All About Lightbulbs (not really)

[Less of a Draft as of 2013-06-24]
So my wife tells me that I know more than anybody should about lightbulbs. This is likely true, but I do find them interesting and useful to know about. I also like the thought of saving money on more efficient light bulbs. This quest for efficiency can be found in my previous post here. A few thoughts about light bulbs:

1. There are really four lightbulb options at the current time (though most folks are probably thinking only about three). They are LED, CFL, Incandescent and Halogen. The last is the one most people haven't seen in household applications (flashlights and cars, yes). Halogen turns out to be more efficient than incandescent and thus avoids the coming federal lightbulb crackdown.  They also have fair "normal" color temperature.
2. Some perspective, a 60 watt incandescent is equivalent to a 14 watt CFL and a 10 watt LED. That is a 6:1 energy advantage for LEDs over incandescent, but an only a 3:2 advantage over CFLs. See this chart.
3. The big difference between CFLs and LEDs is that the LEDs lifetimes are drastically longer. That is to say 50,000 hours versus 10,000 hours for CFLs (versus a measly 1,200 hours for incandescent).  This, I believe, is even a bigger deal in practice than is the case for the rated numbers.  See 5 below.
4. LEDs typically don't die (see exception at point 12). Their lifetime is considered over when their brightness is half of its initial brightness.  That said, I don't know what LED Lumen calculations are made on: beginning of life brightness or end of life?  (If you know - please write in the comments)
5. CFLs usually don't last as long as they are rated. This is very much dependent on the application, though. If you use a CFL in an area where the light is likely to get turned on and off frequently, the CFL won't last. Apparently, they need time to cool down before being turned back on again.
6. According to the DOE, the average house has 40 sockets in which to put lightbulbs. When I went through my house, I found a few more. To be specific, there are 186 bulbs in my house (not just sockets, but lamps too). That is a bunch.
7. If the average LED bulb costs $20, it would cost $3,720 to fully outfit my house in LEDs.  I am a fair way down that road, but I haven't gone all of the way.  Many of the bulbs just don't get used (or left on) enough to justify the switch.  I'm also positive that the LEDs  won't get reflected in the sale price of the house when I do sell it.
8. A bunch of bulbs in my house is an understatement. If all of the lightbulbs were on in my house and fitted with incandescents, there would be an electrical load of 13.5 kW (or about 112.5 amps).
9. The average household uses 2,100 kWh per year on lighting. That only equates to about $210 per year in electricity costs. Unfortunately, with all of our additional lights, I spend more than that per year just for the outdoor lighting (with the LEDs). Details are here.
10. The coming federal limits are actually already starting to take effect. See here. Best part is the labeling requirements which force manufacturers to provide some easily comparable numbers. The Nutrition Facts box on a box of cereal is a good analogy.  Unfortunately (IMHO), the requirements don't go far enough. They should provide a clear "cost of ownership" tag that shows how much it would cost to own the bulb over a 5 year period.
11. Don't install LEDs in your house if you think that you might move within the next couple of years. Unless, that is, you really really don't like to replace light bulbs. Or if you leave the lightbulb on all the time, like a night light.  Or, if you have turned into your father (maybe mother, but in my case it was exclusively my father) and have started complaining to family members for leaving lights on.  With LEDs, I find myself much less likely to complain.
12. I have used this (finding lights on in areas with no people) as a means of targeting bulbs in my house for replacement to LED.  Wandering around the house when I'm not normally there (middle of the work day) or in the morning or last thing at night is a great way to find the likely culprits.
13. Don't buy cheap LEDs.  I bought a set of three $7 GU10 (this is a reference to the connection type on the bottom of the bulb) at Amazon and the electronics gave out after only three months or so.
14. My go-to brand for LEDs is Feit.  I've never gotten a bad bulb from those guys and they have pretty cost-competitive products.  Costco carries a fair share of their bulbs and I was able to buy some from Home Depot, as well.  I am not paid by Feit, but I would totally sign up to be a "brand ambassador" or some such thing if it were offered to me.
15. LED light bulbs are still not available for every application that I have at home (at least not from remotely mainstream companies).  I have under counter lights that use bulbs typical denoted as "exit sign" bulbs.  They have a candelabra base and straight sides.  I can't use candelabra bulbs because there isn't sufficient clearance (those bow outward).  I will wait until I can buy either Phillips or Feit bulbs for these (burned too many times by off brands).
16. This may be obvious to most, but more efficient light bulbs save you money in two ways during the summer: (1) less electricity to generate the same amount of light (the super obvious way) and (2) less electricity to cool your house from the waste heat generated by your lightbulb.  You should have roughly 1/5 the waste heat to cool.  This isn't a huge downside in the winter when you are heating the house anyway, but heat generated by electricity is typically not the most cost-effective means of doing so.  I don't have good numbers on this, but this post suggests a high cost (as does my childhood where I lived in upstate NY and had baseboard electric and got to hear my dad complain all of the time about it).
17. Don't get hung up on the cooler color temperatures of a LED versus an incandescent.  LEDs have come a long way and you may very find you prefer the slightly cooler temperatures than the (IMHO) overly warm colors from old-school bulbs.
18. Most LED bulbs can be made to dim these days.  Doesn't seem like this should be a consideration for most usage, but they dim and dim well.
19. Beware of noisy LED bulbs.  I know folks who have found this to be a problem with a common buzz of fluorescents in the past, but it can be an LED problem, too.  This is particularly important for bulbs that will be right next to your bed or some other work space, probably less important for recessed lights.  I bought a Philips 12E26A60 LED bulb (reviewed here) and put it in the lamp next my bed.  I had to switch it out; it buzzed.  I swapped it out with a Feit 60W replacement bulb and am much happier with the silence (and its brighter).
20. While on the subject of Feit, I believe that their 40W and 60W bulbs are great replacements for your standard light bulb.  The only thing to be careful of with the 60W replacement bulb is that it is a fairly big bulb.  Make sure it fits in the desired space envelope.
21. Don't worry about the delay in an LED lightbulb turning on.  Many now have essentially no delay.  Others do, but when they turn on, they are all of the way on.  I've had many of CFLs that took way too long to actually brighten.  They were perhaps 30% bright instantly, but only 100% until about 5 minutes in (maybe it wasn't that long, but it sure seemed like it was).
22. Most LED light bulbs weigh substantially more than their incandescent cousins (with CFLs generally being in the middle).  Mostly, I don't think that you should have to consider this as a factor given that most light fixtures have between one and three lightbulbs.  That said, fixtures for which there are many bulbs (I have a chandelier that takes twelve 60 watt bulbs), this can add up to a substantial amount of additional weight.  Hopefully not enough to tear anything out of the ceiling, but consider it.  [TO DO: add actual weights of some bulbs]
23. Essentially all lighting fixtures have a max wattage on the bulbs driven by heat dissipation requirements (and the resulting fire hazard).  Using LEDs, you can turn a fixture that has a maximum 60 Watt bulb into something much brighter (and perhaps more functional).
24. As with all bulbs, pay attention to how light will be distributed from the bulb.  A "normal" light bulb is expected to disburse light in all directions, if not equally, close to it.  LED replacements can have somewhat different patterns and may not look good in your existing lighting fixtures.  For recessed lights, the LED bulbs should say if they are narrow or wide (120 degrees is about the widest you'll find).