Zetalux LED Light Bulb
Note: The long-awaited GeoBulb has been released — a 60W equivalent bulb available for $60.
I recently had the chance to test two state-of-the-art LED light bulbs from EarthLED. LED bulbs have many advantages over incandescents and compact fluorescent: they use very little power, they last 10 years or more, and they contain no hazardous substances. They are also tough: they can be dropped and turned off and on repeated without damage, they can operate in very cold or warm temperatures.
LED bulbs can also save you money in the long term, because an incandescent bulb requires about $300 worth of electricity over ten years of use. The LED bulbs cost $40 (for the 60 watt equivalent Zetalux) and $50 (for the 100 watt equivalent Evolux), and their cost to run over ten years is about $38.
The Zetalux
The first EarthLED bulb I tested was the ZetaLux LED (pictured above). This bulb produces a pleasing warm white light.
Until recently, LED bulbs were only capable of producing a stark, cool white light, so I was happy about the color temperature of this bulb (it’s rated at 3000K). The bulb didn’t need to warm up like a compact fluorescent, and there was no flickering at all.
The Zetalux uses a CREE LED engine and features a high CRI or Color Rendering Index (75 for cool white and 80 for warm white). The bulb is rated at 7 watts. However, when I tested it with a Kill-A-Watt meter it was drawing only 5 watts.
The warm white version of the Zetalux produces 350 lumens, and the cool white produces 450 lumens. Comparing LED bulbs and other bulb solely on lumens is tricky because LED bulbs tend to make better use of their lumens in recessed fixtures (see this page for more details). EarthLED says the bulbs are equivalent to a 50-60 watt incandescent bulb.
The Zetalux LED Bulb illuminating my hallway.
The Zetalux currently sells for $40. The bulb costs about $2 per year to run, assuming it’s left on 8 hours a day and the cost of electricity is $.10 per KWh.
The Evolux
The second bulb I tested was a cool white Evolux. This 13 watt bulb produces 1075 lumens, and according to EarthLED is equivalent to a 100 watt incandescent. This bulb is definitely bright — it illuminates my garage quite well.
EarthLED says the Zetalux and Evolux will become the first FCC and Underwriter’s Laboratory (UL) listed LED light bulbs on the market at the end of 2008. Both bulbs are RoHS compliant.
EarthLED will be releasing a dimmable version of the ZetaLux, and a new version of the Evolux in early 2009.
These bulbs are available from GoGreenSolar
Read more! Related stories:
- Liquid-Filled LED Bulbs: 360 Degree Light
- Geobulb: A LED Bulb That Replaces A 60W Bulb
- 13W LED Bulb Can Replace 100W Incandescent
- EcoLEDs: Mercury-Free LED Bulbs
- Compact Fluorescents (CFLs)
{ 26 comments… read them below or add one }
You might try your local WalMart, http://www.shop.donsgreenstore.com/main.sc or http://www.shop.donsgreenstore.com/main.sc for 1 – 3 watt versions, about 1-40 Watts incandesant equivalent, at $10.00-$15.00 — I got one, and they work, but of course were under powered re: 100 watt
You might try your local WalMart, heartland or donsgreenstore for 1 – 3 watt versions, about 1-40 Watts incandescent equivalent, at $10.00-$15.00 — I got one, and they work, but of course were under powered re: 100 watt
How will that little fan inside the Evolux last for 50000 hours or 10 years?
Strange that you would have “… can replace 100W incandescents” in the title, when the manufacturer says that the bulbs is rated for 50-60W. I was expecting a rationale or justification for putting 100W in the title, but there was none. Why? Why would you do this?
Hmmm, they’ve priced it way too high. At these prices, it will take 71 months (nearly 6 years) with my usage pattern before this bulb will pay for itself (vs. incandescents or halogens).
Granted, this isn’t only about cost, there is the Hg-Free-factor, but I think I’ll just stick with my CFLs (which will pay for themselves in about 12 months) and make sure I dispose of them properly.
I really really really want LED bulbs all over my house but the cost is still too high. Keep ‘em coming so the prices keep falling. I’d say for a 100W equivalent that $20 is the price point for me. For a 60W, I’d say $10 is the sweet spot.
Costco in New York (Long Island) periodically offers Long Island Power Discounts on their 6 packs of CFL Reflector bulbs (14 w reflector equiv. to 65w) and 10 packs of 13w CFL 60w equiv. bulbs. Prices are $12.99 with $10 instant rebate and and $17.99 with $15.00 rebate, respectively.
The light btw, is excellent – not too blue, wavy or harsh on the eyes – compares very well with traditional bulbs. . . How they can sell these things for as little as $0.29 each you ask? All are mfg. in China -like everything else- but at govt. these subsidized prices who cares?
I have to wonder how much of the cost is power conversion circuitry coupled with recouping development costs. I think I may stick with LEDs for my flashlights and use my current mix of CFL and incandescent lights in the house for now.
Cool! Still a bit much… How well does it fill a room with light? I was thinking of using them in my garage, where it is too cold for most CFL’s to work well. Also Do they handle power fluctuations well? My saw makes the lights dim a bit, and kills cfl’s
Andy,
The room is brightly lit, but it is a cool white light. I wanted to test the warm white version too to compare. LEDs handle power fluctuations much better than CFLs.
