Six-watt dimmable LED bulb comes to U.S.
Is it time to make the leap to LED lights for the home? Perhaps, but only if you're willing to make a return-on-investment calculation.
Lemnis Lighting on Friday said that its Pharox60 LED light is now available in the U.S. online and soon will be for sale on Amazon. The dimmable bulb, shaped like a traditional incandescent bulb, consumes 6 watts of power and can replace a 60-watt bulb.
An LED replacement for an incandescent bulb.
(Credit: Pharox)That dramatic drop in electricity use comes at the cost of $39.95. The premium can be recouped in three years, or as little as one year for consumers with time-of-day pricing tariffs, according to the company. The current price is a special offer; the bulb will cost $49.95 after the beginning of next year.
"Compared to the entry price for solar panels, we feel this is a more accessible energy saving investment," said Warner Philips, founder of the Netherlands-based company whose great-grandfather founded the Dutch lighting giant Philips.
The LED bulbs are estimated to last 25 years, significantly longer than compact fluorescent bulbs, which use more electricity for similar level of lighting output, or lumens. The Pharox60 bulb can be recycled with metal and glass materials, according to the company.
LED backers have long advocated solid-state lighting because it consumes one-tenth the power of incandescent bulbs and lasts longer. But the high price tag has meant that LEDs are mainly used for commercial applications.
Because there is concern that manufacturers will overstate the efficiency benefits or light output, the Department of Energy has set up a "Lighting Facts" Web site and label to guide consumers. Lighting Facts lists the Pharox bulb bulb among those that perform as claimed.
Martin LaMonica is a senior writer for CNET's Green Tech blog. He started at CNET News in 2002, covering IT and Web development. Before that, he was executive editor at IT publication InfoWorld. E-mail Martin. 
I'm glad to see that the Department of Energy has recognized a long-standing problem with incandescent bulb alternatives: the alleged lumens are considerably lower that what's claimed.
Personally, I'm waiting for this product to fail. Then I will pick up discontinued bulbs at discount prices. That's the way I picked up a couple of 40W-equivalent LEDs about five bucks apiece a while back.
I hope the rest fo the world doesn't look at everything like you do, or everything is doomed to failure for an extremely short term deal.
I just think LED lightbulb technology is still five years away from being something that Joe Walmart will buy.
It took me about five years to find high-output CFLs with decent color temperature and other performance characteristics. As an owner of a couple of recently-purchased LED bulbs, I am familiar with some of the current consumer product.
Unless Philips made a *major* breakthrough, this technology is just inching along. Like I said, five years. Oh, I will try it, but unlike my experiments with CFL lighting, I am not paying full retail.
$50 may be fine for large businesses, as they will realize savings on their hydro bills right away. But as a consumer, there's no way in hell I will ever pay $50 for a light bulb.
I think it's high time products like this start to be manufactured in North America again. With the right factory, most of the assembly would be automated cutting down most of the labour costs. With mass production, and subsidies from government for making a green product, I can see this being a very profitable business.
Everyone WANTS energy efficient lights, but not everyone can afford $50 per light. Get the price down to an affordable level and how much energy will we save? Seems like an awful lot to me.
I can't get over the fact that if there's ever another major war involving north America and perhaps Asia, we won't be able to manufacture ANYTHING related to electronics. Seems pretty stupid to me.
Today's light fixtures work better with modern CFL and LED lamps, mostly because don't confine the light that some older light fixtures tend to do.
I have a couple of points. Made in USA often means more, not less, expensive. Government subsidies because a product is "green" simply means all taxpayers contribute to the purchase. Why should others pay you to save on your electricity bill? Each consumer should choose whether to pay now or later. When electricity costs grow high enough, LED bulbs will be compelling for many more than now, even at $50. In the meantime, consumers can choose to bide their time, waiting for the technology to mature or, perhaps, for existing bulbs to fail.
http://www.earthtechproducts.com/dimmable-led-bulb-par38.html#
At this price point they should have a built in microcontroller that records run-time in hours and some way to retrieve that information. X10 style communication through the wiring shouldn't be a big deal. Then when the bulb fails you take it to the store where they can check the run-time and give you a pro-rated credit on a replacement. Sort of like car batteries.
Investment is fine but only when the product is durable. It's probably more efficient to simply turn lights off when not needed. Only bulbs that *have* to be on for long periods of time are suitable candidates to be replaced by this bulb. Time till break-even clearly depends on how many hours in the day the bulb is on so sticking this one in the linen closet or even bathroom is probably pointless.
