Introducing the $60, 20-year light bulb ("Going Green" still "Going Ridiculous")

cbs ^ | 4/18/2012 | ap

[tobyhill]

How much would you pay for an amazing, state-of-the-art light bulb? Shoppers will be asking themselves that very question at Home Depot and other outlets starting Sunday — Earth Day — when the bulb that won a $10 million government contest goes on sale.

The bulb is the most energy-efficient yet, lasts about 20 years and is supposed to give off a pleasing, natural-looking light. But what separates it from the pack most is the price: $60.

That price reflects the cost of the components, especially the top-notch chips, or diodes, that give off the light, and is the price commercial customers will pay. But the manufacturer, Netherlands-based Philips, is discounting it right away to $50 for consumers, and working on deals with electric utilities to discount it even further, by as much as $20 to $30.

This means the bulb will cost anywhere from $20 to $60, depending on where it's found. Online, consumers will be paying $50 for each bulb, because utilities don't subsidize online sales.

[Menehune56]

Here's a list of the known longest lasting incandescents including the 110 year old one in the Livermore Fire Department. The second oldest has been on for 104 years and now in the Fort Worth Stockyards Museum.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Longest-lasting_light_bulbs

[Ditter]

I bought a little device that fit down in the bottom of the socket, it dimmed the bulb but I had bulbs last for 8 years. They were in the 2 fixtures on each side of my front door and I never turned them off, so they burned continuously for 8 years. I can't find those little devices anymore.

On another note a few months ago I bought some Phillips bulbs at Home Depot, they are the crappiest bulbs I have ever bought, they last hardly anytime at all.

[rockrr]

.50 to .75

That’s what I used to pay for Sylvania incandescent 4-packs that would last for years and years.

[asinclair]

The proof of the life of the bulb is in the warranty. Of course, the bulb I have is warranted for five years, not 20. I don't know if the bulb I bought at Home Depot is the same bulb or not -- it's 40-watt equivalent consuming 9 watts, sold under the "ecosmart" and "LightingScience" trademarks. And an excess of packaging compared to the regular 40 watt Edison bulb. Maybe it's because they need the space of the package for this information and more, printed in two languages:

Not intended for use with emergency exit fixtures or emergency exit lights. Not for use where exposed directly to the weather or water. Not for use in totally enclosed recessed fixtures.

... complies with FCC Part 15 for a class B device ... generates, uses and can radiate radio frequency energy... Added weight of the device may cause instability ...

50,000 hour life; about 2000 days, or just over five years of continuous operation. I wonder how many on/off cycles the bulb is supposed to withstand -- but the box is silent about that. It just says that they assume you use it for three hours at a time, which would come out to around 17,000 cycles.

Wonder how it stands up to lighting spikes? According the IEEE, the spikes can be as low as 800 volts (ring wave) and as high as 6000 volts (spike, limited by sparking of the clearances in switchgear, fuse boxes and exposed splices) depending on how long with wire is from your fuse box to the light, and other equipment you have connected in your house.

(By the way, the 6000-volt spike can cause the Edison bulbs to explode; one magazine testing lab reported they had one bulb shoot glass everywhere when they applied the test pulse to a turned-on desk lamp.)

And the kicker: "Assembled in Mexico".

[Moltke]

Even if it does last 20 years as promised, here’s another reason it’s a really dumb idea: it’s an evolving technology. These bulbs will be wholly outdated in a year or two. Something better and cheaper will be available.

Who would’ve spent $200,000 on a Pentium PC in 1995 because “It’s going to last for 20 years”????

[LomanBill]

When’s the IPO and how many shares is Comrade Chairman Obama signed up for?

[bd59903]

watch this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=251qoGOqpdk
only the trailer, but saw to full movie and is VERY interesting.

[al_c]

I have some good, old-fashioned light bulbs still burning that were in the house when we bought it over 6 years ago.

