I agree there is nothing like the light from an incandescent,
particularly when you dim them.
LEDs and CFLs may "dim" but the color stays the same.
I suppose they will come up with color shifting LEDs

Color changing LED's are already available.

I like the 60W Philips Warm Glow bulbs. They're a nice warm white at full
brightness, but take on a very natural orange/yellow hue when dimmed. The
result is very close to a traditional incandescent bulb, but uses about
one sixth the power.

You can find them at Home Depot for about $10, or online from places like
Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/Philips-455840...t-2200K-2700K-
Dimmable/dp/B00TZEB0Q0

Sylvania makes a similar "sunset effect" LED bulb (Lowes sells them), but
I think the Philips bulbs look and perform better.

I have been a big fan of CREE LED's for a while now, but their dimmable
LED bulbs stay white when dimmed. The effect just looks weird, probably
due to a lifetime of experience with incandescent bulbs.


Unfortunately, the bulb is only half the equation. The dimmable bulbs
work OK with a basic manual dimmer, but most won't dim properly with an
electronic dimmer. The dimmer expects a certain load and the bulb will
often stay lit at a low level even at the lowest dimmer setting.

Thankfully, new dimmers are now available that dim the new LED's
perfectly. I just replaced my old dimmers with Lutron's Caseta wireless
dimmer:

http://www.amazon.com/Lutron-P-PKG1W...00-watt-Multi-
Location/dp/B00JJY0S4G

I can now dim the three wall sconces in our living room just like the old
incandescent bulbs. They're actually brighter than the old 60W bulbs and
still have that nice warm glow when dimmed. 30 watts instead of 180
watts, longer life, and they don't put off any heat.

I also like that LED's are full brightness when turned on (like an
incandescent). CFL's can take a few minutes to come up to full
brightness, especially when it's cold.

Also, since the LED's put off very little heat, I can safely install 75
LED replacements in fixtures that are only rated for 60 watt bulbs. It
helps give a little more light to rooms that tend to be a little dark.

Anthony Watson
www.mountainsoftware.com
www.watsondiy.com