LED IN – Flourescent Out, Energy Efficiency In

LED Light Bulbs, Super Lighting Efficiency

reprint from earth2tech.com

A new way of thinking about light bulbs — that’s what it’ll take for General Electric’s new LED bulb to gain traction with consumers. GE announced this morning that it will start selling an LED bulb by the end of 2010 or in early 2011 that can replace a 40-watt incandescent bulb, but consumes just 9-watts, lasts 17 years (at four hours a day), and will cost between $40 and $50 at retailers.

If consumers are ready to start thinking about the big picture of lighting, the LED bulb could be a deal. It can provide 77 percent energy savings and last 25 times longer than an incandescent bulb. It can also fit into a standard incandescent socket, which is important, because having to buy both LED bulbs and fixtures has been one of the barriers to convincing consumers to buy LEDs. On top of that, the bulb provides 450 lumens, compared to most LED bulbs which commonly produce 350 lumens or less.