Justin
Check out our line of LED products. We offer these bulbs in 3 different color ranges which allow the user to seamlessly integrate them into any setting.
http://www.atpcanada.ca
Feel free to ask comment and ask questions. Thanks
Justin – Great article. It looks like EarthLED is coming out with some very innovative bulbs and solving the directional light issue with LED’s.
A correction for you:
Oops here’s the link:
Lumens: Why you can’t use them to compare LED Bulbs to traditional bulbs
check out the luxetera, 400 lumens and 5 watts, also a bit cheaper by $5!
I wont post the site cuz I aint trying to sell them.
They say equivalent to a 40-50w incan.
I would like to see them a bit cheaper too of course…
One terrible thing about CFL if the flicker doesnt strike you is they don’t go to full brightness instantly for motion detector lights. I am getting one of these bulbs for that right away.
Martin>Strange that you would have “… can replace 100W incandescents” in the title, when the manufacturer says that the bulbs is rated for 50-60W. I was expecting a rationale or justification for putting 100W in the title, but there was none. Why? Why would you do this?
The Evolux is rated to replace a 100 W incandescent lamp.
There are really only three things to consider when comparing bulbs:
Output (commonly expressed in lumens)
Efficiency (lumens out/watts in)
Color temperature
The current efficiency champs are rgb led’s (red, green and blue). can be mixed to provide whatever color you want. “White” led’s are actually fluorescent led’s – an led can only put out one color, the fluorescent coating converts blue light to white by absorbing some of it.
The best available white led’s operate at about 30 lumens/watt compared to 30-40 l/w for fluorescent tubes and 120 for rgb led lamps optimized for “white” light.
I have a pair of rgb floods w/ 99 leds consuming 5 watts and putting out 600 lumens, cost me $15 each.
“white” led’s are not the answer.
“I have a pair of rgb floods w/ 99 leds consuming 5 watts and putting out 600 lumens, cost me $15 each.”
how about a link on those chum?
I bought LED lights to replace my halogen MR16 bulbs the other day from a website called LEDinsider.com that I would recommend enthusiastically.. They had good service (good phone and email support), excellent FAQs so I knew what I needed, very competitive prices, and their shipping was fast and the LEDs were just as advertised. http://www.LEDInsider.com. A pleasure to deal with!
“they contain no hazardous substances.”
Not quite. I’m assuming you mean they do not contain mercury (unlike CFL light bulbs), but I assure you that there is lead in there. And moreover every method of manufacturing semi-conductors (such as LEDs) involves a number of toxic materials. I’m not knowledgeable enough to know what is in these modern ultra-bright white and blue LEDs, but even the most commonplace semiconductors use highly toxic organic solvents in their production. Thin film semiconductors are made with highly toxic gasses like silane.
Moreover, it sure looks like there is plastic in that enclosure and the manufacture of plastic of any kind involves toxic substances and solvents.
Note that none of this is meant to disparage the manufacture or use of these devices. I have high hopes for LED bulbs in the home. But just about every manufactured good has a pile of toxins hidden in its manufacture.
“The best available white led’s operate at about 30 lumens/watt compared to 30-40 l/w for fluorescent tubes and 120 for rgb led lamps optimized for “white” light.” – woodyp
Cree’s high for white light presently is 161 lumen’s per watt and available! And it will just keep getting better. Check out their web site.
try this website they give out 2 year warranty aswel..www.bestledstore.com
LED Lamps though score over CFL s their high cost limits their use.In India one less than 1watt single led white lamp with its driver costs about 10$. and they are only available in big metros.The sellers claim that it will last a life time and vertually costs nothing in power consumption no written specification is given.The product comes from china
I bought 2 LED puck lights for under my kitchen cabinets in Stop N Shop. They were $15 each and do a good job. They stick to underneath the cabinet and are out of site. You just need to wave your hand under it to turn it on and off. The light will also go off automatically after an hour. Use three rechargeable AAA batteries. Gives off decent light- just got them so I don’t know how long the batteries will last before a recharge yet.
I think the idea of using LED bulbs at your home or office is to help the environment and your wallet. Imagine the amount of watts NOT used by this lightbulbs each year will be traduced to less coal\fuel burning, I think you have to be willing to sacrifice a little to win a lot, If you compare the prices from incandescent, flourescent, and led; they are not far one from from each other, With this I’m not triying to sell anything, and I’m not trying to justify Led’s like other posts, LED is the future in illumination without wasting a lot of energy. At my home I bought 21 led light bulbs and spend $200 for that, I didn’t sacrifice brigtness, I’m very happy now, Do not leave other people scare you or dismiss this awesome technology.
Not all states are gona ban the old light bulbs. In fact here in NEW YORK CITY, i think whats gona happen is that they’re only gona ban the 100watt and 60watt bulbs. the only thing they require here is that all buildings use cfl bulbs to save energy. i still think that the thought of the government banning these bulbs is unbelievable. If they wana use these crappy cfl bulbs for their homes, fine. but why should we be forced to use something we dont like. this is suppose to be the land of the free which means FREEDOM OF CHOICE. does anyone know i can write a letter to congress about this issue?
Our main business is solar energy systems, but we cannot stomach installing a system to offset electric usage without first addressing energy efficiency first. LED lighting can help to conserve so much energy that it is definitely the first change we recommend to customers. However, we have also been frustrated with the limited options available on the store shelves, and the prices are exhorbitant.
We’re now dealing directly with manufacturers so we can can offer a variety of product styles at low prices. Check out our site TERPLLC if you want more info.