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LED lightbulbs: Are you ready to make the switch?
crave.cnet.com — Saving energy makes sense, especially when it can also save you money. Despite the current high price, I'd bet everyone has at least one annoying bulb they hate to change which might make one of these bulbs a worthwhile investment.
clouseau2- 898 diggs
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- archcvd, on 04/26/2008, -11/+23A little expensive, so I'll be sticking to my CFLs for now. But I'm happy to see some development as actual lightbulb replacements!
- draftingtableX, on 04/26/2008, -5/+1CCFL's ftw.
- Myztry, on 04/26/2008, -0/+3I've started buying CFL's at AU$4 each. The fact that they're 8x the price of incandescent globes isn't the real issue. It's that the 15W globes I've brought are too bright for my dark demeanor. I've seen 10W advertised but I'm not about to make special trip for a globe which will be much brighter than the 25W incandescent equivalent....
You can't dim CFL's which I imagine is a flaw that LED globes will hold too. Forget about mood lighting... - fluffythekitten, on 04/26/2008, -0/+1I'm ready as hell! but my wallet isn't...
- insomniac8400, on 04/26/2008, -2/+2But CFLs are bad for the environment and never even last half as long as labeled due to crappy manufacturing.
- shodanx, on 04/26/2008, -0/+0it's not if "I'm ready" it's, are LED lightbulbs ready ?
by which I mean a 23W LED, brighter than a cfl , as omnidirectionnal and costs 5$ at the most
until then it's just stupid, like CFL and CFL pushing used to be
- davidg11, on 04/26/2008, -3/+30The thing is, once LED's come down in, price everyone can start making them. I think this is a thin veiled attempt to promote this stock. One problem...for them...there are no barriers of entry to compete with them. People are simply not going to pay $50+ for a lightbulb.
- TJ11240, on 04/26/2008, -7/+42Well when they last 5 times as long as CFLs, use half as much power, and don't contain Mercury, informed consumers might shell out $50 for one.
- u8myfoood, on 04/26/2008, -2/+9Actually the 5 times longer claim does not really seem to be the case, here in NYC, they have switched all the stop lights to LED, yet i have seen dozens upon with several individual failed LEDs. But I guess as they grow cheaper, the more durable they will be, but right now, I'm going to save that $50.
- lukek, on 04/26/2008, -0/+11The problem is not with the LEDs themselves, unless NYC is purchasing lights equipped with low quality, "bottom-of-the-barrel" LEDs. LEDs have established themselves as a very reliable technology. As long as quality LEDs are used (which are not rare or expensive in bulk) then blame can be placed on the rest of the circuitry.
- dsmx, on 04/26/2008, -0/+3Local Authorities always go with the person who bids the lowest it stands to reason that the person who bids the lowest is not going to do a good job.
- draftingtableX, on 04/26/2008, -0/+3You should check the Rensselaer Lighting Research Center for information on LEDs. Good stuff.
- fjc8, on 04/26/2008, -0/+8I've seen LED traffic lights here in suburbia and I've never seen individual failed LEDs.
- redstorm986, on 04/26/2008, -0/+5I've seen ones with a few failed LED's but think of it this way, if one LED is failed of the 50-75 that must be on that light what's the problem? If the individual LED can be replaced then that's amazing they say 50,000 hours MTBF Mean time between failure, that means that at 50K hours 50% will be dead 50% will be running.
- xxpor, on 04/26/2008, -2/+1no it doesn't, that would be the median time before failure.
- LeeSoong, on 04/26/2008, -0/+7Remember, whole cities are converting ALL their street lights to LED street lights, saving 80% of the power used on a major metro scale.
Since the LEDs last longer - maintenance expenses are drastically reduced - not so many trips in the bucket truck to change lightbulbs 50 feet high off the ground.
Common 'teardrop' street lights even waste most of the light the produce, it ends up as glare bouncing in all directions with about half the light going up into the atmosphere - paying money to light up the clouds.
This problem is solved with Flat lens lights, that use a focused beam of light directed downward to the street you actually want to light up.
Combining LED lighting with Flat lens street lights saves 80% of your street light energy bill, reduces waste heat, and reduces light pollution that harms wildlife and ads to road glare and stress while driving.
http://www.news.com/8301-11128_3-9861194-54.html
Proper street light LEDs use a bright wavelength of light that does not attract moths and other insects.
The Mass production of LED street lights will help eventually lead to lower cost LEDs for home use.
Cities looking to save money? LEDs are the way to go - spend your money on your community,
not on the power company!
LED street lights Help reduce CO2 emissions from wasted power generation at the local power plants, too.
