Light bulb with 20-year life unveiled

[Hum]

A prize-winning, super-energy-saving LED bulb from Dutch electronics giant Philips said to last over 20 years went on sale Sunday to coincide with Earth Day.

The bulb that won the US Department of Energy's "Bright Tomorrow Lighting Prize" was available from retailers for $50, down from an initial $60 price tag. The company said it was planning discounts to bring the cost down to as little as $25.

The 10-watt LED bulb (light-emitting diode) was deemed an efficient alternative to the standard 60-watt incandescent bulb, and rated to last 30,000 hours -- when used four hours a day, that translates to a more than two-decade life span, according to the company.

For consumers attentive to cost, Philips said the price tag was easily offset by energy savings of $165 over its lifetime.

The new bulb, which gives off 940 lumens, a soft white light, is "83 percent more energy efficient than the standard 60-watt incandescent," said Philips' North America executive Ed Crawford in announcing upcoming rebates.

LED bulbs face competition from compact fluorescent lights that approach seek similar efficiency levels, and cost far less.

The symbolic choice of Sunday's Earth Day release however saw Philips branding their bulb as the environmentally friendly choice.

more

[funkydude]

Already using far cheaper and more efficient ones, 6W equal to 60W, not sure how a 10W equal to 60W would improve things, probably just a different/better tone?

[+s55 Subscriber¹]

The LED's might last 20 years, but I'm not sure the electronics will.

These things run hot and cook the inverter boards even when well ventilated . We've got a bunch of 6/7W CREE LED Lamps (Not cheap ones) and so far we've found they fail in under 12 months of light usage. (Board shorts out and makes a rather loud bang, but the LED's still work if you apply a low voltage source to them)

I don't think we've had any last longer than a normal incandescent. We've tried several brands and keep having the same issues.

GU10 fittings are especially bad since they are so tightly fitted in. Even the CFL versions we use have been failing pretty quick :(

I miss incandescent lights

[PsyOpWarlord]

I'm still waiting for the prices to come down more. In the mean time I'm happy with my interim solution. The EcoSmart LED bulbs I use were only $10ea but are only 8W (40W equivalent). I like the light in some ways better than the old incandescent 60W buts as those seemed overly bright. But there are a few places I would like the 60W equivalent. I'll upgrade those from 40W to 60W when the prices come down to around $15-17.

I hated the CFLs as most are not dimmable, still contain mercury, and still take slight time to get full brightness even with the instant on.

[ArKeYa]

Why do they always compare them to incan instead of the widely used CFLs?

[Shiranui]

How do these compare with the LED bulbs that have been on sale for several years now, in Japan at least?

[PsyOpWarlord]

The LED's might last 20 years, but I'm not sure the electronics will.

These things run hot and cook the inverter boards even when well ventilated . We've got a bunch of 6/7W CREE LED Lamps (Not cheap ones) and so far we've found they fail in under 12 months of light usage. (Board shorts out and makes a rather loud bang, but the LED's still work if you apply a low voltage source to them)

I don't think we've had any last longer than a normal incandescent. We've tried several brands and keep having the same issues.

GU10 fittings are especially bad since they are so tightly fitted in. Even the CFL versions we use have been failing pretty quick :(

I miss incandescent lights

Odd, I have a bunch of HomeDepot EcoSmart bulbs at work that we've been running for about 1 & 1/2 years, 24 hours a day and we have not had one burn out yet. Not even during the power surges where we drop commercial power and run generators every month. In fact I still have one that I dropped when installing it and the glass bulb shattered but the LED still works (I'm using that one in one of the light fixtures with the protective screw on glass jar/grates so no one touches the LED)

I liked them so much much that when I purchased my house last year I upgraded all the interior lights in the house (except for the bathroom mirror lights) to EcoSmart bulbs. Out of the 58 bulbs, I've only had issues with one (40W equivalent) that had a flicker when your dimmed it low. I just moved it to a fixture that doesn't dim (I was to lazy to drive back just to replace that one).

47x EcoSmart A19 8.6-Watt (40W) LED Light Bulb

3x EcoSmart 13-Watt (60W) A19 DayLight LED Light Bulb

8x EcoSmart 14-Watt (75W) BR30 LED Flood Light Bulb

I do admit, they get a little hot, but its nothing that has caused issues with any of my bulbs yet.

[DrakeN2k]

The LED's might last 20 years, but I'm not sure the electronics will.

These things run hot and cook the inverter boards even when well ventilated . We've got a bunch of 6/7W CREE LED Lamps (Not cheap ones) and so far we've found they fail in under 12 months of light usage. (Board shorts out and makes a rather loud bang, but the LED's still work if you apply a low voltage source to them)

I don't think we've had any last longer than a normal incandescent. We've tried several brands and keep having the same issues.

GU10 fittings are especially bad since they are so tightly fitted in. Even the CFL versions we use have been failing pretty quick :(

I miss incandescent lights

Sounds like a problems with your electrics instead of the bulbs, how can they all be faulty.

[PsyOpWarlord]

Why do they always compare them to incan instead of the widely used CFLs?

I think just because incandescent bulbs were the standard for the longest time. Since so many people were coming from those, it was easier to compare. So for energy savings it easy to use those as a standard to compare other bulbs to (old 60W light used 60W electricity, a one to one ratio). But that is where the comparison really ends and other factors come into play such as cost, color spectrum, hazardous materials, dimmability, instant on/full brightness.

The other option would be use compare lumens and electrical watt usage in bulbs. But I believe most people can relate easier to light output produced in a 60W incandescent bulb easier then saying 840 lumens.

The CFLs are definitely cheaper than the LED counterparts.

But most CFLs you buy are not dimmable. They do make some that are dimmable but the prices on those generally cost more. CFLs contain mercury, so your not supposed to throw them away in the trash. You take them to a recycle center/toxic waste depot. Also I still notice an issue with CFL not being true instant on instant brightness. I still notice a change in light output during the first minute or so.

LEDs mitigate most of those issues, however they still have one seriously major issue IMHO, and that is price. They are the most expensive of the solutions. Price per bulb is what drives most people I know to use CFLs over LEDs. What made it easier for me to swallow was I did them all at the time I had my new house built so I just consider it part of the initial cost of the house (~$800 so far).

[ATLien_0]

this is great news!

Its interesting though, way before the idea of planned obsolescence incandescence bulbs were designed to last much longer than they do now. I hope this doesn't happend with led bulbs