Lighting Science Group 40 Watt Equivalent LED Light

LED light bulbs have long had incandescent and CFL (compact fluorescent) bulbs beat in terms of energy efficiency, yet they’ve taken a back seat to the CFLs due to the much higher price tag of an LED bulb. That is until now. As incandescent bulbs are being phased out, lighting companies are scrambling to get their LED bulbs on the shelves and in the homes of America. Which means prices are dropping.

Lighting Science Group recently announced its’ new 40 watt equivalent LED bulb for sale on Amazon for $21.98, quite a bit cheaper than the competition, such as the $38 GE LED bulb. The A19 type bulb lasts 23 years and contains no mercury, unlike the CFL bulbs that have recently received a lot of press due to a study about potential cancer causing chemicals. Lighting Science Group plans to release a variety of LEDs for sale on Amazon including the more popular 60 watt equivalent bulb. Home Depot also carries a line of LED bulbs from Lighting Science Group, called the Ecosmart LED bulbs.

Switch LED Bulb

Vying for a slice of the LED pie, is Switch lighting who have developed 60 watt and 75 watt equivalent LED bulbs. With plans to begin production in the U.S. later this year, the Switch LED bulbs are expected to cost less than $15.

Metaefficient is also a fan of the Pharox 300 LED bulb which, at $27, is slightly more expensive than these new LEDs about to hit the market, but it does offer dimming capability, while the Lighting Science Group bulb is non-dimmable. For more on the Pharox 300 LED bulb see here. Though it’s been a long time coming, we may be finally able to see the LED light at the end of the tunnel when it comes to replacing the beloved incandescent with affordable, uber-efficient, non-toxic lighting.

For more on LEDs see our recent articles on light bulb efficiency guidelines and LED bulbs for the home.

CFL Light Bulbs By Plumen

They’ve been called everything from curly bulbs to squirrel bulbs to pigtail bulbs, but one thing CFL light bulbs have never been called is beautiful. Until now. A British company by the name of Plumen creates CFL bulbs with an attractive design, one that is meant to be on display. Last month the Plumen 001 bulb won the Brit Insurance Designs of the Year 2011 beating out over 90 other entries including the Apple iPad. In addition to it’s aesthetic charm, the Plumen bulbs use 80% less energy, last 8 times longer than incandescents, produce 680 lumens, equal to a 60 watt incandescent, and come on instantly.

Plumen Bulbs Illuminate A Cafe

Though currently only available in Europe, a 110v version is set to hit North America at the end of April 2011. The bulb is causing quite a stir in the interior design world and can be seen in boutiques and coffee houses in cities like London and Copenhagen. There’s even a Flickr group where Plumen owners can show off their design ideas. As it’s stated on the Plumen website,

It’s strange that the bulb, an object so synonymous with ideas, is almost entirely absent of imagination.

Perhaps Plumen will be able to sway some of the CSL haters, though there is still the mercury problem. According to Plumen, their bulbs contain a smaller amount of mercury than previous CSLs. They will recycle the bulb for you if you send it back to the company or bring it to the store where it was purchased.

A Plumen Light Bulb Holder

The cost of the Plumen is expected to be around $30, which may be hard to swallow for some, though taking into account the energy efficiency and longevity as well as the chic factor, the price may be reasonable to others. Or you may just want to hold out for the LEDs.

Also check out our light bulb efficiency guidelines.

Via: Wall Street Journal and TreeHugger

LEDs offer the best energy efficiency of any widely available lighting technology.  And LED lights contain no mercury, as opposed to the compact fluorescent bulbs that have become so common.  But recent reports suggest that LEDs may have their own issues with hazardous substances, so should you steer clear of them?  Not so fast – LEDs are still a great choice for energy efficient, eco-friendly lighting.

Although a recent study from two University of California research teams did find surprising levels of potentially dangerous substances (primarily lead) in some LED lights, the problems are focused primarily on holiday light strands.  LED bulbs may also contain low levels of these substances too, but they are durable and unlikely to break (an important point, since breakage is the only way that the chemicals would be released in a household setting).

