7 Best Energy Saving CFL Alternatives

The Philips LED Wi-Fi Color 3-pack is the smart pick in this roundup. Each A19 bulb gives 60-watt equivalent light and shifts from warm white to cool white, 2200K to 6500K, with 16 million colors in the app. You can set schedules, control the bulbs from a phone, and use voice control, and the bulbs connect to your existing Wi-Fi router with no extra hub to buy or plug in.

• One limit: the smart features only work through the WiZ app and a Wi-Fi connection, so a room with weak Wi-Fi is a poor fit.
• At $24.99 for 3 bulbs, each bulb costs about $8.33, which is more than four times the per-bulb cost of the Feit 8-pack.
• Choose this one if you want color scenes and schedules in a living room or bedroom.
• Skip it if you only need plain white light in a hallway or closet, where a basic LED does the same job for far less.

Visit Philips LED Wi-Fi Color →

The GE Relax LED 4-pack is a warm white A19 bulb that gives 60-watt equivalent light from 10 watts. GE describes these as high-definition bulbs that make colors look bolder, with more contrast than a standard white LED. The bulbs are dimmable, so they work with a compatible dimmer switch to set a low mood light in the evening, and the soft white tone suits bedrooms and living rooms where you want a cozy glow rather than a crisp daylight look.

• One limit: at 10 watts, each bulb draws more power than the 8.5-watt EcoSmart or the 8.8-watt Feit, so a house full of these costs a little more to ru
• The pack is soft white only, so you need a different GE pack if you want daylight in a kitchen or workroom.
• Choose GE Relax if you like warm light and want a dimmable bulb from a familiar brand.
• Skip it if you want the lowest watts or a daylight color temperature.

Visit GE Relax LED →

The Cree Lighting LED 4-pack is the bright option here. Each bulb gives 100-watt equivalent light in a standard A19 shape with a medium E26 screw base, so it fits the same lamps and fixtures as a 60-watt bulb while giving far more light. The color temperature is switchable, the bulb is dimmable, and Cree describes the design as flicker-free with low blue light technology.

• That mix suits a kitchen, a garage workbench or a large living room where 60-watt equivalent light feels dim.
• One limit: this listing is 100-watt equivalent only, so you cannot buy a matching 60-watt equivalent Cree bulb in the same pack.
• At $21.98 for 4 bulbs, each bulb costs about $5.50, which is more than the Feit or EcoSmart packs.
• Choose Cree if one or two rooms need genuinely bright light.

Visit Cree Lighting LED →

The Sylvania TruWave LED 4-pack is the color-quality pick. Each A19 bulb gives 60-watt equivalent daylight light, and Sylvania says its TruWave technology mimics the natural light spectrum to give natural light for natural living, with high CRI and strong color contrast. That matters in a kitchen, where you want food and surfaces to look true to color, and in a reading chair, where harsh blue-tinted daylight can feel tiring.

• The bulbs are dimmable and fit a standard E26 base.
• One limit: at $26.03 for 4 bulbs, this is the most expensive pack in this roundup, at about $6.51 per bulb, and the pack is daylight only.
• Choose TruWave if color accuracy matters to you and you are willing to spend more per bulb for it.
• Skip it if you are swapping bulbs across a whole house on a budget, because the Feit 8-pack gives you twice as many bulbs for less money.

Visit Sylvania TruWave LED →

The Feit Electric Enhance LED 8-pack is the default pick for most readers. Each A19 bulb gives 800 lumens of 2700K soft white light from 8.8 watts, which is up to 85 percent less energy than a 60-watt incandescent bulb. The 90-plus CRI makes colors look more realistic, the bulb is dimmable, and it is listed at 25,000 hours, or about 22.8 years at 3 hours per day.

• Home Depot lists an estimated yearly energy cost of $1.06 per bulb at 3 hours per day.
• The bulb is also suitable for enclosed fixtures and contains no mercury.
• One limit: this pack is soft white only, so you need a different Feit pack for daylight rooms.
• The 8-pack format means you buy 8 bulbs at once, which suits a whole-home swap but not a single replacement.

Visit Feit Electric Enhance LED →

The EcoSmart Universal Select 3-pack is the flexible pick. Each bulb has two switches on its base: one sets the maximum brightness to 40, 60, 75 or 100-watt equivalent, and the other sets the color temperature from 2700K soft white to 4000K. That means one bulb type can serve a bedroom lamp, a hallway fixture and a bright kitchen, and you set each bulb once during installation and then leave the switch alone.

• The bulbs are dimmable with a modern LED-compatible wall dimmer.
• One limit: the switches sit on the base of the bulb, so changing them means removing the shade and unscrewing the bulb.
• This is not a traditional 3-way bulb, so it will not cycle through brightness levels with a turn-knob lamp socket.
• At $14.98 for 3 bulbs, each costs about $4.99.

Visit EcoSmart Universal Select LED →

The TCP Anew LED is the specialist pick for warm, natural-looking light. TCP describes Anew bulbs as mimicking natural light at sunset, with a 2850K color temperature and no blue light spikes, in the familiar A19 shape with an E26 base. The listed life is 10,000 hours, which is far longer than the 1,000-hour life of an incandescent bulb.

• Anew is a residential LED line from a maker with more than 30 years of experience designing LED lights.
• One limit: TCP sells through distributors and does not list a retail price for Anew bulbs, so we list the price as quote only.
• The 10,000-hour life is also shorter than the 25,000-hour life of the Feit Enhance.
• Choose TCP Anew if you want a sunset-warm bulb and are willing to contact a distributor.

Visit TCP Anew LED →