Welcome to LED Island

We arrive at North Dumpling Island, a.k.a. Dean Kamen's LED Nation.

(Credit: Flickr)

Dean Kamen is best known as the inventor of the Segway scooter and medical devices including a portable insulin pump, a stair-climbing wheelchair, and a robotic prosthetic arm. Like any good inventor or mad genius, Kamen can be called eccentric. He lives in a hexagonal-shaped home, commutes to work via helicopter, and owns his very own island. Kamen has declared his island, the three-acre North Dumpling Island off the coast of Connecticut, an independent state with its own constitution, currency (based on Pi), and navy (a lone amphibious vehicle). The island comes complete with a replica of Stonehenge.

And soon, Kamen's independent island kingdom will become energy-independent.

(Credit: Philips)

Working with Philips Color Kinetics, Kamen is using his island domain as a showcase for energy-efficient LED lights. He is replacing all of the traditional incandescent lights inside and out of his North Dumpling home with LED lights, which will allow it to run exclusively on wind and solar power generated on the island.

Philips estimates that the move from incandescent to LED lights will cut energy consumption by 70 percent. With new lights added--outside the home and in the basement--total energy consumption will be reduced by half.

"With increasing strain on our world's energy resources, our goal is to make North Dumpling a small but prominent example of what can be achieved on a larger scale with today's emerging energy-saving technologies. It's an excellent demonstration of science and engineering as the antidote to the complex challenges of our time," said Kamen.

(Credit: Philips)

Before you gather all of the newly installed CFLs in your home for an LED overhaul, you should know that LED pricing remains prohibitive. According to The New York Times' Bits blog, two Philips ColorBlast lights are used to illuminate a single pillar--at $600 per light.

Interior LED lights are obviously cheaper; I did a quick scan online and found interior LED bulbs ranging in price from roughly $20 to $90. Rather spendy when compared with a buck a bulb for a traditional incandescent or $3 to $4 for a CFL. Still, you can expect LED prices to fall as adoption grows. Until LED bulbs reach a point of mass adoption, I suggest tiki torches for your Stonehenge replica lighting needs.

[inpersonoz]

Clearly not a replica of Stonehenge. LED lights while expensive initially, do return their investment with much lower running costs and very long lifespans. As the cost comes down the equation gets even better.

[James Anderson Merritt]

I agree with inpersonoz about the LED payback, but I have as yet to come across a true LED replacement bulb for either incandescents or fluorescents. They are touted and advertised, of course, at high prices, but I have so far had no luck in actually purchasing or seeing a demonstration of one. I own two C-Crane LED bulbs. One -- the Vivid Plus -- has barely enough brightness to serve as a refrigerator interior light (though it has been trouble-free in that service, albeit providing light that is further to the blue than my wife would like). The other one is a PAR 30 "floodlight," which is more or less as bright as a 50-60 watt bulb. I point it at my white wall and use the reflected light for reading purposes late at night. But neither can begin to replace the 100W incandescents, or even the 60-watt-equivalent CFLs I use elsewhere at home.

C-Crane has been promoting a new LED-based "GEO-bulb" for over a year -- it's supposed to bridge the gap between 60w and 100w incandescents -- but every time the promised "in stock" date comes around, they push it back another month or two. It reminds me of the practices of early personal computer manufacturers, which inspired the term "vaporware." "This time for sure -- PRESTO!"

I am already sold on the idea of LEDs, based both on theory and my experiences with initial bulbs. But for all the effort I have put into trying to become an LED customer, I ought to send a bill to the cheerleaders for this nascent technology that, after many years, is still bubbling-under (at least for home lighting purposes).

[LEDGUY]

We have been in the business of LED distribution for a couple of years now. You are correct that many products offered either do not offer the output, or are price prohibitive, however - it's getting better all the time. We currently offer products that put our 50 to 100 lumens per watt - meaning that a 12 watt LED fixture (currently in stock) offers approximately 800 lumens of very nice, usable light. This compares to your basic 75 watt Incandescent. In addition, we've got 24" square fluorescent replacement fixtures that are 50 watts, and easily replace a 2ft X 4ft fluorescent fixture - but will last 25 years or more, and create no heat, plus - they're dimmable.

