Behold the $15 LED light bulb

[uscitizen]

How much less? They cost 30 times as much....

Depends on how many you use. In my case, it was quite a bit less because I did six rooms all at once – including two finished rooms in the basement with no windows where we burnt 10 bulbs for about 12 hours each day. It really did make a big difference.

I kept all the old bulbs and have been using them up in places like the outside lights.

The squiggly bulbs also last a lot longer then the regular bulbs – much longer.

I think the average wattages of the squiggly blubs burn about 75% less energy then the regular bulbs and that’s quite a bit less.

And, since these new LED bulbs run much cooler than the florescent ones, I would expect them to virtually never burn out.

I think what a lot of people miss is the savings in electricity costs. You get the light equivalent of a 100 watt bulb for 23 watts with a CFL. With an LED it's even greater. 90% of your electrical cost to light your home with incandescent bulbs goes to produce heat not light. An incandescent bulb is primarily a heater.

Yep so in the winter incandescent bulbs help heat your home, but in the summer they cause you to use more power air conditioning your home.

 

[uscitizen]

I am doing current product development in LED lighting. So I've been completely privvy to what's there now and what is coming..

1) There's NO DOUBT that LED lighting will put CFLs into the (toxic waste) dustbin of technology.

2) Objections to the "blueness" of the light are REAL.. They actually relate to production of hormones that control "your awakeness". There are already "warm color" LEDs that are similiar in brightness to the "cool white" that are being sold. But they are slightly lower in efficiency (maybe 10%) and more expensive because of brightness.

3) The bigger issue is what's technically called Color Rendering Index (CRI). That's a measure of the "flatness" of the spectral output. The light from an LED might look yellow or white -- but it has significants gaps in color illumination bands. So if you placed a multi-colored pkg under the light, some hues of red (or other colors) could be absent (look grey or black). (also an issue, but not as severe for CFLs). So you want a good CRI rating if the manufacturer provides it.

4) Costs probably WILL come down in the short term -- but don't expect that to continue. Because the efficiency limit is near and getting closer means (maybe) exotic expensive materials and new thermal pkging that is also costly.

5) The savings are real.. But what you can buy at Home Depot is gonna be dictated by dogeatdog marketing specs. So the chances that selling awful blueish light replacements will poison the market for a decade or so. Because the marketing MBA geniuses want to place a premium on energy efficiency rather than a "sensible, pleasing" product..

If you research replacements that have a spectral output from 3000 to 4500 Kelvin and a CRI of greater than 70% -- you will be very pleased. Even if the efficiency is slightly lower and the price is slightly higher. Don't get sucked into bargain basement prices for brand new technology. That never works out --- does it?

Hope Chris reads this before he runs out to buy a truckload of those $15 bulbs. Or maybe typing in a "black light" room would improve his mood...

And it would fit with his beaded curtain and lava lamp motif...

I hope you wait until they come out to judge.

Sheesh!

Someone invents a light bulb that used 85% less energy and lasts 8 years, and all people can do is bitch.

yep I will bet he bitches about the longer life of the lithium ion battery in his cellular device as well.
And the toxicicity of the lithium battery?

 

[flacaltenn]

I'm so negative.. I know -- I get that from my wife all the time..

Chris -- I'm not hitting on it. I just don't want them to screw the entire marketplace with sub-optimal junk before the "GOOD STUFF" can be cheap enough for Home Depot.

Unlike Rush Limbaugh -- I want this to succeed..

Part of the problem with CFL is that the early "cheaper models" poisoned public opinion.

And I KNOW that if they're SELLING it for $15, that they aren't using the better grade LED parts since (unfortunately) I've had to look at dozens of manufacturers that are offering high power white LEDs. Pricing structure right now is about $1.40/LED times at LEAST 7 LEDs === That $10 before packaging, power supply, heatsink, shrink wrap, ect.. At a SALE price of $15 -- they probably ARE using very blue, low CRI parts, with potential lifetime issues..

As Baruch M. pointed out -- Even at $25 or $30 -- a GOOD LED lamp won't disappoint..

 

[rdean]

I can get 2 bulbs at the dollar store.

Do these last 30xs as long?

How long do I have to use it to make up for the fact that it costs 30 times what I pay for my current bulbs?

What does it say on the package?

Dollar store? Did you get your furnishing there too? Clothes?

I bought a toilet brush from them once. All the bristles fell out.

 

[uscitizen]

I bought a toilet brush from them once. All the bristles fell out.


