Gadgetory

for most folks the 60 watt light bulb is a classic standard of household lighting but if you want something brighter you might be inclined to upgrade to a 100 watt bulb the problem most of those 100 watt incandescent has long been phased out due to rising efficiency standards that's why we have 100 watt replacement LEDs they're way more efficient that they haven't always come cheap the last time I reviewed them was back in 2014 and back then a single bulb would typically cost you at least 20 bucks thankfully things are a lot less expensive these days a dimmable 100 watt LED can be had for as little as $5 and thanks to the fact that they typically only use about 15 watts they'll save you a lot of money in the long run how much money well each one will add about 2 bucks to your yearly energy bill on average an old-fashioned 100 watt incandescent would add 12 bucks to your bill over the same stretch 10 bucks in savings per bulb per year adds up fast but that in mind I hit the local lighting Isles and set out to test every 100 watt replacement LED I could find here the ones I recommend you check out for the best bang for your buck head to Lowe's and look through the utility 100 watt replacement LED you get two bulbs for less than 10 dollars and they're surprisingly good performers for the price utility Tech's bulb was the most efficient one that I tested it's plenty bright and it did a nice job on dimmer switches to dimming all the way down to an average minimum of 1% about any flicker I did notice a slight hum when I did it using modern dimming hardware but it wasn't loud enough to be a deal-breaker if smooth dimming without any of that hum is essential then I recommend upgrading to the Cree 100 watt replacement LED it's more expensive 13 dollars per bulb but it dimmed smoothly on every single switch I tested it on no flicker no buzz you could also consider my dimming test runner-up the Philips 100 watt replacement warm glow LED it's almost as good as Crees at dimming and it has a longer lifespan to boot if you want light bulbs that will help the colors in your home look more accurate and true I like the 100 watt version of the GE reveal bright stick LED which sells in a 2-pack for about $15 it isn't as bright as I'd like but it does a great job at making colors pop you could also try out the Target store brand 100 watt replacement which surprised me with its above-average color accuracy one caveat though neither of those picks are dimmable