Comments on: Philips Lighting rides analog-to-digital wave

In the pursuit of energy efficiency, the lighting industry is undergoing a broad technology transition much the same way that consumer electronics already has.

[microg]

I like the idea of LED lighting but it seems like it is only good for direct lighting and not lighting up an entire room. Someone prove me wrong, please.

[rapier1]

You can use it for more diffuse lighting - it all really depends on the enclosure/lens assembly. You can also bounce it off of walls to create indirect lighting. I'm still not entirely happy with the color spectrum though.

[cyberspittle]

Corporations and governments (local, state, etc.) can already become involved in lighting efficiency. http://www.ledcity.com/ is one program. Glad to see some light on the subject. ;)

There are non-direct lighting. I bought a "led globe" at Walmart, which is basically a cluster of LEDs. These can also be found on the internet (hint: Google if you have to).

[joeltom]

I haven't been real impressed with what's been offered in LED christmas lights. For outdoors, they just aren't bright enough. Seems like they should be brighter. White light is somewhat better, but blue is way too dark, and I don't see much in other colors. And I've tried LED headlamps and flashlights in the woods and they just don't seem to light up a path very well. It really makes me wonder how good they are going to be for household/business lighting....

[joeltom]

P.S. I also bought an LED trouble light from Sears for working on cars. I thought it was good because it didn't need to be plugged in. 45 LEDs on the thing and it just doesn't light up the engine compartment like an old fashioned 60-watt incandescent. Is this as bright as LEDs get?

[skrubol]

No. I have a single LED flashlight that is much brighter than my old 3-cell incandescent mag lights. The majority of LED lights you can buy in brick and mortar stores are using old LED technology, and using the cheapest (5mm through-hole) LED's available. Modern power LED's are a whole different ball game.
LED's are expensive though, so to match a 60 watt incandescent, you're talking close to a $100 lamp.
My 5 watt flashlight (mentioned above) was $60 straight from China. Just the LED in it goes for about $25.

[HeavyJim]

Oh, boy, the green movement. Now thousands of environazis will be tearing out old fixtures, which you need to make led's work right, and adding to the landfill. Green hint, keep what you have, don't remodel.

[sslPro]

info from a SSL lighting pro -Led lumen output, efficacy & product quality all have risen greatly since 05.
Thermal mgmt issues, & quality of color rendition are improving nearly monthly. Our lights don't have the
blue- ish tint / some competitors have issues & it's still buyer become educated!
Look for incandescents to be banned by 2013/14 and flourescent by 2014/15 on merit.
Luckily for me and my teammates business model logic portends a great few yea-rs upcoming.
Recommended brands Polybrite ,Philips,Nexxus & lights with Cree chips.
Ps since going all Led at my home My highest electric bill has been $52 on 2 occasions *it's almost
always about $34 per month (summer usually about $40 a month- family of 5 !! IT'S ALL ABOUT THE
INTELLIGENT USE OF ENERGY & RESOURCES!