Philips unveils LED light bulb to replace standard 60-watt

[wpsedgwick]

Source: Examiner

Royal Philips Electronics unveiled a 12-watt LED light bulb that it will begin selling as a substitute for standard 60-watt bulbs by the end of the year.

The 12-watt Endura LED, which is the fruition of the LED prototype bulb the Dutch electronics giant unveiled in 2009, looks very similar to its historic predecessor in size and shape. But the bulb cuts energy use by 80 percent and lasts 25 times longer than the common 60-watt incandescent bulb, according to Philips.

Read more: http://www.examiner.com/x-42287-Chicago-Green-Technology-Examiner~y2010m5d14-Philips-unveils-LED-light-bulb-to-replace-standard-60watt

[Pab Sungenis]

1. How does this compare to CFL?

How does this generation of LED's stack up in terms of light output, power usage, life, environmental output, and price?

LEDs sound tempting, but I have to wonder if they've quite arrived.

[progressoid]

3. They're expensive now but...

Light output is the same as a 60 watt, no mercury like CFLs, dimmable, longer life, no warm up time, etc.


http://gadgetwise.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/05/13/led-bulbs-light-up/?partner=rss&emc=rss

[quakerboy]

6. I think the key is the on/off cycles

That's what kills the CFL's in my experience. I seem to go through those about twice as fast as regular bulbs. Hours of use is only as useful as the ability of the bulb to be turned on in the first place.

Will the LED's offer an improvement on this? And whats the plan for the manufacturers to stay in business if they dont. 20k hours, if made real, could put a bit of a crimp in their return sales.

[HillbillyBob]

11. There are a lot of 'offbrand' CFLs that do not last

I have a house full of GE,Philips and Sylvannia, I bought some off brands they lasted about a year. The those 3 seem to be the longest lasting as I have some that are at least 5 yrs old.

[quakerboy]

39. I have a mix, and they all last about a year max

I will admit the off brand went quicker, and stopped working more scarily(black scorch marks and melted plastic), but I have been uniformly unimpressed with their lifespan, even as compared to regular incandescent. I also did not see a huge energy savings. I will grant that I started with a very low bill, mainly because my wife is a power nazi and shuts everything off when not in use, while chiding any and all "don't you care about the earth". But converting the whole apartment was maybe a 5% power saving for us.

I go through about twice as many bulbs in a given time period as I did with incandescent bulbs. I am pretty sure this is connected to power cycles and our habits of turning off when not in use. So, good in general use, seems to backfire with CFL's.

[progressoid]

13. My problem with incandescent (in addition to the elec cost)

was heat. We have old recessed light fixtures that would get very hot and the bulbs would prematurely burn out. The CFLs last longer but still not as long as advertised. But in the long run, we're using a lot less elec than before.

[FailureToCommunicate]

18. Be careful though...the heat in a CFL is in the base too. I had one smolder before shorting out and

I wonder about them in recessed lighting.

[guruoo]

27. Try drilling some holes in the fixture's top to let the heat escape. n/t

[HillbillyBob]

32. If you put holes in the can you risk letting AC out in summer and

Heat out in winter. If i can recall correctly there are small fans that can be put in the can. LEDs do run cooler, but sealed fixtures can block heat release. Most fixtures are not air tight, but those that are almost can burn out cfls, leds should not be quite as sensitive.

[guruoo]

40. Point is the cooler they run, the longer they'll last.

Experience tells me that you're probably right about LEDs lasting longest of the three.

[Pab Sungenis]

23. I'll back that up

We had some lights in my movie theater (in the one long hallway) that were almost NEVER turned off, unless the main power was killed for some reason. I installed some old-style "hoop" CFL's in those fixtures when I took over in 2001. When I closed up shop five and half years later, one of those original bulbs was still in place. Other CFL's I used, which were turned on and off regularly, lasted more like 1-2 years.

[NewJeffCT]

29. Interesting - I've only had two CFLs burn out on me over 4-5 years now

and, I've replaced a bunch in that stretch. I had two go around the same time last year.

[KurtNYC]

4. Philips is the most aggresive of the big three lighting makers

and they have bet their future on LED. In their R&D budget fluorescent gets nothing, LED almost all.

There is a very nice crop of LED coming this season -- 70 lm/watt and higher. Small LEDs are more efficient than large ones so a bulb like this is more efficient than most of the stuff made with 1w and 3w LEDs. But I haven't seen this bulb in action and until then numbers and just numbers.

[Romulox]

8. It costs 10 times as much, to start...how many miles do I need to drive to be able to AFFORD one?

[HillbillyBob]

10. I bought an 11 watt LED Flood indoor/outdoor

502 lumens(looks to me about 90 or 100 watt equivalent.
I installed in a hanging fixture over my work space in the kitchen.
4700 K (light temp, bright white).
20$ should last 20 yrs

[SlipperySlope]

38. CFLs suck and LEDs don't

That's how they compare.

[louis-t]

2. If it lasts 25 times longer, the price will be

25 times higher. The savings will be in the energy usage.

