LED Light Bulbs

Latest LED Bulb I purchased 60 Watt Replacement for $20

I am fascinated by any new energy efficient technologies so have started replacing light bulbs in my house with LED light bulbs. Before that I had replaced some of the bulbs with CFL bulbs but have to admit there are some negatives with the CFL bulbs. Some CFL bulbs have a rather strange light color and are really slow to come up to full brightness.  If the bulb is being turned on and off often it might not last very long either. Then there is the disposal problem for a bulb that contains mercury.

LED bulbs are made up of a semiconductor material like a transister. Many small LED's are grouped together and must be supplied direct current electricty which requires components to convert from the alternating current supplied to the light socket.  The LED's are heat sensitive but do not give off too much heat, the light bulbs do tend to be rather heavy because heat sinks are part of the bulb.

The first LED bulb I purchased was the Sylvania bulb that is labled to be a 40 watt replacement while using only 8 watts.  At the time I purchased this bulb it was $20, larger wattage replacement bulbs were not to be found in the store.  About a year later I would purchase this same bulb for $10 and a 60 watt replacement for around $20.  Most people would question the economics of buying such expensive bulbs, the payback will not be quick at this time for sure. LED bulbs should last at least 10 times as long as incandescent bulbs and use about one fifth the energy.  In my case this is more like an experiment and when I have the urge to do some impulse buying, I invest in another expensive light bulb.

Bill Kuhl
http://www.scienceguy.org