If you are adverse to LED lighting, my guess is you haven't tried newer forms or found the right LED lights. We have changed most of out lighting to LED and are working on the rest as we replace bulbs, update fixtures and eventually when better candelabra bulbs become available. I love them and I really notice our family room and kitchen being cooler (especially important in Texas summers), but you do want to get the color temp right. I never liked the blue-white lights even for frost holiday light displays. You will be dragged into the 21st century at some point. Perhaps the pool is the place to learn.

My pool lights will be the last to be changed out -- but only because tey have to fail and/or we have to do major work to replace the entire unit and underground and deck wiring. We asked about it -- DH really wanted the changing colors. Instead of putting a filter in front of the light, you can get LEDS that change color or stay steady on the color of your choice. They stay cooler (don't heat the water that is already bathtub warm by the end of our summers), and cost less to use if you want to enjoy that color display you paid for. I can't think of any reason not to use them in a new build.

I know this is a well worn subject… But if you would can you tell me exactly what kind of lightbulbs you are using inside your house that you like?

Thanks, MTN

They aren't all the same -- what is available changes as you continue. We started with EcoSmart recessed can retrofiit kits from Home Depot. The bulb is made by Cree and eerything I was reading on GW and elsewhere seemed to favor the Cree bulbs. That particular unit was well reviewed too. We did all the recessed lights with those plus 6 4-inch equivalents. The exterior lights were next, but I can't tell you exactly what they were -- just floods with the warmer color temp. From there we have been working on replacing the individual bulbs in lamps and fixtures. I've only had one bulb surprise me with a bluish color and returned it.

When we first started changing them, we were buying warm white LEDs -- as distinguished from the blue or cool white. Now, LEDs seem to fall into thre categories -- cool white (tends toward blue), daylight (brighter, cleaner white -- closer to halogen or reveal bulbs IMO), and warm white -- tints towards amber. You will probably want most or all of the lights in your home to be in the same color range, with possible exceptions for dedicated task lighting. My preference is generally in the daylight range.

The only tihng that is certain is that they continue to change. I was surprised to find a 3-wat LED bulb recently. Oops -- one of thoses bulbs I got for my son's apratment was a bluer white, but we put it in the lamp with an older silk shade and the yellow in it balanced the light better for that spot. If it weren;t for that, I would have returned it. So, you can find a happy zone, but still get surprised occasionally. Like I said, what's available keeps changing.

Yes please tell us what you have found that you like. I don't mind paying the extra money for LED's however I detest standing in the light bulb aisle trying to pick one that most resembles my old fashioned incandescent lights. My little horde is almost depleted and I'm afraid I'm going to have to start replacing the 19 high hats in my kitchen. I only have one incandescent interior flood left and after that goes I'll have to make the switch .......or maybe we can just move......

It's difficult enough to find the right color temperature but I have read that it can be tricky to pair dimmer switches with LED's . Just about all of my lights are on dimmers.

Mtn - my car has LED interior lights and for some reason it doesn't bother me. Perhaps it's because they're not extremely bright. I even have a narrow band of light that runs around the interior of the car a few inches below the windows and across the bottom of the dash. You can select the color you want (I went with a soft blue) or turn it off completely. It's very subtle and I'd completely forgotten it was there until you mentioned it.

A few years ago I would've been saying the same thing. Our electrician spoke glowingly of LEDs when I talked about replacing our under cabinet fluorescents. I finally relented and visited a lighting store. Was pleasantly surprised. We replaced the fixtures with dimmable LEDs. I can't remember if they fall into the warm white or daylight category. The only bulbs I've purchased have been for a couple night lights. Seriously considering LED for bath vanity side lights.

If you have LEDs on dimmers, you may need to change out the dimmer itself. The LEDs run on such a low wattage that having the older dimmer down all the way can still provide enough power for the LED to be fully lit. The dimmers have a wattage range they work with. You need to get the one that works with the total wattage of the bulbs used with it. A single fixture with 6 lights that used to be 60 watts or 360 watts total no has something more like 45-50 watts with LEDs. We went from 90 watts incandescent floods to 60 watt equivalents at about 12 watts. Where we did have those on a dimmer it was a huge switch and we had to replace the dimmers.

That makes sense - I'll probably have to replace the dimmers. My original incandescent floods were 150 watts. Then when they stopped selling them we moved down to 125 watts.

Thanks for linking the retrofit kit for recessed can lights since I can see those will have to be replaced too.

You can just use an LED flood in the fixture if you prefer. That was what we started off thinking we would do. The advantage of the kit is that the rim, reflector and bulb are all one selaed unit. There are no gaps or dark areas and it makes the cans less conspicuous in the ceiling. We needed to replace rims that were old and brittle and the reflectors were dark, so it was cost effective for us too. Only takes a little more time than replacing the bare bulb.

I love the quality of light from my Costco LED bulbs. I am going to finish replacing every bulb in the livingroom dining room with them. They are dimable and run 3 for $12?

We have LED lights in our four year old swim spa. I don't like the quality of the light, it is harsh IMO, but the lights may be better now.

Can't help with the pool lights, but incandescent bulbs are being done away with. We recently had our landscape lighting redone and they used warm white LED.

Once I read this, I went to Lowe's and started buying bulbs by the case. But after reading Roc's post on LED bulbs, I bought one and was converted. The trick is to buy warm white LEDs. I bought enough Utilitech Pro and Utilitech to change all the lamps in the house.

It really depends on the quality of the actual bulb. You will have to get to a lighting store or if this is specific for the pool ask to see them lit day and night before you decide. I had my electrician to bring a few samples and the next thing I knew I had a company rep with boxes of various bulbs set up with different fixtures. I ended up getting Cree soft daylight for many.

This is an LED

LED lights are more commonly used in pools, I personally don't like it. Even I don't use LED in my home, I prefer candle for lighting. It give a beautiful light effect in my room and scented candles make air fresh and pleasant.

Wow. I was another one deadset against LED bulbs, but the information provided here has convinced me to give it another go once we get back in our house. I really appreciate the time you all have taken to educate us with such precise information.

Yeah, maybe I do have to get with the times. But the post about changing all my dimmers, oh drat. I have literally dimmered every light in every room in this house and our beachhouse. The dimmers are 100/unit, not including installation. total bummer if they have to be swtiched out

It all depends on the watage range of the dimmer. I wouldn't change the dimmer until you see that it doesn't work with the new bulbs. The ones we replaced were either original to the house (near 25 yrs old now) or put in after we moved in about 13 years ago. If you have newer dimmers, they might be better suited to the newer bulbs.

Back to the pool, I would try to see the lights you are considering in use. Pool builders may have working displays as well as past customers who will let you come look at things like the plaster color, water features -- seems like lighting should be an option too. Your darker plaster will make a difference, so you want to see the lighting with something similarly dark if not the same color. It is not an easy or inexpensive change once you have a fixture in a pool, so you want to get that one right.

We have an 18 color theme LED package on our pool which means it's either off and we aren't in it or kids kids are night swimming and its fade or disco.