LED bulbs hit 100 watts as federal ban looms

Associated Press ^ | 16 May 2011 | Peter Svensson

[verum ago]

NEW YORK – Two leading makers of lighting products are showcasing LED bulbs that are bright enough to replace energy-guzzling 100-watt light bulbs set to disappear from stores in January.

Their demonstrations at the LightFair trade show in Philadelphia this week mean that brighter LED bulbs will likely go on sale next year, but after a government ban takes effect.

The new bulbs will also be expensive — about $50 each — so the development may not prevent consumers from hoarding traditional bulbs. The technology in traditional "incandescent" bulbs is more than a century old. Such bulbs waste most of the electricity that feeds them, turning it into heat. The 100-watt bulb, in particular, produces so much heat that it's used in Hasbro's Easy-Bake Oven.

To encourage energy efficiency, Congress passed a law in 2007 mandating that bulbs producing 100 watts worth of light meet certain efficiency goals, starting in 2012. Conventional light bulbs don't meet those goals, so the law will prohibit making or importing them. The same rule will start apply to remaining bulbs 40 watts and above in 2014. Since January, California has already banned stores from restocking 100-watt incandescent bulbs.

Creating good alternatives to the light bulb has been more difficult than expected, especially for the very bright 100-watt bulbs. Part of the problem is that these new bulbs have to fit into lamps and ceiling fixtures designed for older technology.

[verum ago]

No, your eyes are not deceiving you. You just read "about $50 each" in reference to the 100 watt LED bulbs that the government is about to shove down your throat.

Just...

...wow.

[Enough is ENOUGH]

How many politicians does it take to screw up a light bulb? ...The economy? ...Anything?

[achilles2000]

The LED tech really isn’t ready yet, as the price shows. Eventually, LED will be a great alternative. Unless you have a commercial application for LED, it makes no sense for anyone.

[Psycho_Bunny]

Way to ban something before its replacement is in place.

[The Duke]

That $50 bulb might last several liftimes, however, which is worth considering.

[BfloGuy]

The GOP could make up for a few of its missteps by voting to repeal the incandescent light bulb ban.

[Danae]

WTF.

I am SO SICK of this government telling us what to do, when to do it, and how to do it.

Eff this.

[Extremely Extreme Extremist]

Start hoarding folks. Once again, the gubermint is creating unintended consequences.

IMO you don't need a 100-watt traditional bulb anyway. Buy the 60 watt bulbs.

[Olog-hai]

This has to be one of the most ridiculous epochs in history, where the USA actually bans a technology that is not actually dangerous, and in fact had developed more energy-efficient forms before the summary ban. What makes it worse is that this is a mirror of the European Union's own summary ban; in fact, in Germany back in January, the Polizei actually raided a place and confiscated incandescent bulbs that were being sold as "heat balls" to circumvent the sick ban.

[Proud2BeRight]

$500 government hammers don’t sound quite as bad when light bulbs are $50.

[Lazlo in PA]

That will be the day when I drop $50 on a light bulb and the fixture isn't attached. There are going to be riots when people realize what is happening to their 50 cent bulbs.

[OneLoyalAmerican]

Greetings verum ago:
We tried one of these LED lamps replacing an outdoor night light. The CFL lasted about three years. We’ll see how the LED holds up. This incandescent ban is going to make it difficult to keep newborn livestock warm.
Cheers,
OLA

[Pan_Yan]

Way to ban something before its replacement is in place.

Like oil and coal?

[Yardstick]

Congress passed a law in 2007 mandating that bulbs producing 100 watts worth of light meet certain efficiency goals

Someone needs to tell this journo school grad that the bulbs don't produced 100 Watts of light. They consume 100 Watts of power. Not the same thing.

[dhs12345]

How reliable is it? An LED will not run directly off of AC. It is a low voltage DC device.

[SubMareener]

We use LED lights from C. Crane, Inc., in places where the bulbs are hard to change. They are nominally rated at 30,000 hours, that's 15 years at 8 hours per day, so I don't expect to have to replace them any time soon. And, the what heavy metals they have in them are not going to leak, as with the CF bulbs.

[laweeks]

Congress passed a law in 2007 mandating that bulbs producing 100 watts worth of light meet certain efficiency goals

Now, where in the hell is that written in our Constitution? Just where in the hell does congress get off telling us what to do in our homes with our lightbulbs? It's absurd.

This has got to stop. "Penumbra, 3 quarts per flush, privacy, abortion, seat belts, children's car seats, worthless and highly dangerous lightbulbs" . . . Good God! Where do these ba$tards get off telling us what to do without any authority whatsoever to do so?

Believe me, my wife and I are stockpiling "normal" lightbulbs so we'll have some for a long long time before the feds break down our door. Therefore, it sure sounds like we'll be breaking a federal law in a year or two. We will be lawbreakers. Can you believe this? It's insanity!

[SoothingDave]

Such bulbs waste most of the electricity that feeds them, turning it into heat.

I heat my home 8 months out of the year. Who is the gov't to say this heat is "wasted?",p>

[ansel12]

But, he said, "it's not necessarily clear to people in the lighting industry that LED chips were ever meant to go into a bulb." What's really needed, he said, is a new approach to lighting — new fixtures and lamps that spread out the LEDs, avoiding the heat problem.

Yep, the whole world of lighting will be changing in a few years, bulbs will mostly disappear as we duplicate daylight in both large and small areas in a home.

[Mr. Jeeves]

The LED tech really isn’t ready yet, as the price shows

The technology is fine - there just aren't enough factories mass-producing the bulbs yet. The price is going to come way down in the next couple of years.