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By 2014, the Energy Independence and Security Act will effectively ban incandescent light bulbs from US households. And no matter how many bulbs you’re hoarding, the stockpile will eventually burn out.
So the industry has high hopes for light-emitting diodes (LEDs), which are comparable in efficiency to compact fluorescents, but without the harsh light and disposal hassles. The 3M LED Advanced is one of the early products to hit the consumer market. It’s supposed to last for a quarter century. Will you want to live with it that long?
A 60-Watt equivalent light bulb what runs on light emitting diodes, not super-heated tungsten filaments or charged fluorescent gas.
For now, early adopters. But soon, when incandescent bulbs are no longer available, everybody.
At first glance, it looks like a traditional incandescent. But if you look closer, you’ll notice that the traditional frosted glass dome has been replaced with a vented, opaque globe surrounding a hive of LEDs controlled by a small PCB. It screws into the same standard Edison sockets as conventional bulbs and CFLs
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Depends. How many people does it take to screw in a light bulb? But seriously, folks—the Advanced Light turns on instantly, plays well with dimmer switches, and, depending on which model you get, the bulb with output either 3000k soft white light or 5000k cool white light.
Used in indoor lamps for about a month, the light performed nearly identically to the incandescents that it replaced.
The current £16 suggested price tag means repopulating my home’s 14-some-odd light fixtures with these would run me around £220. Here’s hoping 3M’s claims of a 25-year service life and $1.63-per-year operating costs are accurate.
It doesn’t get hot. Like, at all. Even after being left on continuously for seven hours, it can easily be unscrewed and held in a bare hand.
They’re pricey, sure, but so were CFLs when they first hit the market. Given that these don’t suffer from the same accelerated burn-out that CFLs do under heavy use—and they suck down just a quarter of the power that a traditional 60w incandescent would—the Advanced Light should be a good investment.
• Light Tech: LED
• Power Draw: 13.5W
• Output: 800 lumen (60W equivalent)
• Light Temperature: 3000K or 5000K
• Weight: ~500 grams
• Price: £16 MSRP
• Gizrank: 3.5 Stars
Errrr?
“The Lightbulb That Will Outlast Your House” – “It’s supposed to last for a quarter century” so presumably this house is in hurricane county? Either that or US builders are shit.
Well they do build their houses out of wood. :p
Here in the UK, we have had Philips LED bulbs on the market for a bit, and I have equipped two family homes with them to not only save energy, but the hassle of changing bulbs every so often. They also last 25 years, (allegedly!) but what is worrying is that if a house is only to last 25 years, it should not have been built!
(One of our family lives in a house that is over 600 years old.)
I bought my first Philips LED a couple of weeks ago, impressed with it so far!
I replaced a GU10 halogen with a Philips LED recently. Most impressed, particularly as the colour temperature doesn’t change with the dimmer switch settings.
I have replaced all of the lights in my house with the Philips LED bulb except the ones which are dimmable with a bayonet socket. Any idea where I can find a bright LED bulb that will fit?