Considering the price per bulb you may want to look at CFL's that are enclosed.

I considered CFL. The ones in the link below are half the price of the EcoSmart but are rated for 8000 hrs vs. 50000 hrs for the EcoSmart. I don't plan on moving again. The CFL color temp is not as good and they also have a slow warmup time compared to the LEDs.

Here is a link that might be useful: 40 watt CFL

8,000 hours is a lot of hours and 50,000 is approaching infinity. LOL...

Most large high celing chandeliers are used less frequently and are less subject to the constant on/off of kitchen lighting or family room lamps. If that is the case with your chandelier you may be buying capacity you don't really need.

CFL's come in a variety of color temps and they will be seen indirectly in your application. Through shades or reflected off a wall.

I haven't lived in the house yet and am not sure exactly what kind of use the chandelier will get. The room also has 6 cans which I'm using CFL floods in(10,000 hour). They won't be easy to change either and I wish I had used the Cree LR4s instead.

I guess you could be right about using the CFLs in the chandelier but I think it will see a good bit of use. It is a large family room and the 6 CFL cans don't provide much light. I believe I will end up using the chandelier more than the cans since I know the bulbs are likely to last much longer in the chandelier.

I've had CFLs burn out way less than 8000 hours. I think the LED looks terrific in that light. Nice color!

I'd go for it.

Not sure if that is a dimmable LED bulb, but that may be a consideration for you too.

40 * 15 - wow - thats a lot of light!

"I've had CFLs burn out way less than 8000 hours."

Yep, 8000 hours is an average. That means that the one I have in my music room that's been operating for 3 years now continuously (26,000h+) balances 3 of yours which may have failed the second you turned them on. :)

Your LED's 50,000 hours is also an average. LED lamps also have failure-prone components. Some of them will fail in 10h, 100h, 1000h ... and so on. There is no way to predict that a given unit will absolutely, certainly last 50000h. The best you can hope for is free replacement under warranty if it doesn't. (And BTW, the cost of that "free" replacement is built into the price you paid for the unit.)

Sorry, you can improve the odds - but nothing will guarantee that you'll never have to climb up there and change a bulb again.

That said, there are considerations for this kind of use entirely aside from service life.

First, on the plus side: I suspect that for a candelabra retrofit, the size of LEDs is advantageous, even though CFs have really shrunk in recent years.

A contraindication: LEDs are inherently directional, rather than having a spherical radiation pattern the way an incandescent filament or a glowing fluorescent envelope has. Thus downlights are a particularly appropriate use of LEDs. (I happen to think that downlights are a less than optimal way to light a room, but that's a totally separate issue.)

OK, enough rambling. :)