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It depends on which CFL you buy of course. But 90 CRI CFLs are easy to find.

In general "warmer" CFLs have a better CRI.

You can trade off energy efficiency for CRI. This is true for LEDs as well. So if you don't need great color then go for a lower CRI since you'll save energy on the light output.

But because of that, when comparing energy efficiency of LEDs vs CFLs you MUST use a comparable CRI, otherwise it's not a fair comparison.

But I'll save you time: There are no commercially available LEDs that beat CFLs in energy efficiency for the equivalent CRI.



I've found the exact opposite. I've found that there are many more "cooler" (~5600K color) CFLs with a high CRI than warmer (~2700K color) CFLs with a high CRI. The cooler 5600K lights are daylight balanced and used a lot with digital filmmaking and as indoor grow lights, whereas the warmer lights are used in home light fixtures to approximate the color temps of incandescents.


Thanks. That's a good way to sum things up.

As someone who is enthusiastic about LEDs from a distance (I'm not about to run out and replace all my lights at once) I'm comfortable with the idea that LEDs are still a couple of generations away from replacing existing technology in a satisfactory way. But damn, those generations sure are happening fast.

I became aware of Cree because of flashlight LEDs and what they accomplished in that space over the course of a year or so was pretty amazing. At present I can still take out my little AAA light with the newest Cree LED and say "check this out" and surprise people with its brightness. The early LED flashlights were largely junk, but in contrast, this is a great use of the technology.




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