DAMN! So my mother bought my head at the dollar store.

 

[Flopper]

The decision by governments to require high efficiency light bulbs is proving to be a stimulus to the lighting industry to develop new and improved technologies that will save energy and eventually produce much better products. When government raises the bar, whether it be high efficiency light bulbs, higher gas mileage, or safer vehicles, private enterprise responds by producing better products that benefit us all.

 

[MikeK]

I surely wouldn't pay 15 dollars for a light bulb. You can stick your light bulb straight up your ass before I will.

what if it lasts 10 times as long as a regular bulb and uses less energy.

1/3 as much energy? Then it'd be a wash.

I pay a dollar for two incandescents.

I tried those two-for-a-dollar, made in Mexico bulbs from the dollar store. The 60w was about half as bright as a regular 60w and they didn't last nearly as long.

MY main complaint about the new LED bulbs is the light is harsh, like fluorescent. Not at all as soft as an incandescent. So I am stocking up on incandescents before they are taken off the market in January. Hopefully by the time my stockpile of incandescents is used up there will be advances in the quality of LED light and the prices will come down.

 

[Quantum Windbag]

Lighting Science Group teams up with Indian electronics manufacturer Dixon Technologies to unveil the world's first $15-or-less 60-watt equivalent LED bulb.

Even though some LED (or light-emitting diode) light bulbs boast lifespans that last decades while consuming minimal energy compared to old school incandescent bulbs, their price — often hovering around the $40 mark — has remained a sticking point with many consumers. Sure, the savings in the long run are remarkable, but who really wants to spend more than $20 on a single light bulb?

Well, meet the latest creation from the geniuses over at Lighting Science Group: an omnidirectional, 60-watt equivalent A19 LED bulb with a sticker price of $15 or less. That's right, folks — a $15 LED.

Developed in cooperation with Indian electronics manufacturing giant Dixon Technologies, this low-priced, high-performance bulb with a lifespan of around eight years will initially be released in India later this year before making its way stateside and elsewhere in early 2012. The revolutionary bulb is designed to consume 85 percent less energy than standard 60-watt incandescents and 35 percent less energy than CLFs.

With 800,000,000 incandescent light bulbs and 300,000,000 CFLs sold in India each year, the market is ripe for these highly efficient, long lasting and nontoxic products. The economic and environmental implications of this partnership are significant: old-style light bulbs use 60 billion units of electricity each year, 7% of India’s total, and our Lighting Science Group Definity® lamps could save over 70% of that, equivalent to 32 coal fired plants with 500MW capacity.

Behold, the $15 LED bulb | MNN - Mother Nature Network

Who wants to spend $15 for a light bulb?

 

[Quantum Windbag]

I surely wouldn't pay 15 dollars for a light bulb. You can stick your light bulb straight up your ass before I will.

what if it lasts 10 times as long as a regular bulb and uses less energy.

Would you?

 

[Quantum Windbag]

If it's $15 now and it sells it will be $5 in a year and half that in two or three years. What's needed is a high efficiency bulb that fits well in the older style lamps. CFLs are often two large.

I like the long lasting bulbs even thou they cost more. I have a number of lights that require a step ladder to change.

Another advantage of CFL's is more light from a small fixture. Many lamps have 60 watt max rating. A 23 what CFL produces the light output of a 100 watt bulb so you can get a lot more light from a small lamp.

Do you have outside floodlights? Ever wait for a CFL to light up on a cold winter night?

 

[MeBelle]

I bought a toilet brush from them once. All the bristles fell out.


DAMN! So my mother bought my head at the dollar store.

Was it a two for one sale?
Did Mom get change back?

 

[OohPooPahDoo]

I surely wouldn't pay 15 dollars for a light bulb. You can stick your light bulb straight up your ass before I will.

what if it lasts 10 times as long as a regular bulb and uses less energy.

It doesn't matter if it actually saves them money - they like consuming things. That's why they buy giant gas guzzlers - really, just so they can burn more gas. Consumption is a status symbol to them, they're proud of it - the ability to consume a lot is their self worth.

 

[Quantum Windbag]

I have little doubt that LED lighting will be the wave of the future.

As the techology advances economies of scale come into play.

I'm informed that Princess lines just made a multimillion dollar purchase of LED lighting for their fleet, for example.

Expect that the first changes to LED lighting will happen at the industrial level, and as that market grows the economies of scale will insure that it will eventually migrate into the retail market.

Right now my favorite toy is an LED hand powered flashlight.

