From Northern California electronics manufacturer C. Crane comes a new LED light bulb—dubbed the Geobulb—that cuts electricity consumption by more than 87 percent, compared with a standard incandescent bulb. And it lasts for about 10 years before it needs to be replaced. (See the news report here.)
The Geobulb doesn’t come cheap, though: a single bulb runs about $120, which means that at this point it’s mostly for enthusiasts and special uses. But in some cases, the expense can be worth it: for sockets that are hard or dangerous to reach (think recessed bulbs or hanging light fixtures on a high ceiling ) the Geobulb can be a real convenience, since changing bulbs takes so much labor and effort.
Regardless, as manufacturers gain more experience and economies of scale with LED light bulbs, I expect that prices will come down—holding out hopes for even more energy savings, as well as a bigger boost for the region’s electronics manufacturers.
Bob Goldberg
What about the output of these bulbs? The problem with LED up until now is that the output is puny compared to standard or CF bulbs. I have LED flashlights, emergency lights and nightlights, and all are just puny in light intensity output.
Clark Williams-Derry
It’s advertised as the equivalent of a 60W bulb. But I haven’t seen it in action, so I can’t really comment on how much light it really puts out.
ronald
All my bicycling lights use LEDs. I have 1w, 3w and 5w headlights. They are in a completely different category in terms of brightness than typical LEDs (like the ones in ordinary flashlights or nightlights). A 1 watt LED is just enough to get by for city commuting. The 3 watt and 5 watt together provide adequate light going downhill at night in the rain – and wet asphalt is amazing in terms of how much light just “disappears” into it.
The Rev
There are many benefits to LEDs versus other forms of lighting.I’m a huge proponent of CFLs and push them all day long at Greenwood Hardware. If it’s possible to use a CFL in your fixture, you can bet I’m trying to sell it to you.There are drawbacks to CFLs however. Their quality can vary from manufacturer to manufacturer as well as by how much they are turned on an off. 10,000 hours can easily be cut in half to 5,000 hours, the same as a long-life incandescent if they’re in a frequently-cycled light.Dimmable CFLs are far more expensive than incandescents and only have a minimum light of 20%, versus 2-5% for incandescents. Their longevity is also drastically reduced.LEDs are the best of both worlds. They feature the longevity and efficiency of CFLs (with no mercury!) and work as well as incandescents in dimmers. They also are unaffected by cycling and can, in fact, cycle faster than either other lighting technologies.I’ve bought products from C.Crane in the past and love their products.The new LED lightbulbs are definitely in the enthusiast niche right now. The warm light LED bulb (the same light as incandescents and most “soft white” light bulbs) are only a 40 watt equivalent. The neutral and cool lights are brighter, but with a light quality that many, if not most, people highly dislike.By the numbers, CFLs and LEDs come about even in total overall cost, for now, over the lifetime of the bulb. LEDs can eek a small lead over their lifetime (over three years when on 24/7/365!) and in high-cycle rooms/lighting. Incandescents cannot nearly compete.When LEDs can compete in output with standard incandescents normally available in form factor and light output, I will gladly try to sell every customer on them who needs a dimmable light. For now, expect a semi-hard sell on CFLs from me. Unless, of course, you’re going off grid. Every watt saved then is several dollars of electrical production capacity you don’t have to install.
cwilcox
Folks- ccrane specializes in making decent stuff and selling it to coast-to-coast dittoheads at exorbitant prices- go to their page, compare specs with what you can get elsehwere, and figure.Re LEDs- although they use miniscule amounts of juice, when you compare them on a light output per watt basis (eg round bulbs that project light over a room-sized area), CFLs beat the pants off them (LEDs much the best for point-source {flashlight-type} lighting). You can get a 4-pack of 13W (= 60Wincand) CFLs for about $10 (I’ve found them for $1 each)My $1 bulbs are still good after 3 yrs of 10hr/d use.$120 for a lightbulb? Bite me, ccrane.