Best Outdoor Light Bulbs for Cold Weather [2020 Review]

Maybe you are experiencing the peak of the winter season, and you are in a search for a replacement light bulb for your yard, outdoor parking space, or maybe to replace your street light bulbs.

You’ll want to use a light bulb suitable for cold weather and the specific spaces and areas around your home that you want to light up.

There’s potentially a lot at stake with replacing light bulbs during extreme weather conditions. This is because not everyone will want to go about in the cold to replace burnt-out light bulbs.

But remember getting those bulbs replaced could be vital to staying safe and avoiding the potential dangers of nighttime hours.

Finding the ‘right’ bulbs that are best fit for frigid conditions can be a challenge. It is possible that there are no light bulbs that are manufactured exclusively for chilly temperature conditions but some types still work well in any weather. Lets take a looke

Best Bulbs for Freezing Condition Outside

Certain bulbs perform better than others in situations like that.

This article is meant to help you find the right bulb for your needs.

Our Top Recommendation

​If you want to save yourself time, see our final vote, the Philips LED Dusk-to-Dawn A19 Frosted Light Bulb is our choice for the top outdoor bulbs for freezing conditions.

When attempting to get the best outdoor light bulbs for cold weather, There are three main groups to Choose from.

• Light Emitting Diode or LED bulbs,
• Compact Fluorescent bulbs (CFL)
• Incandescent bulbs.

Of the three types of bulbs, LED light bulbs are the logical choices due to the following reasons

• They are not a heat-emitting light bulbs
• They pose no risk of bursting when there is a drop in temperature.
• They thrive in cold since exposure to heat makes them less efficient and shortens their life span.

More details to come on why LED performs better as a light bulb for cold weather.

Let us now review the recommended LED bulbs for cold weather conditions.

Best Outdoor Light Bulbs for Cold Weather Review

 1. Govee 9W Smart Sensor Light Bulb

This bulb consumes 9W of energy, but it’ll give you a brightness that halogens can only match at 70W. That’s 800lm of warm white illumination, which keeps your outdoors visible through the night.

There’s no glare or flicker either; it’s steady, as you’d want for something serving your outdoor lighting purposes, not minding the frigid conditions.

A built-in automatic sensor ensures that it comes on when the darkness comes, and turns off at dawn, all by itself.

It’s easy to install too. Just screw it into your socket or fixture, and you’re good to go.

Finally, you could get 30,000 hours of life out of this product if you handle it with care. A 30-day money-back guarantee allows you to return the bulb if it malfunctions within a month from purchasing it.

2. Vgogfly 7W LED Bulb Light

The Vgogfly has a sensor that makes it switch on at night and go off when the day arrives- even if you’re away from home.

The warm white light helps maintain the homely feel on the outside of your apartment, but it’s bright enough to keep the porches fully visible at night, even in the hazy cold conditions.

What’s more, it could save you up to 80 percent of the bill you would have incurred if you were using a halogen bulb instead.

The 7W of energy it takes in will churn light that’s 600 lm bright- a return that halogens can’t touch.

This bulb can be made use of any E 26/27 socket or fixture. Its plastic mask lets it cool quickly, and primes it for long life.

But if it fails, there’s a full one-year money-back guarantee you can take advantage of. You can have them replaced free of charge if you’d prefer this.

3. Great Eagle A19 LED Light Bulb

If you’d prefer a cooler hue that’s closer to daylight, this may be what you should be considering.

The Great Eagle LED bulb works as a suitable replacement for old halogen lamps and consumes far less energy (up to 85 percent) for better quality lighting.

You should be getting about 1600 lm of brightness from them if they’re working as the manufacturer says they’re built to.

The automatic on-off function should work fine- if you’re using a compatible switch. An electrician could sort out any issues with motion detectors that arise from incompatibility.

This bulb’s producers say that it could last you up to 22 years if you use it well. We can’t be confident that you’ll have it for this long, but there’s a three-year warranty on the product that you can take advantage of, just in case you need a fix.

4. TORCHSTAR LED Dusk-to-Dawn A19 Light Bulb

Torchstar’s bulb doesn’t get tricked by the light from other bulbs. The sensors work well enough to get them switched on at the right time, even if other bulbs have been on for a while.

When it’s properly positioned, it should take the darkness out of the most obscure corners. It yields about 800 lm from its 9W energy consumption and produces a 5000K, cool white light.

The brightness greatly reduces the chances of an accident or of a security risk going unnoticed at night.

If you do decide to turn the bulb off manually, it may take three minutes to comply with the switch. But that’s a tiny fraction of the many years for which you could enjoy its light.