[Right Wing Assault]

There IS proof that small LEDs can go at least 10,000 hours or more if you keep them cool. There are probably some running in electronic devices for much longer.

They are easily dimmable and aren’t hurt by frequent on-offs as CFLs are. Do not have the CFL slow start up in cold temps, either.

When China starts producing these they will be super cheap. Who wants a 60 W bulb, though? My old eyes need 100 W. Assuming they are ACTUAL equivalents. I’ve got 100 W incandescents that say 1690 lumens. That’s bright.

http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1v/R-203285540/h_d2/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10053&langId=-1&keyword=led+bulb&storeId=10051

Wow, I just saw these at Home Depot and they are 940 lumens. That scale up to about 1565 for 100 W. Not bad.

Might grab one for an outdoor light that I keep on all night. Otherwise, at $50 plus sales tax, I will wait a while.

Also, I am not thrilled with the gummint giving prizes for something that was already going to happen very soon anyway.

Funny thing is, when these get into large scale use, people are going to put a lot more outside. They will also tend to leave them on longer in and out. Some of the savings will be spent. But that’s OK with me.

[Don Corleone]

That’s what I used to pay for Sylvania incandescent 4-packs that would last for years and years.

Years ago, in Illinois, Commonwealth Edison used to give you a supply of light bulbs FREE when you came in and paid your electric bill. Yes...FREE! 60's 100' whatever you wanted.

[freekitty]

Green is nothing but a money laundering operation.

[ErnBatavia]

My house was built in 1982, and the two original incandescent bulbs in the recessed front porch fixture are still working.

I know they're the originals, because it's going to be a major, major pain in the ass changing 'em when they finally go.

[Oztrich Boy]

What about a 50cent light bulb that lasts for 2 months?

[sportutegrl]

We will never know if this bulb can last 20 years . .

We will know in 20 years or less.

[Lou L]

Why would a utility company offer a rebate on a electrical device? Because it saves them from having to supply as much current? Why would a utility company want to reduce an amount of something it’s selling?

[lacrew]

Gee....does this mean that all the wild promises about CFLs, and their longevity, were complete lies?

Why else would we need a contest, to build a better light bulb...so soon after we were all led out of the darkness, with the miracle of CFL.

[mamelukesabre]

LED tech isn’t quite here yet. The sensible option for light bulb efficiency is high pressure halogens, at the moment.

[DB]

Actually the trick is lowering the voltage. A typical incandescent will last practically forever if you drop the voltage to half its rating. So instead of looking white it looks orange white. If you look at the super long life incandescent bulbs they are rated for 135 volts or higher instead of 120 where they are normally operated. I don’t remember the exact relationship but I believe it is something like the voltage to the 12th power (or higher) in the reduction of operating time verses voltage increase. Or in other words, voltage makes a huge difference in operating time.

[Peter from Rutland]

I can get LED bulbs from a farm supply place for about 20 bucks.

[Jagermonster]

Why would a utility company offer a rebate on a electrical device? Because it saves them from having to supply as much current? Why would a utility company want to reduce an amount of something it’s selling?

Its a perfectly sensible business reason - Residential consumers of electricity are low-margin, service-intensive customers (lots of wires for delivering less than 10000 KWH per year, lots of service calls, pay lower residential rates, etc.). Commercial users of electricity are high-margin, low service customers (fewer hookups, high usage, higher rate, etc.)

Since it costs umpty-beaucoup bucks to build a new power plant (and higher power line capacity), both from simple capital expense and regulatory hurdles, it makes sense to encourage your low-margin customers to consume less of your product, slowing the growth of demand, and thereby allowing you to spread the cost of new output over a greater period of time.

This is especially effective with subsidies of CFLs - If the utility is sensible, it takes time to select a quality lamp for its subsidy. The subsidy of 25 cents to a dollar per lamp reduces energy consumption 75% or more over the 5-10 year life of the lamp. This can have a substantial cumulative effect on demand.