LED Light Strands Were The Focus Of The Recent Study

Furthermore, the overall environmental impact of any chemicals contained in LED light bulbs is more than offset by their energy efficiency.  The electricity saved by using LED lighting eliminates far more toxic pollution from power plants than is contained inside a bulb.

So all in all, you should continue to feel good about making the switch to LED lighting.  Just make sure that (as with any electronic products) you dispose of them properly when they reach the end of their life cycles.

via Modern Enviro and USA Today

VU1 ESL Light Bulb

Retailers are gearing up to meet deadlines for the incandescent light bulb ban. Ikea has already stopped selling the inefficient bulbs. And California has pulled the plug and is letting current supplies run down. Many incandescent lovers are shedding tears and hating on the mercury-containing CFLs and the more expensive (though infinitely more efficient) LEDs. So here come the ESLs. The VU1 Corporation has developed a light bulb using Electron Stimulated Luminescence that the company claims to be more efficient than incandescent, CFL, and LED bulbs.

Though using this patented technology in lighting is new, the science itself is by no means cutting edge. It works in the same way that a cathode ray television works- electrons stimulate phosphors inside the bulb to make them glow. The VU1 Corporation is marketing their bulbs as having the same light quality as an incandescent, yet up to 70% more efficient. They’re taking on the LEDs with a cheaper sticker price. And by not containing any mercury, they are a safer option over the CFLs.  They also have dimming capability and come on instantly, fit into a standard socket and have a similar shape to the Edison bulbs. Here is a comparison photo from the VU1 website:

VU1 Light Quality

Energy efficiency compared to an LED though is still in question. The VU1 bulb produces 30 lumens per watt, the equivalent of a 65 watt incandescent. LED technology continues to advance rapidly with some LEDs producing 3 times that many lumens per watt. And the LED holds the top spot when it comes to longevity. The VU1 bulb lasts 10,000 hours, while LEDs average 40,000-60,000 hours. Check out our guide to LEDs here.

Nevertheless, the ESL is an energy efficient and environmentally friendly lighting option and VU1 could find a nice slice of the light bulb market, especially as the incandescent bulbs leave the building. As stated in this report on Bloomberg, VU1 is in talks with two major retailers in the U.S. to begin selling the ESL bulbs. The bulb, which received UL certification in October, currently sells on the company’s website for $19.95.

[Via: Technology Review]

Zetalux LED Light Bulb

Update: See our latest post on LED Light Bulbs For The Home.

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

LEDs are close to becoming metaefficient alternatives to regular light bulbs, but they are not quite there. Right now the brightest LED bulb is equivalent to a 25W incandescent bulb.

The bulb seen here has 36 LEDs and runs on 1W. That means it could run 10 hours a day for a whole year for less than two dollars. It will also last for at least 10 years. The drawback is the price: $18.95 each. The expense can be justified if they are used outdoors, in boats, or in off-grid homes.

Available from: Super Bright LEDS

Bulb Types

Bulb Base Types

Color Temperature
The color temperature of light refers to the temperature to which one would
have to heat a "black body" source to produce light of similar spectral
characteristics. Color Temperature is expressed in degrees Kelvin (K). Low
color temperature implies warmer (more yellow/red) light while high color temperature
implies a colder (more blue) light. Moreover, the "color temperature" of
a lamp refers to how reddish, greenish or bluish the lamp appears. If the lamp
appears reddish, it has a lower color temperature (e.g., 2500K-3000K) and is
considered to be "warm" in appearance. If the lamp appears to be
bluish, it has a higher color temperature (e.g., 4000K-4500K) and is considered
to be "cool" in appearance.

Warm White: 2500° K to 3000° K
Cool White: 4000° K to 4500° K
Day Light: 6200° K to 6800° K

Color Rendering Index
The Color Rendering Index, or CRI, is a term in photometry used to describe
the effect of a light source on how well it renders colors. In essence, the
Color Rendering Index (CRI) is a numerical system that rates the "color
rendering" ability of fluorescent light in comparison with natural daylight.
If a lamp has a low color rendering index of 50, it does not render colors
very well. If, however, the lamp has a color rendering index of 80 – 95,
its ability to render colors is thought to be very good to excellent. A CRI
of 100 is considered natural daylight and is assigned to the sun itself.