bulbs will improve over time, and eventually move into the low 90′s range as LED technology improves in the next few years.

LONGEVITY. The life span of these Philips LED lamps is touted to be 25,000 hours, or over 15 years when operated at least 4 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. Of course, other electronics could fail, so this is just an estimate. Philips back these up with a 6-year warranty — so at least you’re covered for that long. The long life means you can pretty much install and forget these unless you experience an infant failure. Of course, that also means fewer trips up the step ladder to replace hard-to-reach recessed lights.

UL APPROVED. Unlike some 3rd-party imports, these carry the Philips brand and have passed UL approved for safety and fire ratings. I wouldn’t mess around with anything else but a reputable brand that has been engineered and tested to perform safely and reliably. These are made in China, but presumably to Philips specifications and design.

CONSIDERATIONS:

INSTANT ON. Well, not quite. While the packaging states that these are “instant on” — there is a noticeable delay of perhaps 0.5 seconds or so from the time you flip the switch to the time the light begins to operate. It’s enough of a delay to be a little annoying since you don’t get that “instant” feedback compared to incandescents. For a moment, I thought there was a problem with the lamps. While annoying, I believe we’ll get used to this delay and it is certainly better than what you get with typical fluorescents. Once on, the are on full brightness, so there is no waiting from that standpoint. I suspect there is some circuitry in the lamps to regulate the voltage to the LEDs, and this takes a split second to fully charge prior to activating the lamp.

NOT DIMMABLE. Although some newer LED lamps are dimmable (usually with special dimmers), these are not. So, if you plan to install these into an area with an existing dimmer circuit, they will not operate properly and you could damage the bulb. The lack of dimming feature means we can’t replace all our bulbs yet with the LED varieties — but I’ve heard that the European versions made by Philips are dimmable — so I expect it’s just a matter of time before they release a dimmable version for the US market.

BEAM SPREAD. These initial lamps have a beam spread of 25-degrees — which is somewhat between a true Flood (40 degrees) and a spot (10-15 degrees). This means you can stock fewer types of lamps, but you may find that the light is more intense and focused than the Floods you’re replacing. This may cause dark spots on the floor or surface depending on the lamp spacing. In most cases, this isn’t a big problem, but you should be aware nonetheless.

INCOMPATIBILITY WITH CERTAIN LIGHTED SWITCHES. This is an odd one, but some LED lamps (particularly the smaller single lamps, such as flame-tip chandelier LED buld (also by Philips), are not compatible with certain lighted switches. For example, we have installed some of the new Leviton Acenti lighted switches that have a small blue LED to indicate whether the switch is on or off. However, when feeding an LED lamp, it relies on leakage current through the lamp to light the LED on the switch. Since LED lamps require so little current to activate, the small leakage current (likely just a few milliamps) is enough to turn the target lamp on even though the switch is “OFF”. When you turn on the switch, the lamp gets brighter. This was a very odd result that I didn’t anticipate and it may only occur with some of the smaller, single LED type lamps that may have simpler power regulators compared to the PARs. At some point, switch vendors and lamp vendors will need to sort out this little problem by making sure that all switches are compatible with LED lamps.

COST. The biggest drawback of these lamps is their initial cost. Although energy savings will mount over time, the true ROI may not be there at first. However, if your time horizon is long — and you want to do your part to reduce energy waste, these are sure to get you on the right path.

PACKAGING. Probably in order to have retail shelf appeal, these lamps are way overpackaged with a lot of waste. They are difficult to remove from the packaging, requiring wire cutters or good scissors. If you have a few lamps to replace, it’s not a big deal. But if you have dozens, you’ll wish the packaging were simpler and less wasteful. Considering these LED lamps are synonymous with “green building” and “waste reduction” — the packaging is way overdone and is the most frustrating part of the user experience. What happened to the simple box that you just open and pull out the bulb with one hand? If you have serious arthritis, you’ll need help to get these lamps out of their packaging. Philips needs to fix this to be more user-friendly and less wasteful.

SUMMARY. All in all, these Philips LED lamps get 4-stars. The missing star can be earned by addressing some of the considerations noted above. They appear to be very well made (they feel good to hold them in your hand) — and they produce a high quality white light well suited to most residential and commercial applications. These are the first wave of architectural-grade halogen replacements for indoor use. If you can absorb the cost and don’t mind some of the initial drawbacks, these appear to be excellent products that will set the bar for the next generation of LED lighting. I expect prices to come down in the next few years as demand increases and traditional incandescents are phased out. They also do no have the mercury problem inherent to most compact fluorescents. As our landfills get full of CFLs and they break, mercury will leach out into the soil, creating another toxic mess with which to contend. If you’ve been waiting for a quality product that produces good light and color renditioning, I don’t think you’ll be disappointed with these new AmbientLED lamps from Philips.

Rating: 4 / 5