LED products are pretty much ALL upside, and they're getting better by the moment. Our biggest challenge has been to educate people on the products, the long term value and savings (both money and energy). If we can help, please check out www.LEDsource.com.

Cheers...

[MadLyb]

I have replaced speciality lighting (like undercabinet) with LED and have been very happy with the results, but I totally agree with Mr. Merrit that they are not perfect solution. I truly despise CFL (cold stark light, perceptible flicker, toxicity, etc.), and hope that LED will provide me with the warm comfortable light, I enjoy with incandescent and Halogen.

[ajwatt12]

I have replaced my undercabinet lighting with tiki torches and I agree, they provide a Stonehenge aura at a fraction of the cost of LEDs.

[Mac User Too]

Although I admire Dean Kamen's entrepreneurial drive and engineering expertise, I am sick of people with ample means lecturing the rest of us on how to save the world. The fact that he chooses to live on an island from which he commutes in a helicopter makes his opinions on saving energy null and void.

[gsmiller88]

So true. If I owned my own island it would be lit with nothing but LED as well!

[iamwho]

You nailed it. All the energy the LEDs saves he offsets it with his helicopter. Memo to Dean: sailboat.

[wowza3]

He has a duck boat from WWII. Thats his "Sailboat"

[rvlqcitizen]

Unles it's an ELECTRIC helicopter.lol. Though mother Earth can use every bit of help she can get. Seems his heart is trying to be in the right place, it appears his petro-dollars need to folow.

[Joe Real]

I bought two LED bulbs (actually hundreds of them packed together to form a bulb) and used it as hallway light. Costs $90 for the two lights. They don't light up anymore after just a couple of years. Meanwhile, a CFL that I bought from one of those SMUD promos from a local grocery store, selling 4 bulbs for $0.99, they are still working, quick lighting too, without flicker, but you have to wait 10 seconds for them to become brighter.

I will have to disassemble the LED bulbs and find out what's wrong. Might have been assembled in China. They shouldn't go out quickly like that.

[fusillijerry]

"It's an excellent demonstration of science and engineering as the antidote to the complex challenges of our time"

...that is until Global Warming drowns the whole island. This is a nice prototype, but if it'll have to function in its unstated goal of complete climate stabilization to last more than 50 years.

[mcg3000]

Why does no one ever mention the lifecycle costs for the products as a comparison?

If a normal bulb costs $0.99, how much does it cost to run for 5 years with average use, including cost of electricity? Same goes for LED.

It would make it much easier to understand if there are obvious longer term cost benefits to paying the initially high cost of the LED.

[c|net Reader]

There are other factors to consider, too. How much does it cost to manufacture each type of bulb? How much to dispose of them safely and responsibly? How much material can be recycled? What is the MTBF (mean time between failure)?

All of these questions (and yours) apply to every "green" technology. Often, the tried and true is "greener" than the fancy new technology someone wants you to buy.

[c|net Reader]

The cost of entry into most every "green" technology is a barrier to all but the most affluent or fanatical. For those with normal incomes and families, the haranguing and condescension from those with millions of dollars and in positions of power is irritating.

[gilrae1]

Yeah, all those LEDs will really help, considering how much carbon the hypocrite's helicopter is dumping in the atmosphere.

[matthewbulat]

LED lighting can be implemented easily by replacing 50 watt halogen lights with 6 watt LED lights. This is a straight replacement. To find out if this suits you and if it is worthwhile considering the high cost of the LED I have created a online calculator.
http://www.matthewb.id.au/media/Light_Energy_Calculator.html
This will show power consumption cost per year and total running costs for 1,2,3 years

Regards
Matthew Bulat
http://www.matthewb.id.au

[mcg3000]

Thanks Matthew.