I HATE battery techology because typically when I need a flashlight my flashlights, which might have been sitting unused for years, have dead batteries.

With a couple turns of the flashlights handcrank I have plenty of light.

During Irene my power went out for a few hours but I continued to read (sans wasteful battery power) thanks to this LED flashlight.

I think LEDs are going to be great, in the future, but we do not live in the future. I remember being promised flying cars and jet packs by 1990 when I was in high school. That must have been a different future than the one I ended up in.

 

[Quantum Windbag]

I think its great.........but dont tell me what kind of light bulb I can or cant buy. Thats just stupid silliness.

I love how liberals talk about personal freedoms. They're all for it......as long as you have to do it their way.

Ever wonder who holds the patent on all the CFLs that are now mandated for people to buy? If you need a hint the initials of the company are GE.

 

[Quantum Windbag]

First, the figure is 15% of the power use of an incandescent. Second, the the life span is estimated at 8 years. And this is just what is available right now.

The flashlights that I have are estimated to have a life span of 50,000 hours. And they are tough. I have dropped one of them 20 feet from a crane to concrete. The lens is history, the switch is a little tight, but it still works just fine.

For lights that are hard to get at, even the present price is a bargain. And the cost of electiricity will continue to go up, so the time of use to save money will continue to decrease.

This is the future. Just as you will soon be unable to buy a vacuum tube TV, you will soon be unable to buy incandescents.

I have a Maglite I dropped three times that far onto gravel, it works great, and the lens did not break. It has an incandescent bulb.

 

[OohPooPahDoo]

I think its great.........but dont tell me what kind of light bulb I can or cant buy. Thats just stupid silliness.

I love how liberals talk about personal freedoms. They're all for it......as long as you have to do it their way.

Ever wonder who holds the patent on all the CFLs that are now mandated for people to buy? If you need a hint the initials of the company are GE.

No one is mandated to buy CFLs.

And the GE patent is expired.

 

[Quantum Windbag]

That there are ways of using less power, ways of doing things more efficiently, seems to be a thorn in the sides of the 'Conservatives'. The government never 'outlawed' incandescents. During the Bush administration, there were laws passed and signed into law by Bush, that established lighting efficiencies. Those laws did not state how those efficienceis were to be met, only that they had to be. So we have CFs that use only 25% of the juice of the old incandescents, have a much longer life span, and cost only about twice as much now as the incandescent. And now, LEDs are coming on the market that use even less power, last many times longer then the CFs, and presently cost about 15 times as much.

Seems to me to be good market economics.

My bitch comes when the government decrees something, and then turns out to be wrong. An example is the government jumping on the bandwagon to reduce energy consumption in the US by mandating that we switch to CFLs when GE lobbied them to ban incandescent lights.

That, in case you have a problem understanding the concept, is corporate welfare.

 

[OohPooPahDoo]

I have little doubt that LED lighting will be the wave of the future.

As the techology advances economies of scale come into play.

I'm informed that Princess lines just made a multimillion dollar purchase of LED lighting for their fleet, for example.

Expect that the first changes to LED lighting will happen at the industrial level, and as that market grows the economies of scale will insure that it will eventually migrate into the retail market.

Right now my favorite toy is an LED hand powered flashlight.

I HATE battery techology because typically when I need a flashlight my flashlights, which might have been sitting unused for years, have dead batteries.

With a couple turns of the flashlights handcrank I have plenty of light.

During Irene my power went out for a few hours but I continued to read (sans wasteful battery power) thanks to this LED flashlight.

I think LEDs are going to be great, in the future, but we do not live in the future. I remember being promised flying cars and jet packs by 1990 when I was in high school. That must have been a different future than the one I ended up in.

THey're great now.

 

[Quantum Windbag]

I think its great.........but dont tell me what kind of light bulb I can or cant buy. Thats just stupid silliness.

I love how liberals talk about personal freedoms. They're all for it......as long as you have to do it their way.

Ever wonder who holds the patent on all the CFLs that are now mandated for people to buy? If you need a hint the initials of the company are GE.

No one is mandated to buy CFLs.

And the GE patent is expired.

That depends on where you live, and it was in force when Congress mandated getting rid of incandescent lights.

Want to try again?

 

[OohPooPahDoo]

Ever wonder who holds the patent on all the CFLs that are now mandated for people to buy? If you need a hint the initials of the company are GE.

No one is mandated to buy CFLs.

And the GE patent is expired.

What part of the government being wrong did you miss?

What are they wrong about?