L Prize Winning LED Bulb to Go on Sale Earth Day (April 22)

[Stoaty]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/47066692/ns/business-going_green/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

 

[IBELEAF]

Meh, it's basically a slight improvement (2.5 watts less and 140 more lumens) of this bulb, but at almost 4x the price $60:

http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1v/R-202530170/h_d2/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10053&langId=-1&keyword=led+bulb&storeId=10051" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

 

[SteveInSeattle]

I love the existing Phillips bulbs. I'm going to leave them in my will for my kids!

 

[GaslessInSeattle]

keep in eye out for Ikea. last fall I was told that sometime this year they were going to start offering all light bulb styles in LED for an average cost of $10 a bulb!!

 

[defiancecp]

Newegg has an LED sale going on right now - I bought a bunch of 40w equivalent bulbs for $8 each. not a soft color, but not bad imo. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16882999264" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

 

[Stoaty]

Meh, it's basically a slight improvement (2.5 watts less and 140 more lumens) of this bulb, but at almost 4x the price $60

Well, you are wrong on several counts:

1) Old bulb is 71 lumens per watt, new bulb is 94 lumens per watt; that's a big improvement in efficiency if applied on a nationwide scale
2) Old bulb has CRI of 80, new bulb is 92 (close to incandescent at 100)
3) Old bulb costs $25 at Home Depot, new bulb costs $50 at Home Depot (2X the cost, not 4X)

The exciting part isn't the current price, but the fact that these more efficient bulbs with a better CRI (color rendering index) are available. Prices will come down in time. These are a really outstanding replacement for incandescent, and better than CFL. I plan to buy one to see what the light looks like.

 

[IBELEAF]

The price is $17 for the old bulb, so that's 3x the cost. The improvements just not worth the current price difference. I would wait until they bring the price point of the old bulb.

http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-25ecodZ5yc1vZ12l1/R-203285540/h_d2/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10053&langId=-1&keyword=led+bulb&storeId=10051" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

 

[LEAFfan]

Last year Lowe's had dimmable7.5W/40W equiv., A19s, soft white (warm) for only $10. I stocked up to replace the CFLs. I've never seen a better deal on dimmable LEDs.

 

[GaslessInSeattle]

...The exciting part isn't the current price, but the fact that these more efficient bulbs with a better CRI (color rendering index) are available. Prices will come down in time. These are a really outstanding replacement for incandescent, and better than CFL. I plan to buy one to see what the light looks like.

Yes, I agree, this is a step forward for LED's even if the cost is still high. let us know how the light rendering appears.

I dislike CFL's, they are toxic and create a disposal hassle at the end of their all too often short lives. I have never gotten the kind of hours out of CFL's that they are rated for, they are particularly poor for applications where they get turned on and off a lot, as they are only good for a given number of on/off cycles and they take too long to get bright.

We started buying a few LED's here and there over the last several years hoping to help cycle up the economy of scale in our own small way. Our utility installed LED street lamps in our street, it's great to see them support the technology.

We can hope that LED's truly are on the verge of becoming affordable and within good lighting spectrum, mass adoption will depend on it.

Costco and Ikea have decent LED prices and quality.

 

[Stoaty]

The price is $17 for the old bulb, so that's 3x the cost. The improvements just not worth the current price difference. I would wait until they bring the price point of the old bulb.

Shows as $25 for the old bulb at Home Depot. Do you have a link that shows otherwise?

 

[IBELEAF]

It's the same link as my first post above, but it could depend on location that you select:

http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1v/R-202530170/h_d2/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10053&langId=-1&keyword=led+bulb&storeId=10051" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

 

[coqui]

Can't wait for the local Ikea to start offering these LED bulbs. I don't usually post reviews on a retailer, anywhere, but the local Ikea here in Charlotte seems to be doing everything right. Customer friendly, good products, even an eating area (to keep you shopping for a longer time :lol: ). No charging stations though, at the Charlotte Ikea.

 

[Stoaty]

It's the same link as my first post above, but it could depend on location that you select:

http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1v/R-202530170/h_d2/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10053&langId=-1&keyword=led+bulb&storeId=10051" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

That link shows the product as "currently unavailable" and lists no price.

 

[defiancecp]

Last year Lowe's had dimmable7.5W/40W equiv., A19s, soft white (warm) for only $10. I stocked up to replace the CFLs. I've never seen a better deal on dimmable LEDs.

Interestingly, the box photo on the newegg $8 led's I linked above clearly indicates they are dimmable, but newegg says they aren't... Mine should be here this afternoon, so I'll test them in a dimmer and see. Though according to the reviews they apparently have a relatively high doa rate. Still, it's 40% off every LED bulb, so even if not these there are still probably plenty of good deals. Like these for $7 after the 40% off: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16882374009" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; -- newegg shows not dimmable, but I don't know whether to trust that or not

 

[essaunders]

Are these "bulbs" suitable for use in an outdoor lamppost or wall fixture? (not a flood or spot -there are outdoor LEDs for those). I'd really like to get my incandescents out of those fixtures...

 

[EricBayArea]

I have one of the Phillips bulbs (I happened to get it for free) and we use it in our bedroom and it is very nice. The color temperature is indistinguishable from an incandescent - which is the temperature you should have in a bedroom, as opposed to a cooler temp which should be used for task lighting (research it if you want to know why).

The Newegg bulb, although cheap, is quite a cool color at 5000k. If you're into that sort of color then good for you, but be aware that it is much cooler ("bluer") than that of a CFL or Incandescent at 2700k (a lower the number is warmer or "yellower" in color, the higher the number is cooler or "bluer" in color).

 

[DaveEV]

Are these "bulbs" suitable for use in an outdoor lamppost or wall fixture? (not a flood or spot -there are outdoor LEDs for those). I'd really like to get my incandescents out of those fixtures...

As long as the bulbs are protected from the weather - fully enclosed, yes. Just don't want to get them wet.

Even at $50 I am tempted to get one of these L prize bulbs. The lumens/watt rating of 94 is truly the best available right now.

Is it worth paying 2-3x more for it? Probably not - but I'm sure that Philips needs some early adopters to help bring the price down same as Nissan does for the LEAF.

The last LED bulb I tried (EcoSmart 40W equivalent, 54 lumens/watt, cost $20 at the time, now $10) was still a bit blue and too directional for general use. The L prize Philips bulb is nearly twice as efficient as that one!

I'm still waiting for a really good PAR38 and PAR30 LED flood to come out. All of the floods I've seen are still too narrow in beam compared to CFLs and conventional bulbs, but the slow warmup of CFL PAR30/38 bulbs can be maddening!

 

[lpickup]

No charging stations though, at the Charlotte Ikea.

You need to work on that for me so that some day in the next 4.5 years I can maybe bring my LEAF down to visit my son at UNC-C!

 

[IBELEAF]

It's the same link as my first post above, but it could depend on location that you select:

http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1v/R-202530170/h_d2/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10053&langId=-1&keyword=led+bulb&storeId=10051" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

That link shows the product as "currently unavailable" and lists no price.

Looks like it got pulled again. They've been selling for $17 for at least 3 month and selling out occasionally, but always had more stock coming in. I replaced 15 bulbs at this price which is $255, the ones would've been $500 more.

 

[DaveEV]

I replaced 15 bulbs at this price which is $255, the ones would've been $500 more.

Well, you should have just gotten some CFLs, then - 15 "60 watt" CFLs would have been around $25 or so. 10 times cheaper than LEDs!