Metro area Number of streetlights Metric tons of CO2 emissions they produce:
• New York 1,053,838 553,394
• Los Angeles 725,207 380,799
• Chicago 532,321 279,496
• Dallas 336,222 176,561
• Philadelphia 326,297 171,352
• Houston 310,237 162,955
• Miami 305,975 160,700
• Washington 296,262 155,491
• Atlanta 287,740 151,060
• Detroit 250,262 131,390
• Total 4,424,361 2,323,431
Source: "Energy Efficient Streetlights: Potentials for Reducing Greater Washington's Carbon Footprint," by Robert T. Grow.
From: http://www.mlive.com/environment/index.ssf/2008/04 ...
- u8myfoood, on 04/26/2008, -2/+9Actually the 5 times longer claim does not really seem to be the case, here in NYC, they have switched all the stop lights to LED, yet i have seen dozens upon with several individual failed LEDs. But I guess as they grow cheaper, the more durable they will be, but right now, I'm going to save that $50.
- trakie, on 04/26/2008, -1/+25id pay $50 for a light bulb that lasts 10-30 years
- vuoto, on 04/26/2008, -0/+9But would you pay $50 for a light bulb if you knew you could buy it for $15 in eight months?
davidg11 is right on the money. This is a press release to promote this particular stock. Hold your water for a few more months, and you'll see these LED lights come way down in price.
There are a already LED light devices like utility lights, flash lights, bike lights that are less than half the price they were last Spring. Unless you've got extra money and can afford the luxury, you're better off waiting a bit. - LeeSoong, on 04/26/2008, -3/+1I'd pay $5 each for 10 of those 30 year lightbulbs - as long as they come with a 30 year warranty.
Four LED flexilamps plugged into a 4-port USB hub can light up an office desk - light your desk with just 1 cable to the back of your PC. Set up right and the PC becomes both your computer and your light source.
An Apple ipod USB / AC power supply can also run several LED lamps - clean cool light. - Myztry, on 04/26/2008, -0/+4When moving house, instead of the CD collection riding up front with care, it'd be a box of individually wrapped light globes....
- vuoto, on 04/26/2008, -0/+9But would you pay $50 for a light bulb if you knew you could buy it for $15 in eight months?
- masamunecyrus, on 04/26/2008, -1/+10The biggest problem with LED light bulbs, thus far, is that they aren't as bright and don't scatter light as far. Combined with $50 per light bulb, they're simply not ready for the market, yet.
- draftingtableX, on 04/26/2008, -0/+1Although the projected efficiency improvement trajectory has been said to be almost double the photmetric output every eighteen months. I'm not certain how that's impacted by manufacturing or materials, though.
- DalekKiller, on 04/26/2008, -0/+0Oh I wouldn't say that I worked with someone who did part time work for his brother. The work that his brother does is lighting for Rock concerts, and a the majority of the light they use is LED light bulbs.
- LeeSoong, on 04/27/2008, -0/+1diffusers.
I want Sharks with friggin' LEDs on their heads !
- vuoto, on 04/26/2008, -0/+1davidg11, you are exactly right about this being a press release meant to bump up the stock price. LEDs are already coming down, and as we've seen with other technology, once the downward price pressure starts, it goes way down.
I understand there are a lot of companies tooling up to start making LED lights for consumers. The industrial LEDs are already crashing in price. - coffeebot, on 04/26/2008, -0/+2"At $40 to $110 apiece, the LED "in-screw" bulbs may still seem too pricey for a lot of consumers."
I just bought 4 @ $4ea at meritline.com AND free shipping. The price has already come down. I use them outdoors as they don't heat up, so water is no threat. Also, no vacuum or thin glass.- Waterrat, on 04/28/2008, -0/+1Well,I looked there but did not see them.
I'm sure they will show up at Lowes soon enough.
- Waterrat, on 04/28/2008, -0/+1Well,I looked there but did not see them.
- TJ11240, on 04/26/2008, -7/+42Well when they last 5 times as long as CFLs, use half as much power, and don't contain Mercury, informed consumers might shell out $50 for one.
- Doofy, on 04/26/2008, -23/+4No.
- Surefly, on 04/26/2008, -21/+3This is the number one concern on everyone's mind right now.
- CrudE, on 04/26/2008, -16/+5Not good for people sensitive to light. Can trigger headaches very quickly with some people.
- Dotcommer, on 04/26/2008, -2/+12And those people are called Moles.
- MacEnvy, on 04/26/2008, -1/+11*diggers
DOUBLE PUN
- MacEnvy, on 04/26/2008, -1/+11*diggers
- MioTheGreat, on 04/26/2008, -1/+10I've never heard that.
An LED is a DC device. Unlike a light bulb or CFL, they do not flicker unless you've got a problem with the power supply, or are controlling brightness by PWM (But you can do that WELL beyond human perception -- In the KHz range) So flickering obviously can't be the problem.
The wavelengths emitted maybe? Better semiconductor materials and manufacturing techniques are let us tune that better every day.- unpolloloco, on 04/26/2008, -0/+4If the bulb is not made correctly (applying an AC voltage directly across the LED's, it would cause the light to flicker at 60hz. That's the only thing I can think of that would cause that.