I know this is off the subject, but there needs to be some better way of rating light output of LED flashlights. ALL the manufactures list how many bulbs, as the only indication of how bright the light is. "Super bright" LEDs have never meant anything to me. I have a couple of 9 LED flashlights which are brighter then my 15, 20 and 25 LED flashlights, which are at most 1 year old.
I know technology is making them better and better, but you never know how old the technology is, in a light in the store.
I don't have a problem with 60W equivalent, if that's what it really puts out. Most of my CFL bulbs are in that equivalent range.
Oh... and I see that you made a comment on this forum, so that must mean you are using a computer. Where do you suppose that product was made and/or assembled, or where many of the components came from for that computer? What about your phone, stereo, tv, dvd player, cable box, clock radio, mp3 player, or even the bicycle in your garage?
If a person owns or uses any of those products, then that person benefits from the global economy, and the inexpensive labor rates in some countries. That person, then, is part of the "problem" you allude to. Please then don't simultaneously buy those products and gripe about said countries and their cheap labor - you can't have it both ways.
Of course Lemnis (this is not a Philips product) is in it to make money. What do you think they are, a non-profit organization? They are motivated by money just as you are. They will (and have to) charge as much as they can get away with. Price to high for you? Don't buy it. Free markets. To think that the price is made up of only manufacturing cost in China is naive. It took investments to get to this point. These investors expect a return. Stock holders (if this is a public co.) expect dividend.
Oh and last I checked making a profit was allowed in the Western world.
1) Cost. $40 for a bulb? Sure, the electric cost is less and the bulb will last for a number of years, but that's still a lot to pay for a single light bulb. It would cost hundreds of dollars for me to replace bulbs, possibly pushing a thousand, and I don't have a large house.
2) Options. My living room and kitchen have recessed lighting. Can I have a flood light shape? They work well in this space. I don't want a round bulb in the cans on the ceiling.
3) Warmth (& Performance). CFL's offer such a cold light. I've seen them flicker, take a minute to get to their peak brightness and offer a very bluish, cold lighting. I want lights that actually have a similar property to an incandescent bulb - warm lighting and instant-on. It makes for a much more cozy atmosphere when the lights are on in the house during evening hours.
I've actually gone from CFL's back to incandescent in some rooms because of this.
4) Non-directional lighting. I'd hate to see masses of bulbs that put light out in a single direction. Be sure the light output is soft and spread evenly.
Include all these options and drop pricing to $5/bulb and I'm in!
This is not such a bad thing in a climate with many "heating" days.
The same goes for all so-called "green" products - energy cost of manufacture, shipping & disposal COUNTS.
So your position is essentially correct but your assumption that somehow all these factors are ignored is not.
The one factor that's not included is any increase in pollution during manufacturing. Extra CO2 or contaminant expelled does not increase the cost. That's why cap/trade programs are still needed.
You missed the point. If a so-called "green" bulb consumes more energy during manufacture and disposal than it saves during its usable lifetime, or if it introduces more contaminants than do incandescent bulbs, then it is a net loss to the environment rather than the supposed gain its manufacturer would have you believe.
Cap & tax programs will only drive up costs. They will do very little to improve the environment and there is no credible evidence that they will affect anything that has more than a minuscule effect on the climate. Much more information is needed and something less stupid than cap & tax is appropriate should action be necessary.
I have had $15 "7 year" lights last only 6 months (2X longer than 3 months for incandescent) so I went back to the $1 incandescent lights as there was a negative $$ return for the investment .....Will they be effected by dirty electric which significantly reduce their life span.??
I live in an older house with less than current wiring, provided by a less than reliable (in my opinion) utility company so I am really wondering what the 'dirty' power will do to that longevity. I have already lost many of my CFL's to dirty power.....
2) Does it REALLY last 20 years? Like many other people, I've had CFL's go out after just a few months when they are supposed to outlast incandescents. Burn me once, shame on you . . .
3) They will have to list the full lumens achieved. This vague 60 watt equivalency that ain't really equivalent is bogus.
4) Cost is just too much. These will have to cost under $20 to get anywhere.
I have converted my office to 12V halogens. With the right power supply, the bulbs last almost indefinitely, and the lighting color is beautiful. They are more efficient than incandescents, reasonable cost and perfectly dimmable. I will convert to LED when LED can compete with that.
- by atish505 October 3, 2009 4:07 AM PDT
- I have replaced every incandescent bulb with CFL and never looked back. My energy bills have dropped at least 33% after that. The US is far behind other countries in adoption of energy efficient lightning and appliances.
- Like this Reply to this comment
-
Showing 1 of 2 pages (48 Comments)