LED bulb with 20 year life goes on sale in the US

Traditional incandescent bulbs are history and LED bulbs are here. LED bulbs are known to be energy efficient and offer more light than the power they consume. A news by Psys states that Philips is going to be launching one such model of LED bulbs this weekend in the US. It’s being priced at close to $60 (roughly Rs. 3,100). Now, this seems like a fairly large sum of money for a bulb but consider the fact that the bulb is said to have a life of 20 years. Philips, the makers the of bulb has already received the L Prize, which was a contest for creating a cheap, highly efficient bulb. Incandescent bulbs are highly wasteful of energy and a lot of it turn to heat. They are also not as reliable as the new LED based bulbs being sold in the market.

The future of lightning

Philips hopes that the product's price will drop to a more affordable $22 (Rs. 1,200) in a year’s time after the launch. The L Prize was meant for products that could offer a replacement to the 60W incandescent bulb. Philips was the only company to enter the contest and their product came out winning the product after a long testing period. The product is said to offer a very natural looking light while being very energy efficient at the same time. Attempts are being made to drop the price of the product further. Discounts have got that price down to $50 (approximately Rs. 2,600)

The Philips LED bulb is said to consume only 10W and is expected to save some $8 a year, if used for four hours a day. Considering the life of the bulb, it should make up for the investment in a few years time itself. CFL bulbs have the advantage of being cheaper but their life isn’t as long as LED bulbs. 40W and higher intensity incandescent bulbs are being used across the world. It looks like LED bulbs are going to take their place very soon. India on the other hand has a long time to go before LED bulbs become mainstream, more affordable and easily available.