- jerbaker, on 04/26/2008, -3/+1You mean like an incandescent bulb? Ya, the incandescent remains hot while the current changes direction, but it's still pulsing. Strange that none of these migraine sufferers complain about them.
- jerbaker, on 04/26/2008, -0/+2Can anyone point to a peer-reviewed double-blind study of fluorescent (or LED) lighting that shows it to actually aggravate migraines, or even that shows the ability of people to tell them apart from any other light source (given the same color temperature)?
- MioTheGreat, on 04/26/2008, -0/+2LEDs don't light up when they're reverse biased. So if you put AC on the LED, you're going to decrease its brightness by a fair amount. It's probably cheaper to full-wave rectify the AC signal and put a filter cap on it than it is to add more LEDs to get the same brightness.
- lead2thehead, on 04/26/2008, -0/+0Actually, you can't hook an LED up to AC current. It's a light emitting DIODE... which means that electricity can only flow through it in one direction. All LED bulbs have AC adapters built into them. But I noticed that mine have a sort of strobe effect... similar to the older CFLs.
- Nerys, on 04/26/2008, -0/+1actually you can. you set up to serial strings parrelel to each other. on one half of the AC phase this half light up on the other half the OTHER set lights up. This is why LED Christmas lights from some manufacturers have that (desired to me) jewel like glimmer. Cuts power usage in half and doubles life span too :-) for white indoor lighting you would not want this though. IE full Rectify.
- MioTheGreat, on 04/26/2008, -0/+1Then it's obviously a power supply issue. They aren't properly filtering the output. A $0.10 capacitor would probably fix it.
- jerbaker, on 04/26/2008, -3/+1You mean like an incandescent bulb? Ya, the incandescent remains hot while the current changes direction, but it's still pulsing. Strange that none of these migraine sufferers complain about them.
- unpolloloco, on 04/26/2008, -0/+4If the bulb is not made correctly (applying an AC voltage directly across the LED's, it would cause the light to flicker at 60hz. That's the only thing I can think of that would cause that.
- lead2thehead, on 04/26/2008, -2/+2He's right. I have 4 very expensive LED bulbs myself. I'm not sure what it is about them, but you do notice a bit of eye strain.
- Dotcommer, on 04/26/2008, -2/+12And those people are called Moles.
- IDIGTHEDIGG, on 04/26/2008, -14/+1It's a matter of time until a major electrical company buys them out
- Mothrog, on 04/26/2008, -3/+4Uh, right. Just like they did with all the companies producing Energy Star appliances and CFLs. Seek help, and possibly an extra brain cell or two.
- unpolloloco, on 04/26/2008, -0/+5Since it's so incredibly hard to make LED bulbs......just stick a bunch of LED's together and apply a DC voltage. It's not incredibly cheap to do it, but its not by any means something that only one company can do
- MioTheGreat, on 04/26/2008, -1/+1It's a little more than that. The device also has to light up evenly, which is difficult with discrete LEDs.
- benejoseph, on 04/26/2008, -12/+4RARGH EXPENSIVE!
- holmea, on 04/26/2008, -9/+1"The main obstacles have been that they cost more than incandescent lightbulbs and emit a sometimes unnerving color of light." ...Especially after a couple of tabs... get a ***** grip!
- thefezman, on 04/26/2008, -4/+24I'm ready whenever they are. I have one bulb now which has like 50 white LEDs in it, that I got for $12, but it can't even light up a 20 sqaure foot closet sufficiently.
- ch33sehead, on 04/26/2008, -0/+2Not all LEDs are made the same. There are higher output flashlights that are more powerful than 50 low output ones. Cree and Luxeon are two companies that make 1-5W+ LEDs, which you can see in mini flashlights.
- exomni, on 04/26/2008, -2/+12When they price goes down I expect the quality of light will also go up. Then I will buy.
- squarepegs, on 04/26/2008, -0/+1Agreed. This was a problem with the early compact fluorescents (CFL) I bought, but if you go into a Loews or Home Depot today, you can usually find CFLs in three different color temperatures, depending on what you want.
I have warm white in the living room and cool white in the kitchen and office. I tried the "sunlight" ones, but the light was just... weird. A guide to color temperature for CFLs is available here:
http://www.eejitsguides.com/environment/esbulbs.ht ...
- squarepegs, on 04/26/2008, -0/+1Agreed. This was a problem with the early compact fluorescents (CFL) I bought, but if you go into a Loews or Home Depot today, you can usually find CFLs in three different color temperatures, depending on what you want.
- cherwilco, on 04/26/2008, -2/+6once the cost goes down a bit I'll probly get a bunch of these. mainly because they will produce alot less heat than a standard bulb (everything helps in tucson)
- unpolloloco, on 04/26/2008, -0/+3CFL's? I've had some that were cool to the touch after hours of being on.