[smoogatz]

5. Excellent.

I hate CFL bulbs. What's the light quality like from this thing, I wonder--we use a few LED nightlights and they're kind of this ghostly blue color...

[Hassin Bin Sober]

19. We had the same problem with our under cabinet lights.

We tried LEDs but couldn't stand the "ghostly blue" effect. We ran back to the store and returned them.

[KurtNYC]

35. I have some of this in our upstairs bathroom

http://www.kicklighting.com/Kick-Flex-LED-for-vehicles-boats.htm

Nice 3200K and we just leave it on all the time. Uses about 4 watts (on a dimmer). Paid $32.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

37. Neat. That may work for a cove light in a tray ceiling I'm building.

Does it put out a "white" light versus the bluish tint associated with other LEDS?

[KurtNYC]

43. it's 3200k -- so warm white

to my eye it is slightly tan/amber, but not blue at all.

[Gunit_Sangh]

7. price

I saw an ad for 40 watt LED bulbs yesterday and they were $30

[Xithras]

26. You think thhat's bad?

I was looking at 60 watt dimmable LED floods (for recessed light usage) last weekend. $52 per bulb. My kitchen requires eight bulbs.

[Lochloosa]

9. I have been seeing these in commercial applications. Some things to love about these lamps.

I can't speak for this lamp, but you will see LED's that are dimmable and able to change the color. That's a fun feature.

Serious pot growers are starting to use them because of the color change and they are COOL. No heat.

[FBI_Un_Sub]

12. A "full featured" LED

is the holy grail of the lighting industry -- and it sure looks like Philips got there first (at least ahead of Toshiba :-) )

[Igel]

24. Search on "definity". n/t

[IndianaGreen]

14. K&R

I already replaced all of the incandescent bulbs in my house with compact fluorescent bulbs, which do pose an environmental problem of their own due to mercury. I can't hardly wait for the new LED bulbs to become economically available to us working stiffs.

[xxqqqzme]

16. CFLs were expensive at first.

I just bought one at a time, as the old incandescents burned out. I'll do the same here - one at a time as needed.

[Joe Bacon]

20. I noticed a big change in my power bill!

The Los Angeles DWP gave me fluorescent bulbs for free. My power bill was cut in half

[fatbuckel]

15. see this link for more LED options

....http://www.yeselectric.com/index.jsp?path=find&ID=,LED.Lamps

[bikebloke]

17. I went to LED 3 for my bike light.

A brighter light and I don't have to buy new bulbs every year. Especially since they stopped making the bulbs.

What I don't like about florescents is the blue-ish light makes my dingy flat look even dingier. Since I live alone and use only one light, I'm sticking with incandescents for the warmer colour.

[Igel]

25. Stay tuned.

The next generation promises "warmer" light, so no more deathly blue. They also promise less directional lighting, higher wattage equivalents, and eventually lower costs.

I like the "dimmable" business.

Although I must say, the last apt. we had was well enough insulated that a few winters (this is Houston, mind you) we didn't turn on the heat. The light bulbs provided sufficient warmth. Scary, to think about using them during the summer when the AC is on. Or that it was the way you'd head a lizard's cage. Still. . .

[alfredo]

21. I'm using a 1.5w light in my computer room. I bounce it off the ceiling and

it gives enough light to see, but not so much it distracts from what I'm doing.

[Owl]

22. Any chance we'll ever make cool things like this in the USA, with USA companies and USA employees?

[HillbillyBob]

33. Cree is a company in Durham NC that is leading research

about on par with Philips into brighter better color lighting.
They actually make the led chips that many manufacturers are putting into their bulbs.

As for disposal of either kind I have yet to burn out an LED, but will take them to the E-cycle as I do with the CFLs, batteries whether rechargeable or disposable, old tvs, remotes.

[SoapBox]

28. Toxic? Like the CFL?

...I don't think that the disposal of CFL's gets the attention that they deserve (the mercury)...

So I wonder, will the LED bulbs need hazardous waste disposal, as well?

[Bluenorthwest]

30. No toxics in LED lights

[struggle4progress]

36. Hmmm. An LED is a semiconductor, so there's probably nontrivial hazardous waste

associated with the manufacture

[yellowcanine]

31. Good because CFLs leave a lot to be desired.....

Slow to come up to full illumination, can't be dimmed easily, toxics - and not that great on length of service either.

[old mark]

34. We started using CFL's over eight years ago when they first came to the

mainstream market - we cut our electric bills by 30% per month ever since. I really don't care what they cost - they SAVE MONEY and use less energy. I still have some in place that are 5 years old or more.

mark

[Old Troop]

41. I hope they are better than the current CFL bulbs

I can hardly see with the dim light they provide.

[David__77]

42. Utility energy efficiency programs need to incentivize these.

Soon, CFLs will be the standard lamp. LED is the future to be sure. We could cut quite a lot of energy use in this way. But the utilities need to spark the market transformation and the economies of scale that will come with it.