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Department of Energy Prize Indicates Philips' LED Bulb is the Real Deal

By Rain Noe - August 5, 2011

in Sustainable Design

Remember Philips' futuristic-looking EnduraLED lightbulb? Roughly two years after they pulled the wraps off of it, the bulb has now passed the U.S. Department of Energy's 18-month testing period and won the DOE's L-Prize, a competition designed to spur innovative, viable replacements for the venerable 60-watt incandescent. Philips will get $10 million for being the first to clear all of the technical hurdles and field testing.

Philips is no longer referring to the bulb as the "EnduraLED" in press releases, so a name change is probably in the works. But whatever they end up calling it, the LED bulb puts out an amount of light consistent with a standard 60-watt, yet sucks up just 9.7 watts of juice. Consumer release dates are vague, with the company reporting the bulb "could arrive in stores as soon as early 2012."

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J

13 years ago

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@ Ashley S

These bulbs are the correct market price, if you compare the specs the Philips bulbs are almost double the output of the ones you linked to, and they are dimmable as well. Also if you compare the light output on Treehugger's site you'll see the difference. You get what you pay for.
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Ashley S

13 years ago

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these bulbs are ridiculously over priced. you can get LED bulbs starting at just a couple dollars, so you will actually pocket the energy savings and not just hand them over to Philips. they shouldn't be more than $2 and they aren't if you know where to go:

http://www.ledlightforhome.com
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Tom Mc

13 years ago

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I think this is great! Even better if it can be made here in the U.S.

What I absolutely cannot stand is when governments step in and force-regulate markets by banning incandescent bulbs to spur "green" technology. The incentive to make a better product is thus removed.

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Bruce Potter

13 years ago

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With (apparently) a 25,000 hour bulb life, and a $40 cost to buy, this creates a difficult life-cycle cost calculation, especially for bulbs that will only be used a few hours per day and if you assume that the bulb buyer will not keep the lamp or the house in which the bulb is installed forever. For example, at the age of seventy, I'm pretty sure the bulbs will outlast me by several years.
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Ironman

13 years ago

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It's already available at Home Depots in the U.S. Note - Philips offers rebates for the purchase price.

As for whether or not it might make economic sense for use, see:

http://tinyurl.com/40lightbulb
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