- obliviousfool, on 04/26/2008, -0/+1I like that idea too, but I'd like to see these things ramped up to the point where they can be used as worklights. If you've ever spent time in a crawlspace or under a car or in show business under hot lights, you'd really appreciate something that could light up that space coolly.
- BriVaps, on 04/26/2008, -2/+5they have LED grow lights that are as good as the metal halides
so there are LEDs that produce a ton of light, just really ***** expensive- MioTheGreat, on 04/26/2008, -1/+3LEDs aren't nearly as easy to make as other devices. IMO, we need to wait for oLED manufacturing techniques to drop in price. It should happen in a couple of years. It's too much of a pain in the ass to build an LED, attach electrodes to it, and mount a bunch of them together when you could conceivably just print (With modified inkjet technology) a big-ass oLED onto your device in like 3 or 4 layers, and be done with it.
- fezzasus, on 04/26/2008, -0/+1OLED technology isn't developed enough to produce white light (or blue light if you are using a triad of oleds to produce white light) so it's not just case of waiting for the manufacturing techniques to drop. Additionally OLEDs are applied as a thin film by dropping the oled in a volatile solvent onto a surface and spinning the surface - you can't simply print OLEDs because the film wouldn't be thin enough or even enough.
- MioTheGreat, on 04/26/2008, -0/+1I've seen blue OLEDs before (We actually built one that was supposed to give off blue light in an engineering design class once. It failed and gave off orange).
So we can probably use the same tricks to turn a blue OLED into a white one -- Coat the whole thing with a phosphor layer. Or maybe we just can't get blue to be efficient enough yet?
Also, wouldn't this potentially solve the problem with discrete LEDs not giving off even light? You can build an OLED on a curved surface.
- MioTheGreat, on 04/26/2008, -0/+1I've seen blue OLEDs before (We actually built one that was supposed to give off blue light in an engineering design class once. It failed and gave off orange).
- fezzasus, on 04/26/2008, -0/+1OLED technology isn't developed enough to produce white light (or blue light if you are using a triad of oleds to produce white light) so it's not just case of waiting for the manufacturing techniques to drop. Additionally OLEDs are applied as a thin film by dropping the oled in a volatile solvent onto a surface and spinning the surface - you can't simply print OLEDs because the film wouldn't be thin enough or even enough.
- MioTheGreat, on 04/26/2008, -1/+3LEDs aren't nearly as easy to make as other devices. IMO, we need to wait for oLED manufacturing techniques to drop in price. It should happen in a couple of years. It's too much of a pain in the ass to build an LED, attach electrodes to it, and mount a bunch of them together when you could conceivably just print (With modified inkjet technology) a big-ass oLED onto your device in like 3 or 4 layers, and be done with it.
- riscphree, on 04/26/2008, -3/+21I've used these lights on numerous accasions and god damnit, they just don't produce near enough light. Once they can compete with our old standard ones then I'll switch.
- dagnome1984, on 04/26/2008, -2/+4The ecoterrorists dugg you down :(
- queenstarsha, on 04/26/2008, -0/+1***** you.
- queenstarsha, on 04/26/2008, -0/+2i had an led headlamp for camping, and it was like using a keychain flashlight. my cell phone screen is a brighter flashlight than that piece of *****.
- dagnome1984, on 04/26/2008, -2/+4The ecoterrorists dugg you down :(
- jiller, on 04/26/2008, -10/+5Sounds like Chewbacca trying to take a *****
- BriVaps, on 04/26/2008, -5/+3ghaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
plop n splash
ghaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa - CarbonAndroid, on 04/26/2008, -0/+2I can't quite make the connection but I will steal your line for my personal use. Thanks.
- BriVaps, on 04/26/2008, -5/+3ghaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
- TDTech, on 04/26/2008, -8/+3$50 for LEDs....You're kidding right?
Places in Hong-Kong sell 'em for $7 each.- unpolloloco, on 04/26/2008, -1/+1Problem is that the ones from HK are not anywhere near powerful enough - probably on the order of a 20W bulb.
- jerbaker, on 04/26/2008, -1/+3I think you're mistaken. The pronunciation is sometimes the same, but the Chinese stuff is spelled "lead". I like stuff that doesn't break after ten minutes.
- insomniac8400, on 04/26/2008, -0/+1Make no mistake these bulbs could retail for 5 bucks and they would still profit.
- krusader3z, on 04/26/2008, -15/+4Sorry hippies, I like my 100 Watt daylight mimicking GE lightbulbs.
I don't care how many tons of coal I have to burn, or how much I have to pay for energy. Yellow light is ugly and depressing and CF is just meh.- desertDenizen, on 04/26/2008, -2/+11Use high quality light in work areas, inexpensive light in places like hallway, laundry room, porch, etc. You don't have to be a hippy to avoid being an *****.
