9-Watt LED Bulbs

The future of lighting? LED 9-watt bulbs are said to last throughout 10 years of continuous use and produce the same luminance as a 13-watt CFL bulb.

However, follow the link above and you'll see that the bulbs sell for $70-$80, making them non-competitive currently in the high efficiency light bulb market.

The design of the bulb provides 360-degree lighting, making them great for lighting an entire space with, say, a large floor lamp. And 100,000 hours of dependable use makes them attractive even when comparing them with CFL's, which have long lifespans but often burn out prematurely.

There's a great post on the LED 9-watt bulb over at Treehugger, with lots of insightful comments. Anyone have experience with this bulb type?

Comments (7)

I've noticed LED's becoming popular in a range of uses, but they still seem to be on the expensive side.

I have been looking into bulbs that are being used to raise seedlings and keep plants healthy. LEDs are being used to direct only the necessary light waves that plants utilize, which reduces the amount of heat and electricity needed. You can find these LED lights on sale through online retailers and also (surprise) eBay - even as DIY kits.

In discussion boards the opinions are mixed. Some say they have achieved excellent results with LEDs; others say the heat from bulbs is necessary to make the lightwaves penetrate and be absorbed.

If anyone out there is using these LEDs in their apartment I would love to hear about it. It could potentially be a fantastic and safe way to keep plants healthy in a low light apartment.

posted by mattplantguy on April 23rd 2007 at 4:38am
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Cool. In 10 years they will be $15 (equivalent to $10 now) and they will be worth it. For now, CFLs are the way to go, unless you've got a bunch of scratch.

posted by Jon_B on April 23rd 2007 at 4:48am
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And... LEDs don't contain mercury unlike CFLs. That's a plus.

posted by M2JL on April 23rd 2007 at 5:28am
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From what I have read on the Treehugger site the CFL's main drawback is that there is no recycling program in place for them so the materials end up in our landfills and 'water table'.

posted by mattplantguy on April 23rd 2007 at 6:02am
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IKEA takes back the CFL's they sell. If I recall correctly there are other recycling programs in place as well. I think Wal*Mart might even take back used CFL's.

posted by sunspot42 on April 23rd 2007 at 6:58am
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if you hit up ebay there are better priced led bulbs to be had.

or you could just make your own :)

posted by Mat on April 23rd 2007 at 7:03am
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Jon-B is right. LED bulbs will be a lot cheaper in the near future and CFL's are the best way to go right now.

However, LEDS give off a very strange sort of ambient illumination for general room lighting - much different than Incandescents and CFL's. Even when color corrected, the LED glow is harsh and very cold. But I suppose that one would grow accustomed to it after a while.

I'm sure that the manufactorers will soon conquere that problem too. Perhaps combination bulbs.

posted by art donovan on April 23rd 2007 at 7:59am
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