The Torchstar A19 bulb is arguably one of the light bulbs for cold weather and comes with a three-year warranty on them

5. Philips LED Dusk-to-Dawn A19 Frosted Light Bulb

The soft white light from this bulb should suit you if you’re not comfortable with the more relaxed, daylight-like hues.

It has a lot of the things you’d want in an outdoor bulb: an automatic on-off enabled by an in-built sensor; steady, no-flicker light; and a brightness (about 800 lm) that reveals more. It also saves up to 75 percent of energy compared to halogen.

One pack of this product contains six bulbs. They could last you 22,000 hours if you’re using it for three hours per day. They’ll probably hold up for a shorter period if you employ them differently.

However, they do have a ten-year warranty from their producers- a sign that they’re confident of their product’s quality.

Avoid using them alongside Phillips HUE bulbs, as those may affect its sensor’s function.

6. Bioluz LED BR40 LED Light Bulbs

This bulb differs from the others we’ve reviewed in at least two ways: it’s shaped like a funnel with a sealed top, and it’s dimmable. The second is more important: you can switch between 10 percent and 100 percent brightness to suit different conditions.

Bioluz’s 13W bulb delivers 1050 lm of brightness; the light matches what you’ll get from halogen bulbs, but delivers with less than 20 percent of the energy you’d require to power the latter. Tests indicate that it reaches a wider area than many similar products.

An aluminum heat sink at the base allows for easy heat dissipation and helps extend your bulb’s lifespan. It could last a cumulative 22,000 hours if it’s used on a nightly basis. It’s shatterproof too, so there’s a chance it could stay alive that long.

As with the others here, you can install this bulb by screwing it into a regular socket or fixture.

7. LOHAS 6W Sensor Light

Lohas’s bulb lights up spaces with its 5000K daylight hue. Its sensor technology makes it sensitive to changes in natural lighting conditions so that it automatically comes on at nightfall and turns off at dawn.

It’s not the brightest bulb out there; some of our other picks best the 500 lm it manages. But it does pass the critical tests pretty well: energy savings that shave 85 percent of your electricity bill for bulbs, and it’ll likely give you 30,000 hours of active service.

There are about four of these bulbs in one pack. You’ll probably be fixing them close to each other. We recommend that they aren’t positioned more than 3 feet apart if they’re going to achieve ideal coverage.

A one year warranty takes care of whatever issues you may have with this bulb within your first several months of purchasing it.

8. Aukora 12W Motion Sensor Light Bulbs

It’s a 12 W bulb, but it bestows you with the benefits of a 100 W halogen lamp (without the heat). Its 6000K cool white color is suitable for anyone who wants a bulb for security purposes.

The sensor, located at the tip of the bulb, does more than detecting daylight and nighttime. It reacts to motion within 8-10 feet of it by automatically switching on and off. This capability works at night, so you’ll know when someone comes around your house at odd hours. It’s one more feature you’d want for your security lighting.

There’s a 30-day money-back guaranty if the bulbs you purchase are defective. You can also have them replaced for free if they go bad within the first 12 months.

9. Banord Dimmable 2W S14 LED Bulbs

There are about 15 of these small bulbs in one pack of this product. Each gives you 200 lm of brightness, which they emit from LED filaments. They’ll give you a warm, 2700K lighting, which means they’re a good replacement for your old halogen bulbs.

These lights can give your space a festive feel so that they could work for decorative purposes. You may use them as outdoor string lights to illuminate your patios or fix them along the outer walls of your building. They also work flawlessly in cold weather as they do not flicker nor have extended warm-up time that CFLs may require in chilly conditions.

Also, the bulbs are shatterproof, and won’t swamp your environment with heat.

Banord promises that they’ll remain active for a cumulative 30,000 hours if they’re used on a nightly basis. They can be replaced within the first year of buying them if they fail in that period.

10. TCP 6W LED Light Bulbs

Here’s another option to consider if you have concerns about frequently replacing light bulbs.

It is graded 2700K on the color temperature scale.

It also shines with a brightness of 800 lm, an excellent output for 6W of energy. With it, you’ll keep up to 85 percent of the bill that a halogen bulb with the same brightness would have incurred.

One pack contains six bulbs. You can easily fix them into any E26 socket.

A possible weak point for this bulb is that it doesn’t have any real extras to it; it’s not dimmable, and there aren’t any sensors.

The manufacturer reckons that it’ll function for over 18 years if you’re using it for three hours every day. A three-year warranty covers some of the concerns you may have with it earlier on.

Which Bulbs Perform Better in Cold Weather?

Before we answer this question, let’s run through the main types of bulbs used for outdoor lighting.