- krusader3z, on 04/26/2008, -10/+3Or alternatively, use the light that is most pleasing to my eyes in all instances.
I don't eat ramen for breakfast because it is cheaper and there are poor people starving across the world. I eat what tastes good and whatever I feel like that morning.
I work hard, got an education, and can afford nice things. Just like my parents before me. ***** if I care about some losers who spent their high school years smoking pot and now can't afford the finer things in life because they don't have the skillsets.
Oh, I don't own a car and ride a bike to work so by reverse hippy logic doesnt that cancel everything out?- wootbeaner, on 04/26/2008, -2/+6Idiots like you are the reason why the planet is going to *****. "I earned this so I am entitled to do whatever the hell I want!" Enjoy your apocalypse *****, I am not going to be around to see it thank god.
- Whaines, on 04/26/2008, -1/+6Someone's a Republican....
- krusader3z, on 04/26/2008, -3/+2:-)
- desertDenizen, on 04/29/2008, -0/+2Dude, we're proud of your accomplishments. As are your parents, no doubt. Bravo. For the record, I have an MBA from a top-five b-school and have founded two companies and authored two best-sellers. I'll sell my Mercedes E320 when a plug-in hybrid becomes available. If caring a whit about the impact of my actions makes me a hippy, then I'm a hippy. I'm not sure you're clear on what the term means... to generalize that anyone who buys fluorescent bulbs smoked pot all their life and has no skills is really pretty stupid, frankly. You need to get out more often and see what's going on around you. Cool about the lack of a car though. Seriously. That's not possible where I live (Phoenix).
- krusader3z, on 04/26/2008, -10/+3Or alternatively, use the light that is most pleasing to my eyes in all instances.
- dagnome1984, on 04/26/2008, -0/+2Yep, standard incandescent in the office. I put those ***** CFL's everywhere else.
- desertDenizen, on 04/26/2008, -2/+11Use high quality light in work areas, inexpensive light in places like hallway, laundry room, porch, etc. You don't have to be a hippy to avoid being an *****.
- hokie47, on 04/26/2008, -9/+6Who cares Battlestar Galactica comes on in a hour.
- Whaines, on 04/26/2008, -1/+3Okay Dwight.
- Edogz, on 04/26/2008, -1/+4I just received a couple of Luxeon III leds that I'll be experimenting with. They are really quite bright; even at an angle, you can't look at them for very long, almost like an arc of light from welding. At 4$/pop, they are a pretty good deal, and I can really envision practical led replacements for household sockets to come down in price with these newer, innovative leds.
- jerbaker, on 04/26/2008, -0/+3Luxeons are old-school. Try a P7 bin SSC. We're talking about 700+ lumens ... the equivalent of a 50-watt light bulb.
- Edogz, on 04/26/2008, -0/+1Oh wow, I've never heard of the seoul P7.. Thanks for pointing that led out, this may be my next led investment. This seems like an incredible LED, a true competitor to CFL's...
They are about $30 each, not bad for such an intense LED..
- Edogz, on 04/26/2008, -0/+1Oh wow, I've never heard of the seoul P7.. Thanks for pointing that led out, this may be my next led investment. This seems like an incredible LED, a true competitor to CFL's...
- jerbaker, on 04/26/2008, -0/+3Luxeons are old-school. Try a P7 bin SSC. We're talking about 700+ lumens ... the equivalent of a 50-watt light bulb.
- goldfishey, on 04/26/2008, -2/+1"They will be half the cost in two years" That is when I will *start* to consider buying them then. I wonder if they will also make bayonet fittings? Not all my light bulb sockets are eddison.
- centran, on 04/26/2008, -2/+8The price needs to come down to ~$10... and even that might be to expensive for some people.
People are dumb. They don't look at the long term cost savings; they only care about their initial cost.- jerbaker, on 04/26/2008, -0/+3Initial cost avoidance isn't always dumb. If it were, that would make you dumb for not investing $100 billion or so to start a new railroad between Las Vegas and LA. What's that you say? You don't have the money for the initial capital investment?
- footodors, on 04/26/2008, -3/+7hope they're not like that cfl scam. Oh,last forever...NOT. Throw em in the garbage...NOT. Saves the environment....yea, if you don't include the mercury!
- MioTheGreat, on 04/26/2008, -1/+2Coal plants blast more mecury into the air over the lifetime of an incandescant bulb than the combined mercury in a CFL and the mercury blasted into the air over the lifetime of said CFL.
- tnoy, on 04/26/2008, -1/+1So you have the mercury from the coal plant and the mercury from the CFL?
Win-win?
Fix the sources of pollution, then worry about insignificant ***** like lightbulbs being x% more efficient.- MioTheGreat, on 04/26/2008, -0/+2The mercury from the coal plant + the mercury from the CFL is _LESS_ than the mercury from the coal plant with the incandescent.
