Let's look at your LED floodlight options

Floodlights are fairly common in today's homes -- and common in the lighting aisle, too, where you'll find a whole host of new, efficient LED options. But which one should you go with when it's time to buy new bulbs?

To find out, we tested several options from a variety of manufacturers. The good news: most of them are pretty good!

Aside from spending hours testing each bulb in our lighting lab to measure things like brightness and color temperature, we also made sure to test other concerns, including dimmability, heat management and color rendering, which plays a big role in how accurate and vivid each bulb will make the colors in your home look.

As for that heat management test, it's designed to see how each bulb performs as it heats up during use. Just like the way your laptop can slow down when it gets too hot, LEDs will see a slight drop-off in brightness in the first 30 minutes or so of usage as they heat up -- by that point, their heat sinks should kick in and stabilize things. 

Bulbs that finish higher are losing less of their brightness during their initial dip and doing a better job of keeping heat at bay. Good heat management leads to better efficiency, because it lets the bulbs put out more light from the same, low power draw. A bulb that's good at keeping the heat at bay might be a smart pick for an enclosed fixture, where heat tends to get trapped.

LEDs aren't hard to find -- even most grocery stores sell them at this point. That's why we made sure to test bulbs from a variety of retail sources, including this store-brand LED we bought at Target.

So let's start there, with the Target Up & Up brand LED floodlight.

Brightness: 624 lumens
Power usage: 10 watts
Price: $8

Click here to see the dimming performance.  

Here it is shining in front of a purple wall. The light's a little yellowish in tone, which distorts the color of the wall. This is a pretty typical result.

Here's a closer look at how the Target bulb handles colors. Note the slightly yellowish tinge to the white bowl and the wooden table, along with the desaturated oranges. This is a pretty typical color-rendering result for an LED -- which is to say, it's just so-so.

Next, a floodlight from Philips that you can get for less than $5 per bulb at Home Depot. Bonus: it gets warmer and more candlelike in tone as you dim it.

Brightness: 749 lumens
Power usage: 9 watts
Price: $13.45 for a three-pack ($4.48 per bulb)

Click here to see the dimming performance.

Speaking of bargain bulbs, here's a Walmart store-brand "Great Value" Floodlight LED.

Brightness: 669 lumens
Power usage: 10 watts
Price: $7

Click here to see the dimming performance.  

Our next competitor: a "Basic"-branded floodlight LED from GE, one of the most venerable names in lighting. This is one of the cheapest dimmable options money can buy.

Brightness: 659 lumens
Power usage: 8.5 watts
Price: $16.98 for a 6-pack ($2.83 per bulb)

Click here to see the dimming performance.    

Want a bulb that can help the colors in your home look better? Then consider upgrading to a GE Reveal LED, which boosts the bulb's light from the red part of the spectrum for better-looking colors and cleaner whites.

Brightness: 799 lumens
Power usage: 9 watts
Price: $16.99 for a 2-pack ($8.50 per bulb)

Click here to see the dimming performance.    

Cree is another big name in lighting, and their floodlights come with a best-in-class 10-year warranty.

Brightness: 732 lumens
Power usage: 8.5 watts
Price: $9.97 for a 2-pack ($4.99 per bulb)

Click here to see the dimming performance.    

Even Amazon sells LED light bulbs now, including this floodlight LED. It's actually one of your brightest options.

Brightness: 792 lumens
Power usage: 9.5 watts
Price: $11.99 for a 2-pack ($5.99 per bulb)

Click here to see the dimming performance.