Comments on: New Light Bulb Efficiency Guidelines

By: depal

depal — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 06:37:43 +0000

In reply to Benjamin Roman. Incandescent bulbs consume six times as much energy as LED. What about the tons of coal burned every day to create the electrical energy neede to run inneficient electric sources. (60 % of US electric is coal based) The newest LED lights will use 8.5 watts to replace a 60 watt lamp,Not to mention the tons of energy needed to reproduce the replacement lamps 50,000 hrs for LED and 1,000 hours for 60 watt inc, We are talking 50 light bulbs vs one LED. How much tungston, copper, lead solder at the base etc,etc is found in these 50 incandescent light bulbs? I think we are comparing apples to water-melons here,

By: Benjamin Roman

Benjamin Roman — Sun, 20 Feb 2011 17:52:36 +0000

In reply to Flyingwater.

Indeed, the UC-Irvine/UC-Davis study that just came out did reveal some potentially hazardous materials in LED lights, however that study focused primarily on colored holiday lights as opposed to LED light bulbs. Additionally, the LEDs contained no mercury (which is a particular problem for CFLs), and LEDs’ durability means they are much less likely to break and spill any substances inside.

Good point though… even though LEDs are still a great choice thanks to their energy efficiency, it seems they may still contain some undesirable materials (as is the case with most electronics).

By: Flyingwater

Flyingwater — Sat, 12 Feb 2011 21:41:57 +0000

You might want to do more research related to your statement that LEDs contain no toxic materials. Researchers at University of California Irvine have results that suggest otherwise: http://today.uci.edu/news/2011/02/nr_LED_110210.php

By: fireofenergy

fireofenergy — Sat, 12 Feb 2011 16:53:08 +0000

I’m wondering when the Cree XML lightbulbs will be available. The actual led converts up to 3 amps and (only) up to 3.3 volts into up to 950 lumens (that’s 100 lumens per watt efficiency). At a lower .35 amps (and at just 2.75 volts) it will put out an astonishing 160 lumens per watt efficiency! Cree appears to be a U.S. company but China is already selling the XML for around $10 each.
It shouldn’t take to long before they come down in price such that a 110 or 220 volt conversion (in a light bulb base) would offer almost twice the efficiency of the CFL.

By: bpowers

bpowers — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 05:29:24 +0000

I really like the new label but believe they should add a recycling fee for any type of bulb that requires special handling. Without that, most of the bulb that contain mercury will (and do) end up in our landfills. IMHO, it ought to be high enough to intice the customer to properly dispose of their dead bulbs, or for schools and youth programs to run recycling drives.