Also, I wouldn't consider several times more efficient efficient insigificant...- tnoy, on 04/26/2008, -0/+2Household lighting accounts for around 8.8% of the electrical use in the US. If you're going to bring the mercury from coal plants into the argument, you need to focus on that other 91% of power that is used. Cutting a few percent from the countries power use isnt going to magically reduce what the coal-fire plants are spitting out, as they're never going to be running at capacity.
But if using CFL bulbs makes you think you're actually doing something worthwhile, then all the power to you.
- tnoy, on 04/26/2008, -0/+2Household lighting accounts for around 8.8% of the electrical use in the US. If you're going to bring the mercury from coal plants into the argument, you need to focus on that other 91% of power that is used. Cutting a few percent from the countries power use isnt going to magically reduce what the coal-fire plants are spitting out, as they're never going to be running at capacity.
- MioTheGreat, on 04/26/2008, -0/+2The mercury from the coal plant + the mercury from the CFL is _LESS_ than the mercury from the coal plant with the incandescent.
- tnoy, on 04/26/2008, -1/+1So you have the mercury from the coal plant and the mercury from the CFL?
- jschrab, on 04/26/2008, -2/+1Shame on you for throwing them in the garbage! Many of the very same places that sell CFL's also double as collection points for proper disposal of dead ones. And since you have a dead CFL, and need a new one, just bring it along with you to the store...
There. Problem solved. Nothing but FUD here. Move along, nothing to see here.- queenstarsha, on 04/26/2008, -0/+1gosh, that's really convenient. i love to individually deliver my various types of trash to their sale points, which i meticulously track.
don't get me wrong; i am a crazy hippie. but i *hate* being lied to, and the cfl people ***** lied to me about how long cfls would last. these led folks are doing the same *****.
- queenstarsha, on 04/26/2008, -0/+1gosh, that's really convenient. i love to individually deliver my various types of trash to their sale points, which i meticulously track.
- MioTheGreat, on 04/26/2008, -1/+2Coal plants blast more mecury into the air over the lifetime of an incandescant bulb than the combined mercury in a CFL and the mercury blasted into the air over the lifetime of said CFL.
- CodeCobalt, on 04/26/2008, -1/+4I just use the G.E. CFL Bulbs, 13 watt equivalent to 60, I use two of them to light my room (sorta small,) but they are almost too bright. Plus they were on sale buy 1 for $5, get 2 free, the cheapest I had ever seen before was $7 for a bulb. I'm more than happy with CFL bulbs and think they work great, natural color and far less than an led.
- Turi, on 04/26/2008, -0/+2I agree that CFL's are nice, however the availability of dimmer-friendly ones is next to none which causes me quite a bit of grief - Smarthome sells dimmer-friendly ones, but I have no idea the quality and the price is still too high to make me want to find out.
- fugeelama, on 04/26/2008, -0/+1Have you been to Target or Home Depot lately? I see dimmer-friendly CFLs all the time now.
- Turi, on 05/15/2008, -0/+1I checked Home Depot a few months ago, I'll be sure to check it out again - Thanks for the tip!
- fugeelama, on 04/26/2008, -0/+1Have you been to Target or Home Depot lately? I see dimmer-friendly CFLs all the time now.
- queenstarsha, on 04/26/2008, -1/+1wait'll one burns out after a few months of normal use and you feel like a rube.
- CodeCobalt, on 04/27/2008, -0/+1They claim they last 5 years, I'll be happy to get 3, by then LED's should be cheaper and I'll replace my existing CFL's with LED's.
- Turi, on 04/26/2008, -0/+2I agree that CFL's are nice, however the availability of dimmer-friendly ones is next to none which causes me quite a bit of grief - Smarthome sells dimmer-friendly ones, but I have no idea the quality and the price is still too high to make me want to find out.
- psykiv, on 04/26/2008, -19/+122008 the year of the LED? You mean just like 2008 is the year of linux? Or was that 2007? or 2006? or 2005? or 1995?
Go ahead, bury me.- ileftfark, on 04/26/2008, -4/+3*linux desktop
if you're going to murder a catchphrase, at least type it properly - scy1192, on 04/26/2008, -1/+2I would normally have dugg you up, but your comment was irrelevant to the article
- ileftfark, on 04/26/2008, -4/+3*linux desktop
- lead2thehead, on 04/26/2008, -4/+14Having just spent $180 on 4 LED light bulbs, my advice is to save your money. I was really excited the day they arrived in the mail... then I put one into my desk lamp and turned it on. It was so dim, you could barely tell it was on. The manufacturers really exaggerate the brightness of those bulbs. Stick with CFL.
- tnoy, on 04/26/2008, -2/+2I dont know why you're being dugg down. The cheaper ($20-30) LED bulbs rarely have an output above 300 lumens, and its typically a rather narrow flood.