Halogen

Halogen bulbs may give you a reasonable degree of brightness for their wattage. If they’re good, they’ll produce a steady, intense light that’s suitable for most exterior environments.

However, they tend to have short lifespans and are not very energy efficient.

Fluorescent

These tend to beat halogens for efficiency and lifespan. They are also generally less expensive than options like LED. But they aren’t entirely safe.

They contain mercury, which can be hazardous when exposed in the open. What’s more, their performance typically reduces with the frequency of usage.

High-Intensity Discharge (HID)

HIDs give off fairly bright lighting and usually last much longer than halogen. The downside for these bulbs is that they emit ultraviolet radiation, so they’ll have to come with UV blocking filters.

LED

Bulbs powered by Light Emitting Diodes (LED) are the most recently developed of the bulb types we’re considering here. They are also about the safest, most energy-efficient lighting alternatives you’ll find on the shelves on shops these days.

They’ll give you up to 80 percent more brightness per watts compared to halogen, and last you several years as well.

While they are usually more expensive than the other types we’ve mentioned, they offer a return over time that’s worth a lot more than the others can boast.

Why do LEDs bulbs perform better than other bulbs in the cold?

Have you imagined what the concept is behind using bulbs to keep chicks and pullets warm? If no, then you need to understand this.

Typical bulbs emit heat. They also require a certain amount of heat to power on and produce light.

The heat produced is what makes glass bulbs heat up and even get too hot to be touch.

During winter, such bulbs will tend to require longer warm-up time, while in some cases, they may not turn on at all, especially when the weather is below freezing point.

However, LED bulbs let you light up your yard all year round, not minding how frigid the winter could be.

LEDs do not emit extreme heat and require far less heat to power.

If you have noticed, most LED product manufacturers advise against using LED products under extreme heat.

Such recommendations are not a coincidence. It is because of the proven fact that using LEDs under hot conditions significantly reduces its efficiency and life span.

To further justify the importance of keeping LEDs cool, you will observe that most LED bulbs have heat sinks installed on them.

A Heatsink is attached to ensure that the bulbs operating temperature do not go beyond the industry standard recommended 185degress.

Such temperature is maintained by pulling hot air into the heat sink, and the warm air is dispersed into the surrounding air.

As you have seen, cold outdoor temperature favors Led bulbs by keeping them cool and enabling them to work in optimal temperature condition

Also, most LED bulbs are made with plastic materials. What this means is that they are more durable and can adequately manage a sudden change in temperature than a typical CFL glass bulbs

Things to Consider Before Choosing an Outdoor Bulb

When you consider the cool nature of LED bulbs, its durability, and long life span, You will see that they make total sense as a choice for outdoor light bulbs for cold conditions. You’ll want to have these in mind when you’re shopping for outdoor bulbs in general.

Quality of the Light

You want steady lighting that doesn’t flicker and has good aerial reach. Thankfully, a lot of the better LED products meet these criteria.

Also, find out whether the color temperature is right for your space.

The color temperature is measured in Kelvin (K) and refers to the closeness of the light to either the blue or red send of the light color spectrum.

Most bulbs produce light that’s cool white (higher than 5000 K), daylight (about 5000K) or warm white (about 3000K or less).

Before you go with any particular temperature, think about what would be both a good aesthetic fit for your environment and a fine security fixture.

Energy Efficiency

LED light bulbs could save you more than 85 percent on energy consumption. But efficiency levels cold vary with different products.

Look at the manufacturer’s description and read reviews on the energy savings of each option you’re considering before deciding to buy.

Lifespan

The lifespan of LED bulbs is measured in hours. The very good ones could last for between 20,000 and 30,000 hours if you’re using them for a few hours each day. The longer they stay lit, the more money they’ll save for you.

Installation

Know what sort of sockets you have, and get bulbs that are a fit for them. The sockets may be E26, E27, A19, etc.

Product descriptions will typically contain this detail.

You can also speak with your electrician if you’re not conversant with the various socket forms.

After-Sales Service

You may wind up purchasing a bad box, with bulbs that don’t work as they ought to.

It’s important that you’re able to have them replaced or get your money back if this happens.

Verify that the product you’re buying has a money-back guarantee and longer-term warranty that you can take advantage of if you ever have to do so.

Also, watch the light bulb buying guide below by Cnet.

Conclusion

We have reviewed the best outdoor light bulbs for cold weather. Ten products we’ve discussed here are some of the most well-known bulbs in the lighting market.

But it’s always possible that there are hidden gems out there, which could serve you just as well as these will.

Our selection criteria may help you discover those, and add to the array of options we have presented you.