Home Depot, which is making an aggressive push into LED lighting, has started selling a Philips LED bulb designed as a replacement for the 60-watt incandescent.

The price of the Philips 12-watt bulb, sold using the Ambient LED name, is $39.97 each. The bulbs, which are dimmable, are expected to be in stores in December.

The Philips 12-watt LED is significant because it matches the amount of light, at 800 lumens, given off by the popular 60-watt incandescent bulbs. It can be used for general lighting, such as overhead lights and desktop lamps and consumes 12.5 watts.

The … Read more

A Chinese embargo on rare earth elements is causing a dramatic spike in the price of materials, which is expected to lead to a jump in high-tech product prices before settling back down in a few years, according to report released today.

Prices will increase rapidly until "non-Chinese rare earth mines are up and running, increasing product availability and thereby decreasing prices," wrote Robert Castellano, president of The Information Network, in a research note today. (See: Pay dirt: Why rare earth metals matter to tech (FAQ).)

But for the time being, Castellano points to some alarming statistics. In … Read more

NISKAYUNA, N.Y.--The incandescent bulb is under fire for being an energy hog, but don't expect one single lighting technology to take its place.

At a General Electric-hosted event on lighting here yesterday, lighting designers and technology developers said people should look forward to greater diversity in lighting products, rather than a dominant light source that meets all needs.

That means people need to better understand the strengths and weaknesses of different technologies, both new and old, and use them for specific applications, they said.

"There's no source that's going to beat everything. LEDs are … Read more

NISKAYUNA, New York--General Electric said today it will roll out an LED bulb to replace 60-watt incandescent bulbs next year, part of an expanded line of efficient lighting.

GE also showed off a prototype downlight LED bulb which gives off 1,500 lumens, the equivalent amount of light as a 100-watt halogen, but it uses one third the energy. The prototype uses an active cooling system originally used by GE's jet engine business.

The announcements were made at a lighting symposium here at GE's Global Research Center, held to showcase new lighting technologies GE expects to move into … Read more

The latest challenger in the lighting technology race is LEDs, which are trying to displace familiar incandescents and more efficient compact fluorescents bulbs. But lighting company Vu1 is going a different route.

Vu1 (pronounced "View one") today said that it received UL certification for its first lightbulb which it says matches the light quality of incandescent bulbs but uses a fraction of the energy and costs less than current LEDs.

Its technology, which the company calls electronically stimulated luminescence (ESL), is derived from cathode ray tubes used in televisions, said president and CEO Philip Styles. Electrons are fired … Read more

Home Depot later this year plans to carry a Philips LED bulb designed as a replacement for the common 60-watt incandescent.

The bulb, now called the 12-watt EnduraLED, will be available by the beginning of December and will cost between $40 and $50, representatives from Philips and Home Depot said today.

Home Depot started selling a line of LED bulbs under the EcoSmart label earlier this year, which includes both spotlights and general-lighting LEDs. The Philips bulb will likely be sold under a different name than 12-watt EnduraLED, Philips representative Silvie Casanova said.

I have been using an early production version of the Philips bulb around my house for the last few days. At first blush, I'd say this is the sort of product that could finally help nudge out the beloved, if wasteful, incandescent bulb.

I never thought I'd get excited about light bulbs before, but when I received the Philips EnduraLED 60-watt replacement, I was eager to try it out.

For starters, the bulb has got a funky look. Rather than the familiar bulbous shape, the top looks like a crown with a flat top. It has three orange-yellow plastic "chambers" around the top and cast aluminum fins go down the sides to take away heat. And there's the familiar screw-in base.

In terms of light quality, this LED is impressive, at least to my eyes. It gives out 806 lumens, the equivalent of a 60-watt bulb, which makes it much more useful for general lighting. I last tried out LED bulbs which maxed out at 429 lumens, or a 40-watt equivalent, which just isn't enough light for many spots around my house.

Another notable feature of the Philips 12-watt EnduraLED is the light color. It's rated at 2700 Kelvin, which is at the "warm white" end of the white light spectrum, according to the Department of Energy's new Lighting Facts label. Philips put the phosphors, which convert the blue light from LED light sources into white light, on the bulb itself rather than the LEDs as is often done.

That warm white is in contrast the light from the bulbs now being sold under the EcoSmart brand at Home Depot. For example, the general-purpose bulb A19, which is a 40-watt replacement, is rated at 3,032 Kelvin, making the light a clear white (but not blueish).

Obviously, color temperature is a personal preference but I think the warm yellow white will feel familiar to people used to incandescents and halogens. Some LED manufacturers offer the option of warm or white light versions of their bulbs.

The shape of the Philips bulb was designed specifically to improve the light dispersal, Casanova said. By their nature, LEDs direct light, which makes them very good for downlights or flood lights. I used the Philips bulb in an overhead lamp and was happy with it; I'd say it would work fine in table lamp, too.

In terms of efficiency, the lumens per watt on the 12 watt EnduraLED comes in at 67. That's slightly better than EnergyStar-certified CFLs, which put out 800 lumens with 13 watts to 15 watts for an efficacy of between 53 and 61. But, this LED is rated to last 25,000 hours, about three to four times that of CFLs. The EnduraLED is also dimmable. … Read more

I more or less ditched incandescent bulbs for more-efficient compact fluorescents in my house years ago. But at this point, I'm awfully close to ditching CFLs for the latest in lighting technology: LEDs.

LED lighting has got a lot going for it. The lights can be far more efficient than other types of lights, and the bulbs are supposed to last for tens of thousands of hours--enough to last 20 or 30 years depending on usage. Unlike CFLs, there's no mercury, the light is instant, and turning lights on and off shouldn't degrade their useful life, according … Read more

LED lighting company Cree on Wednesday is expected to announce it is supplying downlights to Home Depot for sale online, adding another LED to the retailer's lighting offerings.

The downlights, which fit into a six-inch recessed lighting can on ceilings, use 10.5 watts and put out as much light as a 65-watt incandescent bulb. The price for the lights, available under Home Depot's EcoSmart brand, is $49.95.

In addition to being more efficient, Cree says these bulbs give off familiar light to people accustomed to incandescents and they will last for 35,000 hours, which could … Read more

Is it time to make a move to LED bulbs?

The Home Depot is now offering a 40-watt equivalent LED bulb online for under $20. Spotted by The New York Times, the bulb--made by Lighting Sciences Group and sold under the EcoSmart label--will be available in stores in September.

The $20 price tag, which Home Depot has been offering since at least June, won't necessarily open the floodgates to LED replacements of incandescent and compact fluorescent bulbs, which still cost far less. But it does make LED more accessible and it will perhaps prompt consumers to consider the lifetime … Read more