They have potential, but they're FAR from being a viable solution for most people.- lead2thehead, on 04/26/2008, -0/+2Yep. And I guarantee that the people digging me down have never even seen a 7-watt LED light bulb in real life.
- tnoy, on 04/26/2008, -2/+2I dont know why you're being dugg down. The cheaper ($20-30) LED bulbs rarely have an output above 300 lumens, and its typically a rather narrow flood.
- randumbusername, on 04/26/2008, -4/+0don't worry congress will make you like it. that being said i welcome any energy efficient technologies. i was using compact fluorescents before the ALL SEEING ALL KNOWING GREAT ONES in congress mandated it and took credit for a switch that most people were making anyway.
- CyberStriker, on 04/26/2008, -6/+0Haven't we gotten over the whole "be green, switch light bulbs!" fad yet?
(I'm so gonna get dugg down by the green crew for saying this). - jerbaker, on 04/26/2008, -1/+2LEDs are just barely approaching the efficiency of fluorescent. Why would I pay $40 for an LED bulb that I could pay $2 for in fluorescent and get the same efficiency?
- davidlow, on 04/26/2008, -0/+2...and how is there an article about lighting technology that doesn't mention fluorescents at all?? It's like they're pretending fluorescents don't exist and simply compare LEDs to incandescent bulbs. That article is from the twilight zone.
- Napalmhaze, on 04/26/2008, -0/+1Well there are environmental concerns to consider when disposing a fluorescent bulb. While they might be more energy efficient, they arent entirely environmentally sound. They are best alternative to the old fashioned bulb at the present time, but the LED bulb is the bulb of the future! $40 for a bulb vs $2 isnt really a question of initial cost but the value of the bulb. Imagine not needing to change that bulb for 30 years and not throwing mercury away every couple of years when you replace a CFL. That has got to be worth the price even at their current cost, which can only come down in time.
- area51x, on 04/26/2008, -4/+2Cool... but 50,000 hours is not 10-30 years... it's 5.7 years.
- limpits, on 04/26/2008, -1/+15normal people turn the lights off once in a while..
- CptCheerios, on 04/26/2008, -1/+7Why would you have your lights on 24hrs a day when theres a sun outside during the day?
- Sino, on 04/26/2008, -0/+2LEDs are Vampire-Friendly, so he keeps them on 24/7 and his curtains closed
- vanodorf, on 04/26/2008, -1/+0The LEDs may last 50,000hrs. The electronics around them is another story.
I bought four LED lightbulbs about a year ago just to be an early adopter (Not this manufacturer I should add).
When I received them I found out they were made in China.
All four failed within one month...
For the time they worked I used them in a hallway and I found their blue-ish light pleasant.- lead2thehead, on 04/26/2008, -0/+0Most people don't realize that LEDs run on DC current, which means there's an AC adapter built into the bulb.
- NOFXY, on 04/26/2008, -0/+2dude, everything is made in china nowadays. dunno why you had to drop that in there.
- AbsurdParadox, on 04/26/2008, -0/+3You see, there are a bunch of people that believe things made in China aren't made by individual companies but simply "the Chinese". What they do is generalize that ANYTHING coming from a certain part of the world is *****, and anything made in America is better.
- warragul, on 04/26/2008, -0/+1When I was a boy (don't ask) it was electroluminescence that was going to light our houses. Whole wall and/or ceiling panels could light up with different colours to suit the time of day, mood and decor. Whatever happened?
- davidlow, on 04/26/2008, -1/+3Was that in the sixties? Give us a clue.
- analogengineer, on 04/26/2008, -0/+2It's right around the corner....Actually, http://www.ceelite.com/ has some interesting products.
- lead2thehead, on 04/26/2008, -0/+2They're installing them in our flying cars as we speak.
- secrity, on 04/26/2008, -0/+1You can still get EL night lights (not enough light) and some companies sell EL panels (allelectronics.com). CFL and the new LEDs are designed to be a screw in replacement for incandescent bulbs. Perhaps the manufacturers feel that users won't be able to adapt to a glowing EL wall, people want to stay with the familiar form, even if it is a different technology.
- tnoy, on 04/26/2008, -0/+3$115 for 875 lumens? Pass.
When they get to around $50 for ~1050 lumens, then I'll care. - lostlyrics, on 04/26/2008, -0/+2on amazon 60W €7.99 - don't let greedy resellers milk you.
http://www.amazon.de/E27-Leuchtmittel-Lampe-Spot-L ... - Hale, on 04/26/2008, -0/+1I would easily pay ~$20 for an LED bulb if I could actually find them anywhere.
I love the savings I get from using CFLs, and I have for the past 3 years, but the light is not the same and they can give people with eczema bad skin reactions.- lead2thehead, on 04/26/2008, -0/+0Here is one for $19. But be warned... it's not very bright. And FYI, LED bulbs cause the same level of eye strain that CFLs do.
http://www.x-tremegeek.com/templates/SearchDetail. ...
- lead2thehead, on 04/26/2008, -0/+0Here is one for $19. But be warned... it's not very bright. And FYI, LED bulbs cause the same level of eye strain that CFLs do.
- draftingtableX, on 04/26/2008, -0/+1As with any new green product, the trick is evaluating efficiency and environmental impact against existing technology. There will always be an increase in cost "up front" as this is all relatively new to the marketplace, but the question remains whether one saves overall, in three or four years time. Same with solar cells or anything else. Factoring in embodied energy and life-cycle costing, as well as the presence of possibly noxious materials begins to paint the overall picture.
- jsdeprey, on 04/26/2008, -0/+1Cool LED site
http://ledtheway.com/ - protodon, on 04/26/2008, -0/+1This place ( http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.1475 ) has the best prices I've seen for the e27 LED bulbs. The only thing is right now those kinds of bulbs don't really produce diffuse light it's more directional but for the price I will definitely try a few. I wonder why they can't just cover them with some plastic "bulb" like some of the CFLs to spread the light around.
- lostlyrics, on 04/26/2008, -0/+1and just btw - since last year the most efficient led type
made it to outperform the old leader, a sodium vapor lamp.
with such technology as industry standard
finally the rest would be a matter of bundeling ... :) - BriVaps, on 04/26/2008, -0/+1i experimented with some 3watt blue LEDs
those things are pretty brite,
you cant look directly at them or you will go blind - Rosco, on 04/26/2008, -0/+3"LED lightbulbs: Are you ready to make the switch?"
No, next question? I just spent an assload of money last year replacing all of my bulbs with CFL's. I'm not going through that ***** again, not for a while. - garywilliams, on 04/26/2008, -0/+0I bought three high-end LED bulb replacements last year to try them out, but wasn't impressed with the light level they produced. One was a 100-watt equivalent that drew 10 watts. I ended up putting that one in a clip-on desk lamp.
- analogengineer, on 04/26/2008, -0/+2What I have yet to see is an LED light replacement that is dimmable (compatible with standard AC type dimmers). I have CFLs everywhere I don't use a dimmer, and even a few "dimmable" ones, but they only go down to about 20% of full brightness, which to human eyes is not very dim.
Incandescents are easily dimmable to 1% or less, which is required for quality architectural lighting.
Part of the problem dimming CFLs is that they are quite a complex load to drive at all, let alone to variable levels. LEDs however, can be easily dimmed using pulse width modulation (or varying the DC current, but that can affect the color quality).
So come on, LED light manufacturers, besides getting the lumens up, please make some dimmable with standard AC dimmers down to 1% or better.- Edogz, on 04/26/2008, -0/+1LEDs are great because they are solid state electronic diodes which can be dimmed very well. A supported interface, however, would be necessary if the led bulb is using an ac/dc converter which wouldn't like voltage/current changes.
- flyneye, on 04/26/2008, -0/+1http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2007/07/how_to_ma ...
Use some high performance led to begin with
http://www.luxeonstar.com/
Be a real cheapskate about it.
http://www.otherpower.com/otherpower_wind.html
No need to getcher shorts in a wedgie about money. - chrismartintx, on 04/26/2008, -0/+1can't justify the cost with the failure rate... they have diode that fail all the time on our fire truck and ambulances. i see stop lights w/ diodes out all the time as well.
- RAVAGE214, on 04/26/2008, -1/+3what the F are these bulbs so expensive? Circuit bords are cheap, i can get led's super cheap from hong kong like someone said, i got 60 for like $20 bucks almsot 2 years ago, what gives? also they were brighter than a mother fer
- digitallysick, on 04/26/2008, -0/+1I would buy them, problem is they don't seem to sell them at any stores that should carry them? Plus they cost a bit much, but i could replace a few bulbs at a time
- Owwmykneecap, on 04/26/2008, -1/+3CFL have a horrible light.
and are poisonous if broken.
Tungsten filament in argon is still the winner.
But I can See LEDs (when the light colour is sorted) as the successor. - kreatre2007, on 04/26/2008, -0/+1I'm all for saving energy and I think LED would be much better than CFL since CFL bulbs contain mercury and sometimes take a long time to get to full brightness. One thing that worries me is that if we're all using less power, won't the power companies respond with higher prices? If we're not consuming as much, the power companies will make less money. I'm very sure that they will do something to continue to make a profit.
- roosterjack, on 04/26/2008, -0/+1I am very optimistic about the LED lightbulbs. For one they can save a lot of energy and money. And they are good for the environment. I'll go for it...
- nusuni, on 04/26/2008, -0/+2Call me an ass but I still like the old bulbs. You can buy 10 of them for like $5 these days.
- tuzziel, on 04/26/2008, -0/+1For $115 ???!!
dream on...
http://store.lsgc.com/R38-P50.aspx -
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